OK, so we all voted last week, or 30% to 40% of registered voters did anyway. It seems more people are getting interested in government and elections these days, especially on the national level. I think that's a good thing, but I also believe we have a long way to go.

Some high-profile issues drove folks to the polls this November. In Cuyahoga County, voters backed the casino issue and a measure changing the form of county government. While those issues deserved to grab headlines, I think there were others that may prove even more important in the end.

Several communities faced school property tax issues, my adopted home town of Parma among them. Parma voters shot the levy down again.

Now, I realize that Cuyahoga County is the most heavily taxed county in the state, and we're in a recession, and the state's school funding system is broken; but under what circumstances are we going to start supporting our schools again? I'm not just saying this as a parent with some young kids who will be entering the schools in a few years.

I heard from many in Parma and other communities who voted against levies claiming their districts are poorly run and school leaders don't deserve additional or even replacement operating money. But I ask you, if you think your school district is bad because it's run by idiots, do you really think giving idiots less money will make your district better?

I would contend that those who voted against a school levy because they believe their district to be poorly run, didn't do anything to help solve the perceived problem.

How do you help solve the problem? The answer is simple, yet challenging: You get educated and you vote.

Parma and several other communities had multiple school board positions on the ballot next to their tax issues. I fear most voters either left these sections blank or picked names at random. It's sometimes hard to find info about school board and other candidates for local office, but when it comes to the stability and future of our communities, no races are more important.

Just think what our schools would look like if every registered voter attended one school board meeting a year. Maybe real change wouldn't even require that much effort.

Next election, I challenge you to spend just one hour learning about your local candidates and issues before you vote. If everybody did that, I think we'd be in much better shape as a region.
 
Remember, you get what you vote for.

Julie, Danny, baby Joshua, and I headed to the Cleveland Metropark’s Zoo this week. I don’t get to the Zoo much, but off-season may be the way to do it. We went in the evening and basically had the place to ourselves.

The weather was cool, there were no crowds, and we parked right by the gate. We got to see some animals in the Northern Treck area that we didn’t get to see when we visited in the summer.

Danny was soooo! excited, much more so than when he last visited. Now he really understands what he’s seeing and can appreciate the animals. He kept greating the animals saying "Hi Bears!" and "Hi sea lions!" It was really cute.

This past weekend, my wife, son and I hit two county fairs on the same day, as we do every Labor Day weekend. This is really the highlight of fair season for us.

We visited the Canfield Fair near Youngstown. We followed that with the Great Geauga County Fair in Burton.

That’s 12 hours of fair fun.

A great time was had by all.