1,007 votes and counting

How convenient! You can vote for up to four of your favorite Brentwood City Commission candidates and pick up a slew of summer reading material all at the same time this weekend.
According to the Williamson County Election Commission, 1007 Brentwood citizens had cast votes either by mail or at early voting stations through Thursday. With five days left to vote early and our official Election Day on May 5 ahead, I'm hopeful we can at least reach 5,000.
Tell you what: I'll call five of my friends and you call five of your friends who can call five of their friends to remind all who are registered to be sure to vote. Better yet, let's make it 10. These don't have to be campaign calls, in fact, we don't even have to mention the candidates. We just need to remind everyone that each voter can cast up to four votes and how important it is that all Brentwood residents -- old-timers, newcomers, seniors of both the mature and high school variety, young professionals and longtime business people -- are represented in the election. Remember, our population is inching close to 36,000; expecting 5,000 votes is not too much to hope for.
And as we clearly learned in 2007, each vote counts.
In the last city election, candidates Betsy Crossley and Paul Ross each received 1,740 votes, resulting in a costly runoff. I can't count the number of people I talked to afterward who said, "I really like Betsy and meant to vote," or "I told Paul I'd vote for him but never made it to the polls." All said they regretted not making the effort.
Early voting continues at the Brentwood Library, 8109 Concord Road, and the city's Municipal Building today untl 6 p.m., Saturday from 8 a.m.-noon, and next Monday-Thursday from 7 a.m.-6 p.m. If you work in Franklin, ballots can also be cast at the Williamson County Election Commission Office, 1320 West Main Street, Suite 140.
And since the Friends of the Brentwood Library's book sale is ongoing today until 5 and tomorrow from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (when everything's half price!) it's a great opportunity to shop and vote at the same time.