There are few things I enjoy more than a presidential election year. When I turned 18, I could not wait until I could register to vote. I was lucky enough to turn legal voting age in a historic presidential election year, 1984. It was the first time a major party nominated a woman to run for vice-president. 2008 could be the year that a woman is nominated by a major party to run for president.
 As interesting as the presidential race will be, we can be assured of a lively race for congress in our area. The likely candidates will be Jon Powers and Tom Reynolds. Since the race will be a close one we can rest assured that we will be seeing and hearing a lot from both of them. At the state level, we will likely see Steve Hawley and George Maziarz cruise to easy victories.
 2008 also means some changes at the county legislature. Gary Kent and Lynn Johnson will take over for Don Allport and Jack Beedon. I hope that Kent and Johnson can do something about the runaway spending at the county level. Evidently George Bower has indicated he probably won’t run again in two years so I can’t see where it makes sense to keep him on as chairperson. The Chief Administrative Officer needs to be made an elected post and there are indications that there will be a concerted effort to make that happen.
 In the Village of Albion, two trustees will be leaving and that means that even if you do not live in the Village of Albion you will witness an interesting campaign. Unfortunately, there is no early indication as to who will be running other than Fred Miller. I have heard that Miller has invested a lot of time familiarizing himself with the Village government and attending a lot of meetings. Miller will probably run again as a Democrat and that leaves another position on the ticket open and two spots for the Republicans.
 As the year unfolds, I will be commenting on local and national races along with issues that pop up from time to time. I do not expect everyone to agree with me all of the time but I assure you that I do not support candidates unless I have researched their stand on the issues or I know them on a personal level and they have earned my vote.
 One final note on bias, an issue that was raised recently in a letter to the editor from Troy Callard along with the tried and true “liberal press” line. By its nature, an opinion piece has to present an opinion or it would be considered a news story. I do not pretend to be an unbiased observer but I will say with confidence that nobody has ever challenged the accuracy of one of my columns and I have been blessed with a few fan letters along the way from both sides of the political fence.
 I understand Troy Callard’s frustration with what he perceived as an attack on his father because I have a son who wanted to fire off some letters to the editor when he felt that I was being maligned. I have met Dave Callard and his wife and I really liked them as individuals. They were courteous and polite and since I had a background in banking and in education, we had a lot in common. That still does not change my opinion of the way he has done his job as county legislator. I think the entire county legislature has avoided taking responsibility for huge property tax increases. I know that I could back up my statement with a list of supporting facts.
 I will assure all of my readers over the next year that I take my responsibility as a columnist-note that I am not claiming to be a reporter-very seriously. If I am wrong, I will admit it.
 Thanks again to all of my faithful readers for an interesting 2007. I’ll see you next year.