Submitted by Jason Medley.
Grass root initiatives are a thing of the past. The average person is hard pressed in our society to make a change; the deck is stacked against them. All outlets to reach people are controlled by agenda driven leadership, even at the local level. So, how does one affect change?
Our leaders see what is happening in our communities. They see the homelessness issues, the crime, the violence, the drug abuse; but what have they done about these problems? They have done very little, if anything at all. This in turn creates frustration and hostility in the public who are paying their taxes to stop these problems. We continue to pay, the problems are not going away, In fact they are getting worse. How then do people get what they are paying for?
Citizens can write-in, call, email their Mayor and Councilmen. I actually have done just that. The Councilman I emailed had his assistant get back to me with a pacifying email. The Mayor never responded. I will say that I do respect the fact that the Councilman’s office did respond. The response was not respectable however. So what does a community do?
What would happen if 20 to 30 percent, or more of the property owners in Pierce County stopped paying their property taxes? I’m not talking forever here, I’m not that naive. What would happen when the next cycle of money came up 20 to 30 percent less? This is how you affect change! Our leadership would become extremely responsive without the ability to pay for operations. The one thing I do understand about government is that it is all predicated on money. Choking off that supply is the only true way to affect change. Think about it.
Am I crazy? Let me know. If you don’t want to do that in a public forum, the editor of this publication knows how to get ahold of me. I welcome all comments.
If I am understanding what you have written you are finding our elected officials are not listening to the boss “We The People”. You have made a start by contacting your elected officials. You continued the discussion by writing this article. What should you do next? Find like minded citizens and show up at city council, county council and local school board meetings. From your group of like minded citizens find an individual who will run for office, then support then in their campaign. As an elected official when I am questioned by by an individual who is part of “We The People” I remind them of the facts our votes have a consequence.
Speak up, encourage like minded citizens and vote. This is how our constitutional republic works to find the common good for citizens making up the collective boss “We The People.” Our governance system is the best unfortunately, it takes time and effort to see the desired results.
You have made a great start. Well done and keep making your voice heard.
Your frustration with the current state of affairs politically is wide spread. However there are several alternatives to “giving up”! Elections have consequences so your individual vote is important. You along with a lot of like minded voters can make a change politically by voting. But to really develop political power requires more than just individuals individually voting. It takes organization to focus all that energy into political power that politicians cannot ignore. It also takes people like you to step up and run for office and that starts at the local level for nonpartisan office such as school board and local council positions.
Why don’t people like your run for office, especially nonpartisan positions? There are three basic reasons and the reason that incumbents run unopposed in elections.
First, you lack an organization to support your candidacy. This is especially true of nonpartisan positions which cannot rely on the partisan support of established political parties (i.e. Republican or Democrat). Without that organizational support you may feel all alone in a strange environment, dependent upon just yourself and perhaps some friends. That is a very lonely place to be!
Then there is the matter of understanding how successful campaigns are run. That in itself is a daunting challenge. When you have no political experience you may become overwhelmed by having to “re-invent the wheel” when it comes to the “who, what, when, where and how” of campaigning. The entire concept of getting people to support your campaign with their vote, time and financially is foreign to most of us yet essential to winning.
Lastly there is the knowledge of issues. Most of us don’t have the time to delve deeply into political issues: we have real lives to live to spend a lot of time on politics. This is especially true with any attempt to run against an entrenched incumbent who you think must know everything about everything political; only that isn’t necessarily true but they’ll try to convince you of that.
So what’s the solution? Well there is an existing organization, Lakewood CARES that can provide you the organizational support as a launch pad for your candidacy, the ins and outs of successful campaigning and make you the expert on political issues. We’ve done it before helping elect/reelect three members to the Lakewood City Council and most recently Director David Anderson to the Clover Park School District Board.
Why not see how Lakewood CARES can help change the political landscape and make you part of the change whether as a supporter, member, candidate or ultimately elected official? If this piques your interest please contact John Arbeeny at 2153-584-3606 for more information.