YDF Grant Encourages Greater Civic Engagement by Local Youth

Let’s go on an election year scavenger hunt. First one to get a photo of all these items wins. Ready? Okay. Take a photo of a Republican pothole on your street. Next, a Democrat pizza box. A Republican dentist office. A Democrat snowplow. A Republican fire hydrant. A Democrat elementary school. You get the point, right? Living our everyday lives in our local communities, the hype on social media regarding elections will likely have little, if any, real impact once the elections are over. Most of us are concerned about LOCAL priorities: Quality education for kids in our neighborhoods; Police and Fire personnel who protect us; Business owners who bring value to our communities; Community leaders that look out for us. At the community level, we share similar goals that are not exclusive to a particular political party. School board members, city council representatives, alderpersons, mayors and county board supervisors are not partisan offices because those leaders need to serve the majority of their citizens and not just a select group. At the state and federal levels, partisan division in Wisconsin, like many states, is at an all time high. That will likely be demonstrated again in November, although there is hope that some issues may be causing us to rethink our positions. Feelings on things like high voltage power lines, power generation facilities, data centers, land use and more are crossing traditional party lines and people are looking to elected officials for leadership on the issues that affect them rather than just towing a party line. That’s fantastic news. Along the same line, some folks in Rock County will see five referendum questions on their ballot. If you consider the real “ask” of those questions and not the political spin around discussions of them, you will quickly see their passage or failure will also have an impact on your life and your financial situation (in the case of school referendums).

There’s good news in Rock County and the surrounding areas this election season, but it has very little to do with the people on the ballot this fall. This fall’s election is all about politicians. State and Federal candidates will all promise to make your world better, only to get reshaped by the hyper-partisanship that exists at that level. “But, Bill,” you say, “you told us there was good news.” There is. But to see it, we might have to look beyond partisan politics and personal feelings. Locally, the data center debate has stirred strong emotional responses between those for and against such projects. But something else has also happened. The people rediscovered that local government officials are elected to serve them!

Let freedom ring!! As we celebrate America’s 250th birthday we would do ourselves well to consider the freedoms the founders of our nation envisioned and whether that vision is still clear. I was reminded recently of how easy it can be to let the constant social-political noise of (social) media cloud our thoughts and feelings. That sentiment was further backed up by a few recent reports I’ve read as the world comes to America for the World Cup. Many visitors are simply fascinated by our way of life, our opportunities and our culture. What would our viewpoints be if we encountered our country for the first time over this holiday from somewhere far off?