Make your voice heard in special elections

Red Sox fans got some big news last week with the signing of David Price. He was a phenom in college, and a Red Sox killer for much of his MLB career. Now 30 years old, he signed a whopping $217 million contract with the Red Sox for the next seven years. While we have no reason to think he will be nothing but healthy, I have to believe that we may have just missed the best years of his career. Bu I am happy he’s coming to Boston anyway.  He is exactly what the Red Sox need since he is a legitimate ace, something we haven’t had since we traded away all our best pitchers in 2014. If all goes well, he will be a critical part of the Red Sox rotation for many years to come.

Like the Red Sox, East Bay voters have some critical positions to fill. Last week there was a primary for State Senate district 11. While the candidates have been working (and their campaigns have been covered in this newspaper) I am not sure how many voters were aware of the special election to fill the vacancy left by Dr. Chris Ottiano who served as the district 11 senator for more than two terms. Ottiano recently resigned his seat as he took a new job in the private sector.

When I voted just before 6 pm I was stunned to see that just 29 other people at my polling place had voted. I called as many people as I could think of on my way out the door, but was left feeling a little uneasy that so few people in Bristol would be making such an important decision for our district.

Just as the Red Sox have positions to fill in their rosters, there are two important special elections in the next few weeks in the East Bay. In Barrington, there is a School Committee election on December 15^th and the general election for State Senate district 11 is January 5^th. None of the winners will be paid millions of dollars for their work, but they will both have a say in spending millions of taxpayer dollars, so make sure your voice is heard and your vote is counted.