They will be ready.

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Where will you be?

Will you find time during the 13 hours the polls are open to cast your ballot and make your choice in the municipal election?

You must. We urge you to make the time and make the effort. Our Valley community’s future will be set on course, good or bad, by the people we elect to public office Tuesday.

The Western author Louis L’Amour wrote a handful of words reminding us of our role — “To make democracy work, we must be a notion of participants, not simply observers. One who does not vote has no right to complain.”

And there has been a lot of complaining over the past couple of years. The Sound off! line has burned with gripes about the Randy Parton fiasco, the need to clean up Valley communities, moans of the quality of education, worries about services in both counties, objections to a lack of government services and seemingly endless grumbling over taxes and tax rates.

The question now is will all those people who have been busy complaining and those who have defended various local policies and programs get up and do their job as citizens? Will they vote?

You must.

Mari-Luci Jaramillo grew up working at a shoeshine stand and cleaning houses. She went on to be a leading educator and U.S. ambassador to Honduras. She understands the power of the ballot — “Personally, I believe that our American system works as long as you participate in it. You must vote and make your voice heard. Otherwise you will be left out.”

On the ballot Tuesday are several mayoral races and dozens of seats on city and town councils, the Roanoke Rapids Graded Schools District board and the Roanoke Rapids Sanitary District Board of Directors.

Each one of these offices is important. The people elected to these jobs will set policy, make spending decisions, set fees and fines and decide how much you will pay in taxes. They will have an influence on your life and the lives of your children, your family and your neighbors. They will chart our community and our Valley’s direction for the next few years and beyond.

Go to the polls. Cast your ballot. Be a citizen. You owe it to yourself, your family and the countless men and women who have given their treasures and their lives for your freedom to make a choice.

Vote Tuesday. It’s the right thing to do.

Editor’s note: The polls will be open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. For more on the election see the story on the front page and the election package the Valley Votes 2009 beginning on page 9.