To the editor:

Wow! Congratulations Lee County citizens!! Good job getting your vote in. 67% vote is a great watershed of civic engagement, and we can all help those elected take this moment to make our world a better place. Please don’t disengage now. Think of what you wanted when you voted for your candidates: An end to the pandemic, better schools, clean water, stabilization of climate change, law and order, better working conditions, peace, justice, or all of the above. Decide if there is one item on your list that you can do something about in the last two months of the year. What would that be? Write a letter to the gal you voted for and remind her what you want to see done. Go to a city council meeting and say something on the topic. Ask your neighbor if they’re registered to vote. Do they want to be? Can you download and bring an application for them to fill out tomorrow?

We should bear in mind that only 1/2 our population has the right to vote; immigrants, children are not voters. Ex-felons were largely excluded despite the state’s voters overwhelmingly choosing to allow them to vote. And, as always, those adult citizens who did not register to vote were excluded from the process. It is incumbent on those of us who do step up to ask ourselves what could we do to make the process more inclusive.

Whether you were team blue, team red, or a follower of the orange one; it is time to set aside the partisan party flags and get on with the business of all the people. Bias confirmation, the seeking out only of the like-minded to parrot back your opinion, can make you think the whole world agrees. But where we all truly agree sometimes has to be sought after more deeply.

We, as a nation, were split pretty much down the middle in most places, on a candidate for President this year; but in Florida the Republican Party did very well. The amendment to raise the minimum wage carried on that red wave. Workers will be making more money, and can contribute more back to the community as they see their wages inch up to $10 an hour next year. So if you share a bias that Republicans don’t care much about the working stiff, that bias, this time; did not get confirmed by the facts of the vote. You should be asking yourself, where else have I missed out on making common cause with my neighbors? Maybe we share more of your dreams for a better world than you have let yourself believe. Civic engagement can’t just be an election year exercise. Keep up the good work!

Ellen Starbird

Cape Coral