While national politics tend to get more of our attention — just read last week’s column — I have to say as a journalist, I have always loved covering the local elections. Decades ago as a young journalist, I started covering school boards, town councils and county commissions.

The education was invaluable because it did not take a lot of time for me to realize that while national political topics are talked about, griped about and get the mainstream media’s main attention — It’s the local races that mean more to our daily lives.

What does that mean?

For starters, once we became homeowners, my husband and I got a crash course in where property taxes go. Why our assessed value means anything — especially this year in Colorado.

When we started having children and growing our family — we quickly learned why the quality in a local school district matters and why we should be concerned about what teachers are paid.

At the city council level — it’s not just about taxes. These elected boards have a hand in our everyday lives. What speed limit should you be traveling on that street? Well — it’s your local elected leaders who get to decide.

Which roadways are in shambles and should be repaired? Well — it’s that local elected board who hears from staff and decides whether or not to pay millions toward fixing it.

Should that massive muliti-use development be built on neighboring land? Again, it is the local elected board that decides to give it a thumbs up or a thumbs down. Although, personal interjection here, from Arizona to Colorado I have always been a bit surprised on how easily most of these projects get a thumbs up even when there is not enough water to support such a plan, but that’s a column for another day.

Our school boards are becoming more and more political with each election cycle. These are the elected boards where I am the most concerned. As politics seeps into our classrooms and we start wondering why. Again, it’s that local elected board setting the tone and establishing policy.

Most of the school districts have candidates running in the November election in Douglas and Arapahoe counties. Even if you do not have children — you should be paying attention to who is running and who are the most reasonable candidates.

The off-year elections are the ones where we are not deciding who gets to be president, we are deciding who gets to set tone, pace and cost of our everyday lives. Voter turnout for elections such as the one coming up on Nov. 7 should get way more turnout than they tend to get.

Besides electing who will represent us — we often are asked to consider tax increases. Douglas County School District has approved asking again this November for more money. More may do so.

In Parker — residents will be asked to make changes to the town charter. While that may seem vague — these are governing policies that residents have an official say in. A resident’s vote does matter.

These are the elections that matter and need our attention — I would say now more than ever.

Thelma Grimes is the south metro editor for Colorado Community Media.