Stop demonizing the “political agenda”
A political agenda, as defined by “The Practice of American Public Policymaking,” is a list of subjects or problems to which government officials as well as individuals outside the government are paying serious attention at any given time. Considering the modern connotation of the phrase, you might be surprised that there is no mention of ideological warfare, or corrupting the youth or communist propaganda. It is almost as if a political agenda is just… an agenda.
I have a political agenda. You, dear reader, likely have one too. In fact, anyone who gives a golly gee about the roads being paved or having a justice system in place does as well. However, our current school board candidates, specifically Amy Chen and Angie Simpson, claim not to have one. At the Tea Party Forum on Oct. 1, they vehemently denied having any political agenda whatsoever. I was confused: does that mean if they are elected they will have no ideas, plans or concerns to bring to the forefront of the school board?
Politicians have become intent on not being perceived as a politician. Whether you are a lawyer or scientist or parent, if you run for public office, you are now a politician. But every new politician is suddenly just an Average Joe — political agenda, who? However this mislabeling is playing a dangerous game of semantics that results in no discussion, debate or progress. Board candidates are too busy touting their goals of “listening to everyone” and “improving things”– no specifics, so no way to upset anyone. I have listened to countless board candidate interviews, read through their pamphlets and websites and attended their forums. In all that time, none of them have laid out concrete plans for the future.
The board candidates believe they can pacify constituents with blanket statements like “I value students’ input,” but when questioned about letting 17-year-olds vote in local elections, they swiftly dodge the question.
Polarization is inherent to any political issue: some people will agree and some will not. Not everything will come to a perfect compromise where everyone is happy — that is just not how the cookie crumbles. The solution is not to pretend the political field is devoid of politics. All that does is place a facade over reality and put a blockade in front of progress.
If you do not have plans more substantial than “listening,” please do not run for office. Listening is important, but a nine-year-old with a good attention span could do the same. We need candidates with political agendas that outline the issues they find important with specific solutions. Elected officials need to know what they are doing and what they want to do.
Constituents deserve to know exactly what the school board candidates’ political agendas are before Nov. 6.
