It’s that time again, folks. Tomorrow is Election Day in many locations. There are some incredibly big races to be decided tomorrow, with potentially none more important than New York City’s mayoral race. There are a variety of ballot initiatives, such as California’s Prop 50 which will directly counter a Trump-ordered gerrymander in Texas.
Everything on the ballots nationwide are important, but some of the most critical ones and that bring voters out are local. Here in my own Massachusetts city, we’re voting for our entire City Council… both Ward and At-Large positions. We’ve also got three positions on our School Committee up for grabs. While many are uncontested, we’ve got several competitive races including four candidates for the three School Committee seats and five for the four Councilor-At-Large spots. Many of those running are people I’ve come to know well either recently or over their years of prior service, and my thoughts will be with them tomorrow as voters go to the polls.
We also, as I’ve mentioned in several recent diaries, have a Massachusetts Prop 2 ½ Override vote on the table. Prop 2 ½ was enacted over 40 years ago and was designed to cap annual property tax increases to 2.5%. To quote from the wikipedia article on Prop 2 1/2:
A side effect of Proposition 2½ is that municipality income will decline in real terms whenever inflation rises above 2.5%. Historically inflation has been above 2.5% for a significant majority* of the years since 1980 (22 out of the 28 years up to 2008*), thus resulting in a real decline in local tax rates and local spending ability.
*According to Investopedia, which confirms the 22 overages for the 28 years 1980-2008, 6 out of the 16 years 2009-2024 were over 2.5% for a total of 28 out of 44 years 1980-2024, or 63.6%.
To combat this decline in local spending ability, a mechanism of overriding the increase limit is provided by asking voters to approve a one-time override for a specific dollar amount, which in effect ‘resets’ the base tax rate. Many Massachusetts cities and towns regularly pass such overrides. Mine, on the other hand, has passed exactly two overrides in 43 years, the last in 2019. To say that this issue will define what my city of over 30 years will look like next year is a drastic understatement.
I won’t be holding a sign tomorrow at least 150 feet away from the polling place for a candidate or for my opinion on our Override, though. No, I’m an election worker so I’ll be up at 4:30am to get ready to make the half-mile walk to the polling place before 6am. I’ll get my precinct set up and then spend the day making sure every eligible voter who shows up gets to vote. We know there will be election observers from both candidates and the ballot question sides, and I’ve refreshed my memory on the rules for Observers. I’m not expecting any issues except the exhaustion that sets in somewhere around 7pm and lasts until I’m told by the Board of Registrars and our Election Administrator that I can go home :).
My apologies for not being around for long after the diary posts, because I truly need some sleep. I will check in over breakfast though, before I become apolitical and neutral at the polls. I take that obligation seriously!
Lastly: if you have an election where you live, and haven’t yet cast an early ballot, PLEASE vote. I shared my Voter Origin Story this past weekend, and I hope you have one too. It’s so important, and as we say as our slogan at my local Democratic Committee, Your Vote Is Your Voice. Good luck everyone!!!
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From Ed Tracey:
In the diary by Paul Glickman (highlighting a woman's religious journey out of MAGA), a very personal response by Ernest T Bass recaps his family history.
From AnotherOklahoman:
From Paul Glickman’s Breaking With Her Devout Mormonism Led Her Out of MAGA, EastcoastChick’s comment explains the cycle of hate: Republican Administration breaks things; Democratic cleans up… Repubs return home again and again… (and cleanup gets harder each time.) It’s the hate.
TOP MOJO
Top Mojo for yesterday (Sunday), November 2nd 2025, first comments and tip jars excluded. Thank you mik for the mojo magic! For those of you interested in How Top Mojo Works, please see his diary on FAQing Top Mojo.
