Can you handle another election?
This year, you may have already voted for for county board and the house of delegates, and there's a presidential election coming, if you haven't heard.
But now is your chance for a different sort of election. You can join in the nominations for the annual People's Choice ABBIES. Voting opened Wednesday and runs through Oct. 17. They are presented by Arlington Economic Development.
Go ahead and be partisan. Pick your favorite cheap eats and the place you think has the best customer service. This is no time to be "independent," you have to choose.
Final voting runs Oct. 17 to Nov. 3. Only one vote per IP address.
The County Board will announce the winners at its Tuesday, Nov. 27 meeting, broadcast live on Arlington TV.
Now this is all good and fun, but it's also the second time of late I've gotten [teed]-off at that fact that a certain other online news outlet gets its name listed on a county-fueled survey.
I have no doubt that about 1,000 percent more people will have heard about the ABBIEs from other online news sites than have heard of them here. But the ABBIE officials might let people say that on their own rather than giving one certain website a free ad. (How much of my tax money funds that simple web page again?)
The name pops up in a survey asking "tell us where you heard about the People's Choice ABBIES." The survey lists all the county-funded newsletters by name, yet it says "newspaper" without mentioning the name of any particular paper. If you found the ABBIES here or at another online website, you would be forced to choose "Website" as your answer.
Yet one particular news website stands named alone.
Why does one company get its name listed and the rest of us don't? If that company is a corporate sponsor of the event, shouldn't that be listed someplace? Is that company still allowed to win an ABBIE if it is a corporate sponsor?
What gives ABBIE? Sheesh.
