Youth Ask Tough Questions at Mayoral Candidate Forum
|
Tre Owes moderates at forum |
Youth Leadership groups from the Seattle Youth Violence Prevention Initiative (SYVPI) "did themselves proud Thursday evening, June 6, when they conducted the first-ever youth-hosted mayoral candidate forum at Rainier Vista Boys & Girls Club."
These words of praise came from Elizabeth Alexander in her June 26 column in the
Rainier Valley Post: "Politics NOT as Usual: The Youth Mayoral Candidate Forum."
The forum was organized and moderated by youth, and hosted by the SYVPI Southeast Network Youth Action Team in collaboration with the Central Area Network Youth Leadership Team. Eight of the nine candidates for this year's mayoral race attended. (Candidate Doug McQuaid, who had just filed, did not attend.)
The forum could have gotten off to a rocky start--the candidates all arrived late from a previous meeting with the Downtown Business Association--but the youth proved to be up to the challenge. According to Alexander, moderators Mathew Moseray and Tre Owes and their peers "handled the 45-minute delay like pros." They cut the candidates' closing statements and their own closing remarks from the program in order to maximize the time allotted for questions and answers.
"Past candidate forums and events have not heavily featured youth voices or perspectives," said Marty Jackson, SYVPI Southeast Area Network Coordinator. "For this reason, our youth felt it was very important for them to have a platform to share their voice and let other youth know that their voice matters. It is imperative that we educate our future voters and help them to reach their own informed electoral decisions by giving them an opportunity to engage mayoral candidates on the issues that passionately concern them."
|
Youth and community members evaluate the candidates |
The questions posed to the mayoral candidates reflected some of those specific concerns, including the following:
- Are you willing to help young adults who do not know how to let go or who are not willing to let go of the street life, and if so how?
- How do you plan on dealing with the issue of mental health in the city?
- What would you do about youth employment for people who don't qualify for programs? What would you do about youth who need documents or who have a record?
The candidates' answers revealed their own depth of knowledge--or lack thereof--surrounding these issues. "The forum was attended mostly by teenagers," reported Seattle Times writer Emily Heffler, "which means there weren't many voters in attendance. That means voters missed some revealing moments." (Read Heffler's article online.)
The forum concluded with a straw poll which declared incumbent Mike McGinn the winner. The next step in the election process is a nonpartisan primary that will be held on August 6th, with the two top finishers advancing to the November 5, 2013 general election.
|
Justyn Busch, Mayor McGinn, and Aeriona Sharp |
"The event was amazing and a wonderful way to show how our efforts can impact the larger community," according to Jamila Taylor, SYVPI Central Area Network Coordinator. "We received lots of great feedback from the candidates, community members and others about the event."