Yet More Elections (for Gainesville) in March

For all of you out there in my hometown of Gainesville, Florida trying to recover from the fatigue and trauma of last year's election season, I have some news: here comes another election!  Yes, our fair city will be holding city commission elections for three of its seven seats this March 14, with the runoff elections (if a particular election doesn't produce a majority winner) on April 11.  Early voting will be provided March 6-11 at the usual locations.  There is an at-large seat covering the entire city and two districted seats (including my district).  A commissioner's term of office is for three years and they cannot serve more than two terms. Todd Chase, my own district's commissioner, and whom I would have supported had his name been on the ballot, cannot run again due to term limits...so there looks to be a competitive campaign developing for his replacement.  The at-large seat is currently occupied by Helen Warren, who is running for a second term. The other districted seat up for election is now held by Craig Carter, who is also running for reelection.  I'll have to check into the candidates for the races that involve me in order to pick out the best ones for the job.

I really object to Gainesville holding commission elections like this in March, when the turnout is bound to be low.  I've voted in a couple in the past when the registered voter participation was only 12%...how do they realistically expect the commission to be representative of its citizens when such a small fraction of the electorate put them into office?  Of course, a great part of the problem is the apathy...and dare I say, laziness...of that electorate, even when polling places are designed to be close to their homes, voting hours on election day are very flexible (7 am to 7 pm), and early voting is also provided.  It will be interesting to see whether, because of what happened nationally last November, people in this city of mine will be more willing to fulfill their civic duty as citizens and participate in the electoral process...