Local Government participation has been bad for decades
l3wis Well, it only took a few days, but a local politician had to go there;
“We are finding it very hard to get people who want to put their hand in the air and serve,” TenHaken said. “Who would want to serve? Who would want to step up and lead, especially when you see things like what happened in the last 24 hours? Who would want to be bold and be a leader? And what that’s creating is a big leadership gap that we have right now.”
Participation by young folks in local politics has been bad for decades and I am not sure what the answer is. I know that trying to eliminate the city workforce of anyone over 50 in the union ranks may not be the best approach, or trying to compare the recent murder of a political activist as to why people shy away from local politics, or maybe it is because we have a closed government that can’t even be transparent about a mural!
I have ran many campaigns for council, some Repugs, some Dems, each election cycle presents new challenges as to WHO is paying attention and how to reach out to those folks. If there is one constant in political races, it is constant change and you need to adapt. I don’t think young people are as concerned about their safety as older people are at political events. I think what keeps participation low in local government is our low unemployment rate. Why do we have such a low rate? Because most people have 2-3 jobs to make ends meet, and when you are constantly working, you don’t have time for much else, and in your free time, it is highly unlikely you will be watching city council meetings or attending a protest. Because as a right to work state with little rights to organize for better wages and a terrible social safety net from the state, people are forced to work whether it is good for them or not.
Local government participation is low, that has been obvious for decades, but I’m not sure recent events sparked this disinterest, this cake has been baking for quite awhile, and Poops is one of the original chefs.
