Why wait till fall when you can have it all — right here, right now.

I’m referring to silly season, the time of the year when wannabe politicians gear up to take a shot at the incumbents. And for city of Dunkirk residents, this year is going to be a real horse race right down to the wire.

So there is no time like the present to start paying attention to all the political shenanigans for which our fair city is so well-known.

Take, for example, political neophyte Frank Beach’s participation in the Memorial Day Parade. Put the brakes on, please, Mr. Beach. You are a candidate, not a public official. As such, you are still a private citizen and have no more right to toss that candy than I do. And anybody scooping up your candy is too young to vote for you anyway.

Another head-shaker is the debacle involving registered Independence Party member Paul VanDenVouver, who is running for councilman-at-large. The bizarre “oopsy” on the part of Chautauqua County Independence Party Chairman Thomas Shagla calls for “a willing suspension of disbelief.” Seems Mr. Shagla awarded the Independence line on the ballot to Democrat Frank Beach two weeks before the deadline, while protesting after the fact that he had no idea Paul was running.

Ironically, Paul ran on the Independence line as a Democrat when he previously served as Third Ward Councilman.

Does this latest political fiasco strike you as eerily familiar to the source of contention between First Ward council candidates Dennis Welka and Don Williams? They locked horns earlier over the shady way a referendum to lengthen the council term from two to four years was postponed. Yet another “oopsy” explained away by Chautauqua County Democratic Elections Commissioner Norm Green as a “lack of communication.”

In my neck of the woods, Fourth Ward Councilman Mike Civiletto already is more than aware that he has a formidable opponent in Nancy Nichols. Nancy believes in coming out swinging and telling it like it is. I like that. A section of the pier by the boat launch was improved on by her late husband, Jim Nichols, and local businesses in 2011 to give fishermen a place to relax. Nancy had no problem lashing out at the mayor and current council at a recent council meeting where she lamented, “to look there now, that wonderful place no longer exists. Instead of working around the area, you chose to destroy what blood, sweat and local money created — because it didn’t fit in your plan.”

All of the above is a mere prelude, folks. Silly season is just warming up. But my advice is to hop aboard now so you don’t miss out an any of the drama. If you are eligible to vote in the primary on June 25, by all means do so. Every vote counts and elections as well as primaries have been won or lost by a single vote.

Mary Ann Herrington is a Dunkirk resident and a regular contributor to the OBSERVER.