Mark Parent
Opinions Editor

Did you know there was a city council election in Greensboro last week?

Odds are, you didn’t. Of course, for millennials, this isn’t a surprise.

You see, millennials are notorious for being apathetic. Of course, the only reason I say that is because millennials are so apathetic that they’re unaware of their apathy.

In the last major elections, which took place in November 2014, a truly awful 21 percent of voters aged 18 to 29 participated.

To just about anyone on a college campus, this should be especially concerning. I mean, seriously, every day we’re bombarded by the harsh realities of politics. In fact, I’m willing to bet that you’ve heard Donald Trump’s name in a conversation every single day for the last six months.

Well, maybe that’s a bad example; he’s just too damn entertaining.

Nevertheless, it is hard to avoid politics in college. So whether you’re feeling the Bern, ready for Hillary or are making travel arrangements to Marco Rubio’s inauguration in January 2017, it’s likely that politics is playing some kind of role in your daily life.

For me, this is why I find millennial apathy to be so perplexing. You would assume that with our access to unlimited amounts of information, that we’d all hit up our voting precinct immediately after brunch.

But, this never happens.

After all, it’s a lot easier to tweet your support for a candidate than to actually show up and vote for that person.

This brings me back to the election that was held last week in Greensboro. For those of you who don’t know, the entire city council and the mayor were on the ballot. And on top of that, there was a referendum on whether the term-limits for city councilmembers should be extended from two to four years.

As I walked into my voting precinct at around lunchtime, I couldn’t believe that I was the only person casting a ballot. That’s right, I was the only one exercising my constitutional right to vote.

Forget the fact that most of human history has been marked by tyranny where the mere thought of voting in a free and fair election was preposterous.

Anyway, it was further troubling to realize that in city elections, the only people who really care enough to vote are old people. Now, I know that may sound snarky, but it’s true.

Certainly, participation in local elections, which occur in an off year, is pretty hard to come by. In fact, if you didn’t read the News and Record every day and watch some local news, then it’s pretty likely that you didn’t even know a citywide election was taking place.

Of course, this doesn’t matter. You have a responsibility to stay informed and engaged in your community.Simply put, local government has a greater influence on your daily life than both the state and federal governments. Please consider that members of city council determine everything from zoning to property taxes to tax credits for business to street names — I’m still bothered by the renaming of High Point Road to Gate City Boulevard.

So, when fewer than 10 percent of registered voters in the city of Greensboro show up to perform their civic duty, it shows a level of disengagement and apathy that is truly astounding.

Furthermore, it allows politicians to pander to a specific voting base and act in a truly unaccountable fashion. For instance, Nancy Hoffman in the fourth city district ran unopposed for reelection. Call me crazy, but Councilwoman Hoffman’s liberalism is not universally praised in her district — I know this, because I live in her district.

But it’s not just Hoffman. In fact, there is only one conservative on the whole council.

To make matters worse, this is the same group of individuals who spent $20,000 suing the state over redistricting. Ironically, if a district judge appointed by President Obama had not held up that legislation, four of the nine city council members would have been out of a job today.

Politics aside, it’s beyond reason that a city council beset by political infighting and partisan bickering can be reelected en masse.

Yet, that’s precisely what happens when apathy reigns supreme.

So, to all of the young millennials that didn’t vote in 2012, 2014 or last week, please vote!