Whether you’re sending your mail-in ballot early or waiting to vote in person, Fountain Hills residents are being asked to weigh in on two items during this year’s election.

First up are two seats for the Fountain Hills Sanitary District Board of Directors. It’s been a while since Fountain Hills has had an election for this board, with newcomers Tony Finocchio and Scott Sommer vying for seats alongside incumbents Tom Reski and Gregg Dudash.

As candidates have stated in the past, the Sanitary Board isn’t typically viewed as the most glamorous of governing bodies, but it certainly has an impact on all of our lives.

While we appreciate the interest shown by Finocchio and Sommer, this is one of those instances where we fall back on the adage: If it isn’t broke, don’t fix it. It’s been smooth sailing at the Sanitary District for a while now, and we believe the governance of the current board has had a hand in that.

That’s especially true of incumbents Reski and Dudash, who are the most senior of members. Their experience will be especially beneficial moving forward, working alongside more recent board additions and our Sanitary District’s new general manager. We believe that experience is just as important as fresh ideas and, were the board to remain as it is today, we believe there’s a solid mix of both.

Over to the matter of the Fountain Hills Unified School District’s proposed maintenance and operations budget override, this is a far easier call to make. Instead of choosing between four motivated and qualified candidates, voters are instead being asked to decide whether or not they wish to continue an existing override with an additional two percent tacked onto the figure.

The wording of the ballot item is a bit tricky, as it refers to the override as a budget increase. While technically true, this is the same “budget increase” Fountain Hills has supported for more than a decade but, again, with an additional two percent in funding.

When it comes to bolstering teacher salaries, providing tuition-free kindergarten, training for local educators and the like, we feel a “yes” vote is an easy decision to make.

Arizona is at the bottom of the totem pole when it comes to funding education and, being a more affluent town; Fountain Hills is often overlooked at the state level. But our students deserve the same opportunities and our educators deserve the same compensation as in any other district. A “yes” vote for the budget override helps provide exactly that.