Please, take the time to vote.
For weeks, or months, candidates for elective office and their supporters have bombarded you with signs, promises, PowerPoints, handshakes, fliers, brochures and even birthday cards. They have - most of them - debated one another on what is best for your communities. They have presented visions and plans for how to make life better, encourage economic growth, keep the streets clean and safe and educate the next generation.
They deserve appreciation and credit for working long hours to hold offices where they will, in all likelihood, hear more complaints than praise.
Now it is your turn. Perhaps the most sacred right, and duty, of a citizen is to vote - to take an active role in choosing leaders for the next two to four years. Don't leave that choice to somebody else.
As a brief reminder, The Eagle-Tribune has endorsed the following candidates:
In Lawrence: David Abdoo for mayor; Frank Moran, Roger Twomey and Dan Rivera for councilor-at-large; Ruth Rojas for District B councilor, Jorge Gonzalez for District C, Eileen O'Connor Bernal for District E and Marc Laplante for District F; and James Vittorioso and Sammy Reyes for School Committee.
In Methuen: William Manzi for mayor; John Cronin and Philip Lahey for Central District councilors, Joseph Leone for East District, Jeanne Pappalardo and Deborah Quinn for West District, and Stephen Zanni for at-large. We also recommend a Yes vote on creating a charter commission.
In Haverhill: James Fiorentini for mayor; incumbent city Councilors Michael Hart, Mary Ellen Daly-O'Brien, William Macek, Robert Scatamacchia, Michael McGonagle and David Hall, plus newcomers Michael Young, Colin LePage and Sven Amirian.
Those are endorsements based on performance and proposals. But the choice is up to you, the voters. Think about what is important not just to you, but to your entire community. Which candidate best represents those interests?
Don't think that it doesn't make any difference. It does. And don't think you don't have time. The polls are open for 12 hours in Lawrence and Methuen from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., and 13 hours in Haverhill from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. It takes about as much time to vote as it does to rent a movie or stop at the store for a gallon of milk.
This is much more important than that. Don't pass it up.
