Big Idea: Forming The City Council Debate

In talking with Christopher George about how the Spark could best cover the upcoming Nov. 3 municipal election, one consistent theme that has come up is the lack of many clearly defined issues to create debate and empower the citizens of Spartanburg to vote for the candidate who best represents their interests. Which is a shame, because it’s my firmly held belief that local elections are the most important and meaningful elections there are.

As I’ve stated before, the impact one person can have on almost any national topic — health care, abortion rights, gay rights, military spending — is negligible. But at the local level, one person can come any City or County Council meeting and make their views and concerns crystal clear in front of the people in a position to actually do something about them. A few hundred votes cast in Spartanburg generally won’t change anything, even at the state level, but it’s easily enough to change the outcome of a City Council race.

And the kinds of things that City Council decides — downtown small-business development funding, for instance — impact the lives of Spartanburg residents in a very real way, which isn’t always the case for things at the national or state level.

In short, local politics matter.

They even matter when, as is the case for City Council Districts 5 and 6 this election, there is only one candidate running. As voters, we have a need — perhaps even a right — to know where candidates stand on important local issues. We need a reason to show up and vote for or against a candidate, and it’s unforgivable of the local media to not ask questions just because the outcome is seen as a foregone conclusion.

But there’s the problem. Because local politics generally won’t move newspapers or grab TV viewers in the same way some meaningless, yet sensational story about some offhanded comment the President made about the antics of some overrated pop star, the local media hasn’t really helped to shape local civic debate in the way it really could. As a result, the local political debate is non-specific and generally shallow.

Today’s Big Idea is all about the meaningful, locally relevant questions that aren’t being asked. It’s about starting the process of creating a true local political debate about the direction Spartanburg is taking as a city, and the City’s role in that process.

What I’d like you to do is think about the locally significant questions you really wish someone would ask the candidates, rather than the broad, vague ones they’re generally presented with.

Some examples:

Would you support a city policy or ordinance opposing any discrimination in the hiring, promotional and disciplinary practices of the city so as to prohibit discrimination against any person for any reason that is not related to bona fide occupational qualifications for the relevant job classification or job performance? Specifically, would you propose or support such a measure officially banning job and hiring discrimination based on race, gender, religion, or sexual orientation?

Would you support moving municipal elections to even-numbered/regular election years so as to take advantage of the greater voter turnout?

Would you support a City ordinance allowing the grocery sale of beer and wine on Sunday?

Do you support the adoption of the Downtown Master Plan?

These aren’t particularly difficult questions to think up, and they’re not terribly difficult ones to answer. The answers to each have far-reaching implications for the city’s future, specifically in terms of how Spartanburg is seen by people, institutions and businesses considering the city as a new home. And there are dozens of other unasked questions that are just as relevant.

So let’s think of some. Remember, this is a brainstorm, so there are no bad or dumb questions. Even ones that seem silly or absurd can serve as a springboard for other, perhaps more relevant ideas and questions. The goal here is as much to get you, the citizens of Spartanburg, to think about the questions that aren’t being asked as it is to pose these questions to local candidates.