Cancel Uncontested Election - YES

I voted to cancel our uncontested March 3rd Town Council election, in which two candidates were running for two seats, and simply appoint those candidates to the seats once the incumbents' terms expired. This was a surprisingly controversial issue at the Council, but I stand by my vote.

America is a democracy, and voting is core to our identity as a nation. I see it as my role as an elected official to protect and celebrate our democracy—but I also see it as my role, as a steward of public funds, to make sure we are not spending taxpayer dollars when we don't have to.

This issue pits those two important principles against each other, requiring us to figure out which option better serves the public interest. For me, it was an easy call: given that the outcome of the election was predetermined (again, the election was uncontested), I felt comfortable that saving thousands of taxpayer dollars by canceling a needless election wouldn't infringe on our right to self-determination.