Last week was a special time for civics in Niagara County with candidates and voters alike partaking in the truly American ways of the republic style of governance. The week (and all weeks leading up to it) was fraught with excitement.

On Tuesday we finally saw the outcome of the most hotly-contested local election cycle this county has ever seen. For the past twelve months, individuals from one end of the county to the other duked it out for control of municipal and county government. In the West we had a Battle Royale for the mayoral throne in Niagara Falls, a city that for decades has been begging for some semblance of leadership. In the East we had a very heated, well-followed rumble for council and supervisory positions in Royalton, a town trying to come out of the darkest period in its 190-year history. And, to cap it all off, in every nook and cranny of this great county we saw the Republicans and Democrats battling for control of the legislature, the GOP staging an unprecedented domination amidst the all of the he-said-she-said chaos.

While this all occurred the good citizens of the county were given an icing atop this cake. The state leadership of the Libertarian Party – one of the "third" parties – gave birth to the Niagara County Libertarian Party. This was a direct result of the efforts of WLVL’s controversial-yet-beloved Scott Leffler, a man who truly loves the county and wants it to become something special, as prosperous as it was just a handful of decades ago.

The Libertarian Party will add balance to County politics, offering the voters an alternative to the same old same old. Having a third party (why stop at three?) independent of the other two is so unlike what currently takes place in our fusion-happy yet divisive local ways. God bless the Democrats and Republicans all, but our county – no, our whole nation! – has been divided too harshly because of the two party system, a system that unfortunately demands the individual to be associated with issues and the trappings of government that he or she may not support in earnest. The Libertarian Party will give people an outlet for their frustrations and someplace to escape the hateful labels the two parties place upon one another.

And, what a great outlet it is. It is one I have accepted with open arms. Throughout the years of my adult life I became increasingly disenchanted with the Republican Party. It was supposed to be a party that best represented my politically-conservative ways. Its core values were touted as "small government" and "low taxes" but I found it was transforming into nothing of the sort with the GOP at all levels of government – state and federal especially – taking our rights, spending highly, and becoming a mirror image of the Big Government Democrats. So, I left the party and took my Constitution with me, looking for a new home.

That’s where the Libertarian Party came in. I found solace in it, a majority of its philosophies mirroring mine. The party – created in the mold of Thomas Jefferson and derived from "liberty" – is heavy on hands-off economics, small government, personal rights (naturally and Constitutionally), and self-responsibility.

That same disgust in the party of one’s youth is what made lifelong Democrat Scott Leffler become a Libertarian and a keen voice of its ways. Some people may look at this quizzically: As Conservative as I am politically and socially, Leffler has always been perceived as the contrary, many people calling him "that liberal talk show host". Despite that impasse, and the ire we may have shared in the old ways of two-party labeling, we are able to come to agreements within the Libertarian Party, a melting pot of the various principles that define the best of the civics offered by the other parties.

That’s why the LP may be the route for you to take as well. If you are put-off by where your party has been and where it is going, if you can no longer take the conflict associated with two-party belief systems and you want to work together rather than work against people of alternative views, join the party. America is a big country, one with big responsibilities and an unknown Tomorrow. We all need a third party to right the ship and keep political discourse - and governmental action – varied, vibrant, and effective.