First educate yourself - then vote in upcoming Grand Strand elections

Educate yourself - and vote in local elections

When I had a propeller business in the early 1990s and was complaining about Washington hurting small business, my dad said, “Son, you are not going to change inside that Beltway, impossible; don’t even waste your brain power worrying about it. If you want to make change, you need to pay attention to the local politics, where you raise your family and make your living.”

I didn’t get it back then, but as I have matured I realize he was absolutely correct. There are many more local county committees and county council decisions that will directly affect your lives. But hardly anyone pays attention, even as millions of dollars are spent under our noses, and sometimes not in the best interest of the county.

So I urge everyone who is a registered voter to do your homework and get out and vote for the best qualified candidate. My personal belief is that if an incumbent has been in place for more than three terms, chances are it would be in the best interest of our county to vote them out and put some new blood in these positions.

I know there are some underlying currents that are still hurting small businesses. With new, dedicated people in place, maybe this can get turned around. Small business is the key to improving our local economy.

We are not going to fix this economy from the banks down, but from small business up.

Please, get out and vote!

This story was originally published June 8, 2016 at 1:39 PM with the headline "First educate yourself - then vote in upcoming Grand Strand elections."