Odd-year elections in Washington state – dominated by local races for city council and school board – are in some ways a wonderful respite from the even-numbered years when we’re bombarded with slick television commercials and loud partisan debate.

But local elections are no less important. Their outcome affects the future of the communities we live in and the schools our children attend.

The News Tribune feels a special responsibility to inform voters about local elections because in these races we are one of far fewer sources of information.

This year, we have two local news editors and about 10 reporters covering elections. That sounds like a lot of people, but they’re also busy providing all the other community coverage readers expect.

The team began tracking the ballot in June as candidates file for office and covered contested races in advance of the Aug. 18 primary election. On Aug. 19, they began planning for the general election.

In Pierce County alone, the Nov. 3 ballot will have two state measures; three county measures; three contested races for Port of Tacoma commissioner; 44 contested city and town races; 11 contested school board races; eight contested races for fire district commissioners; three for park commissioners and one for water commissioner.

Add a handful of resolutions in smaller jurisdictions and King County races that affect our readers, and it adds up to more races than we can write stories about. So we provide other avenues.

This year, our online election guide – and the print version you will receive in your paper next Sunday – offers information about candidates in 69 contested races. Like the official county election guide, ours gives you biographical information and allows candidates to provide a statement. We also ask candidates to answer questions specific to each race.

Our questions to University Place council candidates, for instance, ask: Should the city continue its Town Center project? How should U.P. prepare to host the 2015 U.S. Open at Chambers Bay Golf Course? And what should the city do to preserve historic properties such as the Curran Apple Orchard house?

Responses to questions such as those help differentiate candidates on matters of local significance and make our guide one step better than the county’s, we believe.

Beyond the election guide, we’re running stories about races in the larger jurisdictions. We also will break election news in the paper and on our online blog, Political Buzz, as we track campaign expenditures, monitor debates and follow up on news tips. Today’s front-page story on the involvement of fire and police unions in Tacoma city elections is an example of that.

Not everything we learn about candidates makes its way into print. We strive to tell readers about a candidate’s fitness for office, in addition to his or her stand on local issues, but we stick to information we believe is relevant.

Down the hall from the newsroom, our three editorial writers also are busy. Since June, they have done 85 one-on-one candidate interviews and are interviewing groups pushing or opposing ballot measures, including both sides of Initiative 1033 and opponents of the Pierce County charter amendments.

Notes from their interviews, along with our collective knowledge about local issues, helps the full six-member editorial board make endorsements, including today’s endorsement for Tacoma mayor.

Endorsing candidates, when done carefully, is a labor-intensive job that riles as many readers as it pleases.

Editorial page editor Pat O’Callahan sums up why we do it: “We have a lot to say about what’s happening in the South Sound all year long, and we aren’t suddenly going to go silent when it comes to picking the policymakers who set the priorities and spend the public’s money.”

So that’s our election package this year:

 • The TNT Election Guide available now at thenewstribune.com and in your Oct. 18 paper.

 • Election stories in the paper and online on our Political Buzz blog.

 • Endorsements on the editorial page and online, with roundups in each Sunday’s paper beginning Oct. 18.

We encourage you to seek election information, as well, from other media, the county and candidate Web sites. Most of all, we encourage you to inform yourself and to vote.

Karen Peterson: 253-597-8434

karen.peterson@thenewstribune.com