There’s No Place Like Home…to Vote!

Sometimes those you elect to send downtown are even more critical than who goes to D.C. Today, we welcome Multi-TaskingWoman Traci O'Neal Ellis as she shares her views, as a mom, attorney, and member of her local school board in the Chicago area. 

Listen in:

It is said that the United States is governed by the majority. Well, that’s not exactly true. The United States is governed by the majority who participate, which, as it turns out, is actually a minority of eligible voters. While presidential elections drive voters to the polls in droves, local and state elections pale in comparison. Yet, in terms of the effect that the local and state elections have on our day to day lives compared to presidential elections, it is amazing how few voters actually turn out for these critical races.

While the presidential and congressional elections are critical because the winners will determine weighty issues such as whether corporate and personal federal income taxes will be raised, whether policies will encourage job growth or eliminate jobs, and whether we go to war and how many of our children will be sent to fight that war, the local and state elections are no less important, and arguably, possibly more important—at least as far as the immediate and personal effect on our daily lives.

Our local and state politicians decide the quality of life in our communities. In addition to the power to raise and lower taxes, they decide whether our school districts deliver a quality education, thereby creating a desirable and sustainable community in which to live and raise a family, and whether we are producing intelligent, employable, productive citizens. They determine whether our community is a desirable place for businesses to locate and therefore, ultimately, whether our community has a solid and diversified tax base. Additionally, the President will never be in a better position than our local mayor and state representative to impact crime in our communities. Furthermore, if we don’t like the decisions they are making, they are much more accountable to us because we have more direct access to them than to the President or members of the US Congress.

I urge you to get involved and vote in your local and state elections. These elections are often decided by just a relatively few votes. So, the question of whether one vote can really make a difference is a resounding yes when only hundreds or thousands of votes are being cast. We have to ensure that the people who impact our daily lives so closely are compelled to govern according to the will of the people, not their own personal agendas. Unfortunately, for each one of us who decides to ignore these local elections, that is one less person with whom the local politician has to be concerned.

As the American journalist George Jean Nathan once said, “Bad officials are elected by good citizens who don’t vote.” Let’s not be one of those good citizens.


Traci O’Neal Ellis is an attorney and business owner who ran and was elected to a seat on her local school board in Illinois. She is currently in her first 4 year term. You can connect with her on Facebook.

Voting - It's NOT just for November!!!

Okay, I can't keep quiet a moment longer. While this site has been dedicated (primarily) to getting all us women out to the polls in various local, regional and national elections, the need has become too great - and too immediate - to be ignored.

Our country, our states, our cities and towns no matter how large or small, it seems, are all at a critical juncture. How will we move forward to get people back to work? To provide healthcare that works - and that we ALL can afford? How can we keep our teachers at work AND getting paid not just their current salaries, but what they truly deserve for the critical job they do in educating the next generations?

It's time to re-start the Never Too Busy To Vote engine, girls. Beginning today, this blog will welcome your comments, input, ideas and help in getting women not only to VOTE with their ballots, but make their VOICES count and BE HEARD!

Join us, please. Add your name, your group, your friends to this effort NOW. Put the NTBTV logo on your sites, blogs, bumpers - everywhere you can let our representatives in government know that WOMEN's VOICES MUST BE HEARD and that OUR VOTES COUNT!

What was it like to actually BE THERE?

Here’s the latest from Ellen:

“Yes, it was bitter cold. Yes, we shared the Washington Mall with 2 million people. Yes, it was difficult to see with people standing shoulder to shoulder and only a Megatron TV screen to view. Yes, we had to walk several miles to get out of the Mall after Inauguration was over and the buses were nowhere to be found. BUT it was an incredible day!!!

I met people standing around me from Philadelphia, Puerto Rico and nearby in the DC area. We listened, laughed, and cried through all the speeches, prayers and songs. The day was full of sharing snack foods and dancing to any music just to stay warm. Thousands of us sang an impromptu "Goodbye Song" to George Bush as he flew one last time around the Mall in the helicopter.

