Election Day is Nov. 3.

Frankly, I'm looking forward to Nov. 4.

I've always had an intense dislike for campaigning and the circus that it has become.

I'm guessing that more than a few of my neighbors feel the same way.

Eighty-seven percent of them chose not to vote in the last municipal election.

Across Wake County, only 11 percent of registered voters cast ballots in municipal elections.

Compare that to the 75 percent who voted in the presidential elections the very next year.

We all recognize the responsibility and duty we have to elect our national and state representatives.

Yet we fail to understand that the decisions we make about our local representatives many times have an even greater impact on our property values, the local economy and our quality of life.

It's not too tough to learn about the candidates.

Aside from recent local candidate forums and what you read in the paper, most candidates have Web sites.

And all of them should be welcoming of your phone calls, letters and e-mail messages.

It takes only a few minutes to cast your ballot.

It's painless, costs nothing and is a direct investment in the future of our town and your quality of life.

Please help us all by exercising your right to vote on Tuesday.

Peter Atwell Holly Springs

The author is a former member of the Holly Springs Town Council.

Veridea and small-town charm

Thank you for a thorough overview of the Veridea proposal in your Oct. 21 editions. I have heard little about this massive project and appreciate your report.

The developer's total disregard for town standards is amazingly arrogant.

The Unified Development Ordinance was adopted to guide future development in the town so that consistent, organized and appealing growth can occur.

For developer Tom Hendrickson to suggest we throw the rules out to accommodate his project, no matter how large, is short-sighted at best.

The residents that currently call Apex home will bear the cost, both in supporting the infrastructure for this behemoth and in the loss of the small town charm that drew us to this area.

I hope town planners, staff and council apply strict guidelines to this project as they would for any other.

Melissa Griffin Apex

Veridea and small supplies of water

In the last severe drought all our lakes were dangerously low.

Raleigh, Cary and Apex had to limit their use of water.

When it comes to Veridea, my question to the Apex Town Council is: Where are the additional 8,000 homes going to get their water when we have another severe drought?

Let's not forget that we are already over 9 inches below normal in this area.

Joseph Bufalini Cary

The unluckiness of black cats

Regarding the Oct. 28 article "Myth dogs cats":

We adopted two black cats a few years and love them dearly to this day.

Some people out there take black cats for the wrong reason over Halloween. Horrible thought.

Their names were Frank and Stein but we have since changed them to Comet and Ajax.

Hopefully your article will raise awareness and take away the silliness of a pure black cat.

Shelley Jaffe Cary