Political activists

It's close to midnight and I'm not even close to being able to fall asleep. Two and a half months of hard work have paid off. And in the morning I get to tell AJ and Sydney that both the operating levy and sports facilities referendum in Esko passed. Sydney won't understand what that means, and AJ will grasp only one small part of it - that he'll be getting a new hockey rink and warming house.

 

Both kids, whether they realize it or not, have played an active part in the campaign. Their pictures have been on some of our informational material. AJ walked around the neighborhood with Jeff as part of a canvassing effort. And Sydney made a brief, but memorable appearance in a video we put together. (Sorry for the bad audio. Let there be no doubt this was a grass roots effort. Sydney is at the very end, around 1:22.) 

 

 

And on Election Day, they eagerly served as walking reminders of why these two questions are so important.

 

 

The picture-taking process went something like this: "Okay, guys, I need to take a picture of you. Sydney, face the camera. AJ turn around but look back over your shoulder. I want to show what the front and back of the shirts look like. No, no. Sydney stand still. Right there. AJ, stand there. Okay, now look back over your shoulder. Without moving. Sydney, stand still.

 

"Okay, forget that idea. Both of you turn around so I can take a picture of the backs of your shirts."

 

 

"And now the front."

 

I brought the kids with me to the polls this morning. I wanted them to see me vote yes, and I hope some day they will pay it forward by voting yes for school levies in whatever community they make their home.

 

I warned them they had to keep their coats zipped because we couldn't let the election judges see their shirts. Sydney paid attention to the first part of that message and - when she saw me with my coat open revealing the suit I planned to wear to work - called out in a panic, "Mommy, your jacket's not zipped!" 

 

It turns out voting was the easy part. Focusing on work when I couldn't wait for the polls to close and the votes to be counted... that was the challenging part. Of course I wanted these two issues to pass, because they will mean better educational and athletic opportunities for my kids. But also because AJ and Sydney, along with so many other students in our community, put so much effort into the campaign, it would have broken my heart to see them so disillusioned at such a young age.

 

Last year Esko voters rejected an identical levy, and two years before that they voted against a more expensive sports facility referendum. And keep in mind that those all took place in non-major election years when 60 percent of levies typically pass. This year, with a presidential election on the ballot, our chances for success dropped to 40 percent.

 

But thankfully, by 8:30 p.m. we got the wonderful news that we'd beaten the odds. Twice. Both the levy and referendum had passed. Here's the amazing group of talented, passionate, hard-working volunteers who I am now happy to call friends.

 

 

We called ourselves Esko Pride because we knew we needed to do more than simply ask people to vote yes. We needed them to think about why they should want to vote yes. And we needed them to feel so strongly about their reason(s) that they would show up to vote.

 

And tonight I am so full of Esko Pride that I'm not sure I'll ever fall asleep. Hopefully tomorrow will be full of Esko adrenaline to get me through the day at work.

*****

One other important election result worth noting: Mom rules! As is well known in my family, Jeff and I generally cancel out each other's votes. For most of this election season, AJ has tended to side with Jeff's choice for candidates. And as recently as last night Jeff was gloating that Sydney had stated she also planned to vote for his choice of president. (The kids had a mock election at their school today.) But guess what... after I explained to each child the reasons I support a different candidate, both changed their vote. Hah!