OK, so there's not a contested race for Gloucester's mayoral seat this time around. And, yes, two of the key races — for at-large seats on the City Council and for School Committee — will result in all but one candidate in each race actually winning election.

But if you think there's no need to go to the city's polls today, you're sorely mistaken.

The truth is, Gloucester voters have some important choices to make that will indeed affect the city's course over the next two years. That's true for all of the races — from the at-large battle among five high-profile City Council candidates, through the School Committee race, where two challenges are making their case to be part of the board. It's especially true in the Ward 2 race, where Ann Frontier Mulcahey and Roger Hussey are squaring off for the chance to succeed 34-year Councilor John "Gus" Foote. And it's equally true in deciding the fate of a referendum question asking how Gloucester can carry out its search for a permanent police chief.

Indeed, the makeup of some key races — with the likely narrow difference between a fourth- and fifth-place finish deciding the council-at-large race, and the margin between sixth and seventh providing the difference in the School Committee race, make it perhaps more likely than ever that every single vote will be important.

That means yours. Don't leave today's decisions to your neighbors, your co-workers and others. Get out to the polls and make sure your voice is part of the decision-making process.