Last year at this time, “our” community was abuzz with inspiration; and with good reason. Who wouldn’t want to be a part of history? Then Senator Obama commanded an almost “rock star” presence, and it paid off at the polls. But two days ago, in a critical Atlanta Mayoral race, the city only managed 33% voter turnout. People just don’t seem to be excited enough to vote for anything but the president. But in reality, it’s your local election that means the most. The things the president does will eventually affect everyone. But the things that affect our everyday lives- local taxes, cost of living, laws, schools, safety- are controlled by local government; the people we probably wouldn’t recognize on sight. How do we get our community more excited about local elections? It’s not sexy to vote for your commissioner, and no rappers will endorse candidates for the school board. But if we don’t get more involved, we’ll have no one to blame but ourselves.