Small Town Politics, Big Impact

Ethanology is striving to reinvigorate a notion from the past, that of a “public house”.  We have written in the past on this idea and so in support of this idea recently attempted to organize a candidate meet-and-greet at Ethanology where all of the Elk Rapids Village Council candidates running would be able to come in and speak for 5 minutes about who they were and what they represented, and then stay for an hour of informal questions and mingling with attending members of the public.  The event would be free, we would set up, moderate, and provide a PA system, and no purchase would be necessary to attend. This idea came to us after a customer came in the previous week and expressed that he felt like he neither had enough information, nor knew where to get more regarding the candidates.  As business owners in the village but not residents proper, we don’t have a vote, so this issue hadn’t been raised in our own minds.  We do realize now though, that although we don’t have a vote, we do have a voice, and a platform for other voices.

In the end this event failed due to lack of response on several candidate’s part.  We had given a week notice, which we understand is late notice, but certainly enough time to respond to an e-mail with a yes or no. We received responses from the following candidates:  James Janisse, Charles Schuler, Barbara Mullaly, and Gerard Knoph. Thank you to these candidates for responding to the event invitation. To us personally, it reflected professionalism and the initiative it takes to be a public service person.  We chose not to go through with the event because we had wanted at least five candidates to participate in order for the whole public interest to be better represented.
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In closing, we hope that any community readers will do their very best to not just vote, but vote well informed on issues like the environment, education, local business support, sustainable growth, and public wellness.  Please take into account the opinion of those who use and support the community, not just those who have homes there.
 
Nick and Geri