Opinion - Who Are You Candidates For Mayor and Elk Grove City Council; What Makes You Qualified?



August 21, 2016 |

The presidential campaign is in full swing with less than 80 calendar days left before voters go to the polls to cast their ballots and decide who will be the 45th president of the United States and leader of the free world. There are three scheduled presidential debates. The first is on September 26, 2016 in Hempstead, New York at Hofstra University. The last one is on October 19, 2016 at UNLV in Las Vegas, Nevada, less than three weeks before election day.

Elk Grove voters deserve no less than to hear their mayoral and City Council candidates also engage in a healthy political discourse. After all, what do we really know about our candidates and what they stand for? We can’t learn much from someone based on glossy mailers, flyers, Facebook pages, and prepared media statements.

Voters who are undecided or on the fence will find these forums hopefully valuable for providing additional insight into the candidates and their ideas and plans to move the City forward. Cross your fingers the answers to questions will be short on rhetoric and long on substance. Much can be gleaned from a candidate when they are put on the spot and have to think on their feet. We need leaders who can demonstrate good, sound judgement, have good moral character, and have critical thinking skills to solve issues the City faces now and for future generations. 

We need leaders who have a vision for the City and who can articulate that vision, not just regurgitate a jobs and housing plan. Elk Grove desperately needs a leader that can inspire others and bring together divergent perspectives to find common ground and common sense.

John Quincy Adams, one of America’s Founding Fathers, said,If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.”

Who are you Kevin Spease, Tracie Stafford, and Garrett Smith? Who are you Steve Ly, Michael Monasky, and Joel Broussard? I don’t know you Jrmar Jefferson. Who are you? For the rest of the council candidates, who are you? What makes you qualified to be a leader of a fast growing city of 160,000 plus residents?

Atticus Finch





Follow Us

Popular

Archives

Elk Grove News Minute






All previous Elk Grove News Minutes, interviews, and Dan Schmitt's Ya' Gotta be Schmittin' Me podcasts are now available on iTunes

Elk Grove News Podcast




item