To the editor, The Borough elections are October 2nd, and they matter.

The Borough elections are October 2nd, and they matter. We need people on the Mat Su Borough Assembly who care about the interests of the people living in the Mat Su Borough.

I cannot emphasize this enough. You may well enough feel that the politics of our state and our nation are not relevant to you, that things are out of your control, that they go the same regardless of what you do. Or, you may feel that you have tried your best to help repair our partisan, polarized political systems, but you may be discouraged. You may choose to “check out”, and to count your voice insignificant amongst the throng of other voices. I don’t agree, but regardless, in the local assembly election, you do not have such excuses.

Vote early now, it’s easy.

Request a mail-in ballot from www.matsugov.us/elections#absentee. Or, vote at the Houston city hall, at the Talkeetna and Trapper Creek libraries, at 1700 E. Bogard Rd. in Wasilla, or at 350 E. Dahlia Avenue in Palmer. If you must procrastinate, then go to the polls on October 2nd. But choose, or let your crazy neighbors choose for you.

I write in support of Tamara Boeve, candidate for Assembly District 7, including Meadow Lakes and Pitman rd., Houston, and Willow, but also Talkeetna, Trapper Creek, Petersville, Skwentna, and Caswell Lakes—all the farthest reaches of the Mat-Su.

Tam Boeve came to Alaska as a pioneer in her own rite. She started in a trailer in Willow and worked her way to a small farm of which Thomas Jefferson would have been jealous. She served as a mother to two children who have become two powerful, forward thinking adults, both exemplary members of our community. Both are thoroughly engaged in the live-saving and life-protecting work of our emergency services, and are of a character such that they are likely to be angry with me for implicitly politicizing these community roles.

Tam has been a benevolent force in the Mat-Su for two decades, working tirelessly and selflessly— for us, for our families. She has worked in the service of OUR values: education, the basic needs of the people, and just plain fun and enjoyment. She has been a piece of the puzzle which enriches our communities, and holds them together in difficult times.

If community matters to you, Tam Boeve for Borough Assembly district 7.

Tran Smith,

Houston