It may be an “off” election year for state and federal races, but there’s a very important local election at hand for the residents of Flathead County’s three incorporated cities.

Early voting for the Nov. 3 municipal election starts Wednesday for City Council races in Kalispell, Columbia Falls and Whitefish. City elections typically don’t have high voter turnout, but they should. The decisions made by these local governing bodies intimately affect the citizens in those communities. City Council members are tasked with difficult decisions: Should a high-density apartment complex be allowed in a quiet Whitefish neighborhood? How should parking be handled around the congested Flathead High School neighborhood? What incentives can be created to spur economic development in Columbia Falls?

During any given meeting, council members wrestle with all kinds of decisions that affect the citizenry. Parking, downtown redevelopment, affordable housing, tight budgets, street improvements, utility line upgrades, sign laws, law enforcement, fire protection — you name it and any council member who has served a four-year term probably has dealt with those and myriad other issues. And let’s remember it’s not easy to make decisions on controversial issues that often stand to divide a community. Our cities are still small towns, and council members are often our friends and neighbors.

What are the choices in this year’s city election?

Kalispell has only one contested race, in Ward 3. Karlene Osorio-Khor and Christopher Cunningham are challenging incumbent Rod Kuntz. The hot-button issues in that ward are the parking district created around Flathead High School and a forthcoming South Kalispell Urban Renewal Plan that will include a decision about the future of the Kalispell City Airport.

Whitefish has five candidates vying for three open council positions. Incumbents Richard Hildner and Frank Sweeney want to hold onto their seats another four years, while challengers Katie Williams, John Repke and Slaney Barton also want a chance to serve on the council. Barton told the Whitefish Pilot last week he was dropping out of the election because he had “too many irons in the fire,” so he didn’t participate in a candidate forum in Whitefish. But Barton is now back in the race. Ballots for Whitefish’s mail election will be sent out Wednesday.

Columbia Falls also has a five-way race for three seats, with incumbents Doug Karper and Darin Fisher seeking re-election. They will be challenged by Erick Robbins, John Piper and Tyler Furry.

It behooves all of us to pay attention to what’s happening in our communities. Local government may not have the sizzle of a presidential election or a hotly contested gubernatorial race, but it matters in so many ways. City councils decide quite literally what happens in our back yards, and those decisions are too important and too personal to leave to chance. Find your voice, and vote.