Published in the July 4-17, 2018 issue of Morgan Hill Life

Are you concerned about local roads, housing affordability, school systems, crime rates, local taxes, transportation, local job growth and other issues? If so, please make the effort to be a well-informed local voter this fall. Your local county supervisor, city council members, school and community college trustees, water district, judges and sheriff are all elected positions. The people filling these positions make major decisions which have a direct effect on the day to day lives for each and every one of us living and/or working in the area.

National political issues justifiably garner countless hours of attention and discussion while local elections historically get much less intense attention from many of the residents and businesses directly affected.

Recent changes from at-large to by-district voting for Morgan Hill City Council members, Morgan Hill Unified School and Gavilan College district trustees have created confusion for many voters regarding which positions a given individual is eligible to run and/or to vote for. We have created some shorter URLs to make determining which district you are in easier for you. For the Morgan Hill Unified School District go to: www.tinyurl.com/MHUSDistrict. For the City of Morgan Hill use: www.tinyurl.com/MHCityDistrict. Gavilan College does not seem to offer a similar tool, but generally speaking the Gavilan Trustee areas are: Trustee Areas No. 1 & 2 = Morgan Hill Unified School District. Trustee Area No. 3 & 4 = Gilroy Unified School District. Trustee Area No. 5, 6 & 7 = San Benito High School District.

Elections for the mayor of Morgan Hill continue to be open to all registered voters within the city limits. All Morgan Hill voters are in Santa Clara Valley Water District 1.

The Morgan Hill Chamber of Commerce does not make endorsements in any individual elections, but it might take positions on ballot proposition at the board’s discretion.

We respect wherever your stand on particular candidates and issues and implore you to make your well-informed views known this fall in the ballot box.

John Horner is the president and CEO of the Morgan Hill Chamber of Commerce. He wrote this for Morgan Hill Life.