Registration to vote and actual voting in ALL the elections: this is a core and fundamental right and commitment made by most people living in a democracy. Democracy can and should operate better: fairly with equal opportunity and without big donors exercising far more influence than others. Almost 500,000 El Pasoans are REGISTERED to vote (check epcountyvotes.com), but for various reasons, more than half do not vote, thus missing the chance to influence decisions that affect our lives.

However, El Pasoans can enjoy MANY ways to participate in local governments in between elections, not only as voters but also–and especially–as participants in non-government organizations (NGOs) such as the Community First Coalition and its ~25 member organizations! Remember always that there is POWER IN NUMBERS. Notice that we pluralize the word government above because there are various layers of decision-makers and opportunities to use our individual and community voices. See two sections on local governments and on non-government organizations.

USING VOICES in LOCAL GOVERNMENTS

All public meetings must have their agendas posted; you can find them on line at their websites. After two weeks of early voting, elections are held in November for city and county representatives, except for school board trustees who are elected in May. NOTE that on property tax bills, the school district uses the largest amount of your tax, followed by the city, then county, and other smaller taxing entities. Local governments form boards and commissions on special topics to voice concerns between government bureaucracy and council/commission voters. In the city alone, over sixty (yes 60!) board members and commissioners provide more voices as they consider publicly posted agendas in regular meetings. See the list here.

*City government: engaging with your representative (or all eight) of the nonpartisan city council representatives and the mayor through contacting them via phone calls, email, snail mail, meetings, and three minutes of testimony at council (broadcast live on video!) in person or by calls. Find your representative’s name and email here. Most have informative newsletters to which you can sign on.

*County government: engaging with your representative (or all four) of the partisan county commissioners and the County Judge (like an elected presiding representative). Here too, you can contact them via phone calls, email, snail mail, meetings, and three minutes of testimony at County Commissioners’ Court (broadcast live on video) or by calls. Find your commissioner’s name here. Because these elections are partisan, voters choose their party’s nominee in the primary election. If no candidates receive a majority, there is a run-off election, at least five weeks after the primary.

*School Districts. El Paso County is home to nine Independent School Districts, each of which has seven nonpartisan elected trustees. You can find information about the district, the boards and their agendas, and the trustees at the ISD websites. El Paso’s three biggest school districts are El Paso, Socorro, and Ysleta (episd.org; sisd.net; yisd.net) and their trustees are elected in geographic districts rather than on an at-large basis.