Skipping class? No excuses for wannabe school board members missing candidate forum
Fool me once, shame on you…We’ve seen too many stunts to allow our democratic status quo to continue. Let’s hold officials and candidates accountable and revive a spirit of good governance.
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Kevin Frazier edits The Oregon Way. He also runs No One Left Offline, a nonprofit focused on closing the digital divide. After graduating from the UO, he worked in state government and for Google.
In an age of staged ads, sensational social media posts, and scripted videos, there’s nothing more important than seeing candidates in “the wild.” Yet, four candidates for the Bend-La Pine School Board appear to be opting out of the League Of Women Voters (LWV) and City Club of Central Oregon's virtual forum on Thursday (pre-recorded on today at 5:30pm). Regardless of who ultimately wins the seats up for election, this “skip” would be a loss for our civic fabric.
According to The Bend Bulletin, “[t]he other four Bend-La Pine board candidates — incumbent Carrie McPherson Douglass and newcomers Marcus LeGrand, Janet Sarai Llerandi and Shirley Olson — have all confirmed their participation in the forum.” Their participation should be applauded and rewarded by the electorate.
Voters deserve transparency from everyone who is seeking to earn their trust. By neglecting to show up in a neutral forum intended to help voters assess the caliber of each candidate, the four folks ghosting their potential constitutents are sending a clear signal about how they’d govern.
The Bulletin reported that the missing four apparently identify as Republicans, but regardless of affiliation, this is unacceptable behavior. The LWV and City Club are doing a civic service by trying to give voters a glimpse behind the curtain of the modern campaign, which tends to operate more like the Wizard of Oz than Honest Abe.
Voters also deserve robust conversations about the issues instead of articles trying to figure out the motives of four rogue candidates. These sort of stunts have become all too common and all too distracting. It’s critical that voters understand how these potential school board members can handle tense moments, respond to arguments rather than individuals, and evaluate difficult policy tradeoffs. Thankfully, at least four candidates will give voters such an opportunity.
This episode should serve as a kick in the pants to Oregonians around the state — we ought to expect more from our officials, as well as from our fellow voters and our civic institutions. From our officials, transparency is essential — not only in responding to crises, but also in the day-to-day task of keeping community members engaged.
From our fellow voters, participation should be expected. With so much at stake, we ought to help our neighbors and friends stay up to date on what’s going on so that come election day, everyone is fully prepared to make an informed decision about what’s best for their community and Oregon as a whole.
From our civic institutions, meaningful forums should be the norm. I trust that the LWV and City Club will do an excellent job of guiding the candidates through a substantive discussion of the issues. I sincerely hope that no attention will be paid to the four empty chairs.
Though I am a staunch advocate for legal changes to our electoral system to promote a more inclusive and competitive democracy, ultimately the most important factor to a strong democracy is its norms. Over the past decades, many of those norms have been tarnished or forgotten. Restoring those norms — robust forums, honest discussions, and fair campaigns, among many others — is something that’s within the power of we, the people.
Fool me once, shame on you…We’ve seen too many stunts to allow our democratic status quo to continue. Let’s hold officials and candidates accountable and revive a spirit of good governance.
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