The political signs are popping up around Karnes County as we now officially have 48 days until early voting begins. I personally wish there was always an election going on. Not really from a newspaper perspective, but I just like the look of election signs everywhere. That, and I think cities feel energized during these critical times. It’s an exciting thing to be a part of, and it makes you feel good to know that people still care.

I covered a school bond election once where a guy dressed up in a huge blue piece of foam or something that he cut into the shape of the word “yes.” He stood on the side of the road in that thing for like eight or nine days waving at people and trying to get support for the school bond. It passed, not that I’m saying because of him; it probably would have passed anyways, but things like that just have to make you smile.

We’re going to do our best here at the Countywide to help our readers become informed about the choices they have to make. We are currently working on scheduling another debate for local candidates, and will be working on election coverage throughout the course of the next two months. We have a lot of questions, just as I’m sure you do too. And we want to make sure that you get your questions answered so you can make the best decision for you come November.

In that spirit, I’d like to invite our readers to begin submitting questions for an upcoming debate. Off the top of our heads, we’re probably shooting for somewhere in the week of October 11, so that gives you plenty of time to put good thought into what questions you’ve got. I’d also encourage people to go online to www.texascounties4u.org to learn more about what our local elected officials’ responsibilities are.

To get the ball rolling, I thought I’d offer up my five questions I’d have for our local elected officials. When you send in your questions, feel free to let us know if you’d like to put them in our paper as well as a letter to the editor. I always enjoy hearing what other people think about when assessing the value of a political candidate.

Anyways, here are my five, mainly aimed at commissioners and judge candidates:

1. Do you have a plan to address county roads?

2. What will your priorities be when planning the county budget?

3. How many hours in a given week do you plan on devoting to one-on-one interaction with your constituents?

4. What sort of development do you oppose?

5. How much and what kind of guidance would you seek in making decisions?