Water and sewer rates. Property tax increases and additional fees for trash pickup. Whether the local ambulance service is getting to homes fast enough. Solar arrays and battery storage facilities on farm fields.

The size of the transfer station. Paving roads that have traditionally been left as dirt or gravel. Cell towers at the end of residential streets. Reckless spending on swimming pools and pickleball courts. Last-minute political appointments giving one party an advantage over another.

Political endorsements that throw over incumbents for newcomers. Dealing with the local homeless problem.

Who is leading, who is working for the people and who has overstayed their welcome.

Those are just some of the topics that are front and center in our local news articles and in letters to the editor section as we head into the annual general election.

While national and state politics always has a presence, there are no national and state elections on the ballot this year to distract voters’ attention from the meat-and-potato issues that directly affect their lives and their communities.

No state legislators are on the ballot. No statewide officers like governor and attorney general either. No members of Congress or the president are up for election to dominate our attention.

The political debates taking place in our communities are for city, town and county seats — supervisor, mayor, town and city council, town........

© The Leader Herald