LEBANON — On Tuesday, Greater Cincinnati voters will select hundreds of council and school board members and township trustees.

        These are not the dramatic elections they'll tell their grandchildren about in 40 years: “Back in '01, I voted for Dan George and Dan Jones, who had no competition, to be re-elected Turtlecreek Township trustees.”

        Still, these often little-noticed boards are the ones that decide which roads will be paved, when sidewalks will be built, how much water will cost and what our children will learn.

        “They make our decisions around here,” Jo Ann Berryman says of the elected officials in Lebanon, where she has lived 40 of her 72 years. ""We're not always happy, but if you don't vote you can't complain.”

        Local elections don't usually attract as many voters as presidential races. Turnout for 2000's Bush-Gore contest — ranging from 61 percent in Clermont County to 73 percent in Warren County — was roughly twice that for 1999 municipal and township elections.

        Some people will never vote unless it's a presidential election, Ms. Moore says.

        Amy Duncan, 31, of Lebanon is in that category.

        “I have no plan on voting,” she says. Local politics “just doesn't interest me.”

        Still, it depends on the place and the competition. While Turtlecreek's uncontested race probably won't generate lines at the polling booths Tuesday, neighboring Lebanon, Mason and Deerfield Township are another matter. The fast-growing communities have an average of two to three candidates for every open seat this year.

Check candidates and issues in four counties

        “Normally, when there are a lot of candidates running, there's something (controversial) going on,” says Bev Moore, director of the Warren County Board of Elections. “Eight candidates for an office is certainly going to attract more interest than two candidates for an office.”

        Not to mention the factor that really puts the “local” in local elections: “If you've got eight people, they've all got families, they've all got friends,” Ms. Moore notes.

        In Lebanon, Ms. Berryman knows Board of Education candidate Jackson Hedges and City Council candidate Amy Brewer.

        Another resident, Jerry Lake, 39, is among hundreds of potential voters who had council candidate James Norris II as a history teacher.

        “I don't know what his political party is or anything like that, but he is a very nice person — and educated,” Mr. Lake says.

        Ms. Berryman and Mr. Lake consider it their civic duty to vote, although Ms. Berrymanadmits missing a local election here and there over the years.

        Those who vote can change the course of history in their communities.

        A 1998 recall election in Lebanon attracted 2,079 voters out of some 15,000 residents. The 1,217 votes cast to recall Councilwoman Mary-Ann Cole shifted the balance of power on a controversial plan to build a city telecommunications system. Construction got under way shortly after her ouster.

        The system has added about $13 million to the city's debt but also lowered cable television fees. In the coming months, it will lead to local phone competition.

        It's not always easy for voters to make informed decisions. TV news does not regularly cover all 168 school boards, cities, villages and townships that have races in Butler, Clermont, Warren and Hamilton counties Tuesday. (Kentucky and Indiana don't have elections this November.)

        “You don't hear what Amy Brewer's doing,” Mr. Lake says in Lebanon. “You hear what Charlie Luken does, but you don't hear about the other people.”

        Still, he educates himself through campaign literature and knowledgeable friends.

        Councilman Ben Cole — who is not up for re-election this year — hopes Sept. 11 will make those who don't usually vote think again.

        “It means a little more this year,” he says. “I think that everyone's taking the freedoms we enjoy a little more seriously” — including, hopefully, the right to vote.

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