The day began at 7:30 am and ended by 4 pm when we finished lunch in Arlington and made our way back.

We have souvenir bus passes, newspapers, t-shirts, and posters. Now we make our way home to Atlanta - happy and very tired - and feeling a little more connected to the new administration.”

Ellen, thanks to you, all us Multi-Tasking Women here at home who couldn’t make it to DC now feel it, too!

Safe travels home…and as we face the hard work of the days ahead, let’s remember that – YES, we can!

MLK Day in DC

Checking-in with our MTW on the Scene:

“Not as cold today - a few random snowflakes.

We are experimenting with the best way to get to the Inauguration tomorrow and had several "dry runs" on Sunday. My sister-in-law ventured in to the city via the Metro and joined the 400,000 at the Opening of the Inaugural Ceremonies. They heard Obama's welcome address and two hours of star-studded musicians playing in front of The Lincoln Memorial.

There is something to do everywhere you look: "Quilts for Obama" at the Washington Historical Society, "Songs for Presidents" - a performance of 43 songs about 43 presidents, and an exhibit of 40 of the most historic front pages of the Washington Post.

Meanwhile my brother rode his bike 7 miles to the Mall to see which bridges are open. The strangest sight he took in was the lines of soldiers along the pathways and security fencing. It didn’t feel like the United States to see so many army personnel so highly present and visible, but much care is being taken in hopes that we can all enjoy "This Moment, This Time.”

Ellen

Hello from Washington D.C.!

"It is extremely cold here.

We encountered no traffic on our drive up from Atlanta today, but many cars sporting Obama bumper stickers. In the McDonald's in Gastonia, NC we struck up a conversation with a woman and swapped info we had learned about Inauguration Day. She's heard that the Metro was running out of tickets. We knew about the concert on the Mall tomorrow starring Mary Blige, Bono, and Bruce Springsteen.

The excitement is everywhere. As George Washington said upon his inauguration in 1789:
“I was summoned by my country, whose voice I can never hear but with veneration and love.”

We are here to be a part of this love. Stay tuned."

Ellen

Getting ready...

"I’m sitting here in my long underwear plus two more layers of clothing over that.
It is 24 degrees in Atlanta – what on earth is the weather going to be like in Washington DC tomorrow?

I am driving north in the morning with my sister-in-law and two of my nieces age 12 and 15. We are determined to witness the inauguration of our 44th president of the United States. We have a full tank of gas, plenty of reading material, snacks, and pillows. We will stay at my brother’s house in Falls Church, VA.

The rest of my family has other priorities; camping in FL, playing roller hockey, attending an Atlanta Thrashers game. But for me, this feels important. I want to be a part of the crowd of Americans who also want to be there. Does that make sense?

My mother thinks I am nuts to go; too cold, too many crowds, too dangerous. We will see."

MTW Ellen Hayes is posting her experiences at this week's Historic Inauguration. Check back for more, and thanks for sharing with us, Ellen!

This MTW's Making History!

No matter what your political position, I believe we can all agree that history is being made this week with the Inauguration in Washington. This unique 'first' makes me think of other moments in our country's time line. Times of impact. Times of change. Times of historic note, like "Where were you when Neil Armstrong first set foot on the moon?"

I've been feeling a rising tide of excitement and find myself glued to all my various screens for the latest reports of what's about to happen. I want to be 'there.'

Well, for all of us watching from afar, Multi-Tasking woman IS there! Our good friend and Multi-Tasking Woman team mate Ellen Hayes is on her way to D.C. with her own small group of participants in history. She's made the plans and all the arrangements to take five days out of her very multi-tasking daily life with all its commitments to be there, experience it for herself - and share it with all of us. The feelings, the excitement, the moments that will stand out in her memory.

When history asks her, "Where were you when..." Ellen will have the stories she's living with us. Thanks, Ellen, for being our eyes on the scene! We can't wait to hear about it....

Read Ellen's post today.