Archive: Opinions

I think I have a future as a starving political consultant.  The thing is that on the local level there is probably no money in it, but the local level is where it seems to be needed most.  Most people like talking about themselves, things they are interested in, or things they are doing.  That makes my job as a journalist fairly cushy when I'm doing 'Around Town' articles or business profiles.  But try to get a local politician to tell you what he or she has done recently, and you might as well be pulling teeth.

The Lansing Town Supervisor election a year and a half ago was what got me onto this particular high horse.  The sitting Supervisor Steve Farkas was fairly well liked, but a few issues -- the sewer initiative in particular -- had raised some hackles.  Even so, if they were betting on the Lansing election in Las Vegas, he would have been the one people bet on.

Except that he barely campaigned.  Opponent Scott Pinney's lawn signs appeared quite early in the season.  Farkas' appeared sparsely at the last minute.  Pinney outlined a campaign platform.  Farkas preferred to rest on his laurels.  Farkas had the laurels to rest on, but by not telling people about them I think he made a mistake.  Evidently I am right, because Pinney won.  But this isn't just a problem that Farkas had.  Few of the local politicians I have covered in Lansing have taken the organized, bullet-pointed approach that got Pinney elected.

Even Pinney was surprised when he won that election.  I don't think he sould have been too surprised.  He strategized about his campaign, he had an agenda, and he told people what it was.  It was a very close election, but I believe those things are what put him over the edge.

Last week when I asked for an appointment for a Village election interview I was told -- humorously? -- by a  candidate that I should just use the election interviews from last time, because the status quo is the goal in the Village.  In a way I agree with what he said about the status quo, since the Village seems to provide the services its citizens want at a low cost.  But somebody is maintaining that status quo, and whether it is a good thing or not people want to know what their elected officials are doing for them.

Even when an election is uncontested as the Village elections usually are, it is a good point in time to tell residents what you have been doing for them lately.  What specific acts helped maintain that status quo in the past term?  In this miserable economy, what ideas did that person have that helped the Village maintain good services at low cost?  How hard is it to list five things an elected official has done in two years to make his or her community better?

Most politicians I have talked to say they hate elections because they get in the way of doing their job for the electorate.  I can relate -- I feel the same way every time I try to update my resume.  But would I get a job if I didn't do that effectively?  Why should politicians?

Of course the ones I talk to about this also recognize that elections are integral to our system of government and the way those citizens have a voice in decisions that affect their lives.  When I vote for someone -- contested or not -- I want to know what a new guy will do for me in the next, two or four years, and in an incumbent's case I want to know what they did in the last term.  If candidates won't tell me these things who will?

That's what I resented about Richard Hanna's campaign against Congressman Arcuri last year -- he avoided telling us what he would actually do in favor of slamming what Arcuri was doing.  I understand that slamming is part of campaigning, but it should only be part.  I am not going to vote for someone who doesn't tell me why I should vote for him, and that why translates to what he would try to accomplish if elected.

Confucius said, "He who speaks without modesty will find it difficult to make his words good."  I agree, but when local politicians confuse modesty with quantifying their achievements and goals they are making a big mistake.   People who vote deserve to know what candidates have done and/or will do for them.  Candidates who don't tell them don't deserve the votes.

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