Laurel: To the value of a good book. Or a lot of books, for that matter.
While some people may focus on the candidates that walked away from Election Day as winners, some communities had something a little closer to home to celebrate: their local libraries.
In Southwest Greensburg, voters narrowly supported keeping a tax that funds the Greensburg Hempfield Area Library with $15,000.
In North Huntingdon, Irwin and North Irwin, a wider margin of voters — 64% — pushed back against a referendum that started with a petition to defund the Norwin Public Library. Eliminating 1 mill of the 1.2 mills dedicated to the library would have meant a drop of $500,000 in funding to a community resource.
“It would have been catastrophic if it had been successful,” said Norwin Public Library Director Diana Falk.
Libraries are an important part of having an educated public, but they are more than that. They are a vital link to other needs in the community, providing computer and internet access and acting as a hub for activities, meetings and services.
Maybe people don’t realize when the library is there providing those things, but they would almost certainly notice if it wasn’t.
Lance: To pushing too far. It might be hard for some to understand, but it is important for there to be a bubble of calm around the election process.
After months of ads, attacks, videos and fights deluging voters, it’s really vital for that last step — the simple act of looking at the ballot, weighing the choices and making a decision — to be done without all of that noise clanging in the background.
That is why there are limits for how close campaign workers can be to an entrance and what can be done at the polls. People need to not just be free to make their choices without fear, but to have that time without a push in one direction or the other.
It is unfortunate that there were people Tuesday who couldn’t respect that. An Allegheny County judge barred Upper St. Clair Republican Committee Chair Andrew Baldasare from entering polling places for “unlawful electioneering” or attempting to interfere with the operations after complaints were maid about breaching that bubble.
Another voter in North Fayette said a judge of elections praised GOP candidate Jeremy Shaffer, who was campaigning outside. The Shaffer campaign said the judge of elections was unaffiliated with the campaign. However, it is important for counties to impress upon their workers that keeping the campaigning outside doesn’t just refer to the candidates.
