Sandusky Casts Its Vote
The lakeside city of Sandusky recently began garnering national headlines for its decision to make Election Day a citywide paid holiday. If I were to start naming Ohio cities likely to take this step, Sandusky—best known for being home to Cedar Point amusement park—is not one that would have been high on my list.
It’s not always fair to generalize an entire city’s population, but swapping out the time-off from Columbus Day to Election Day? That’s the type of thing one would expect from, say, Athens. Or Yellow Springs. I have to assume someone in Oberlin is kicking themselves for not thinking of this first.
Sandusky is the type of city that has one identity during the summer and a separate one after Labor Day. It’s usually about roller coasters, drinking, boating, drinking, fishing, and setting out to the Lake Erie islands. To drink. Jimmy Buffett’s birthday would be a more likely choice for a city holiday.
Yet change they did. In an NPR story, Ed Dayringer, president of Local 1519 of American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, said:
"Our city's growing and evolving with the times. I think we have a lot of forward thinking here at the city, and that's probably what sparked a lot of the change."
Dayringer and the union were a major part of the decision. As the article states:
In 2014 negotiations with the unions that represent police, firefighters, and municipal workers, the city suggested dropping Columbus Day, but giving up a paid holiday was a non-starter, [city manager Eric] Wobser says. So when negotiations for 2019-2021 started up last year, the city had a new proposal: replacing Columbus Day with Election Day.
The New York Times picked up the story as well. There Wobser stated:
“We have a huge history with the Underground Railroad and were very active in the civil rights movement, and so if we can continue to play a role in spurring some type of a national dialogue as it relates to voting rights, I think we’d be really proud of that.”
It will be interesting to watch if other cities in Ohio or beyond pick up this idea and run with it. And we can hope that it is enough to keep turtle/senator Mitch McConnell out of the state. Assume he is as opposed to amusement parks as he is democracy.
Banner photo credit: City of Sandusky
