In his most recent newsletter to residents, Peninsula Property Owners Association President Jim Duke reminded neighbors that this is an election year, and PPOA members should exercise their voting power to remind candidates that they, indeed, are relevant.

And while it’s true that folks who live off both sides of Jetton Road pay a big chunk of the town’s property taxes, Talkers note that an election in which there are only six candidates, four of them incumbents, Peninsulators aren’t likely to effect significant change of the board’s philosophy, which can best be described on this issue as reticent.

If lawfully requested by residents, the town must install standard street lighting — wooden poles and gooseneck light fixtures. Town policy requires that the cost of decorative street lights, the cost beyond standard fixtures, must be borne by homeowners associations. But Duke and some others want specialty pedestrian lighting, for which there is no policy. The Peninsula has also withdrawn an offer to help pay for pedestrian lights.

The biggest problem the town faces is that, if it were to pay for installing pedestrian lighting on Jetton Road, whatever standards it uses to create a policy would have to be applied elsewhere. What’s good for The Peninsula is good for Smithville, for example.

But in his newsletter, Duke took a different tack. He said the needs of lake residents need not fbe “marginalized” and that elected officials need to be reminded that “what’s good for The Peninsula is good for Cornelius.”

Will Peninsulators soon be tossing tea into Lake Norman off the docks at the Peninsula Yacht Club?