Former House Speaker Tip O’Neill often said that “all politics is local.” This is an incredibly true statement, even in Alachua County. When a politician can tap into the needs and wants of his constituents, magic happens.
When a politician in Alachua County taps into the needs, hopes and wants of Alachua County residents, a bizarre sort of political theater happens.
This is what occurred during the Gainesville City Commission candidate debate Feb. 16. Nine politicians vying for District One’s seat and an At-Large seat communicated their views on a host of issues, including Gainesville Regional Utilities, diversity in local government and a variety of economic-development projects.
As with local political events, the unexpected and the unruly should be anticipated. Of course there was the incoherent, random-guy-off-the-street candidate. The crowd got a little too involved in the clearly pandering responses, even Amen-ing a candidate after every sentence he uttered. The candidates also threw some serious shade at each other.
One truly unique aspect to local election theater is the unfiltered, unpolished, left-field candidate. This debate put forth an extremely unfiltered one. In my humble opinion, this candidate, Lucas Jewell, was without a shadow of a doubt the most memorable feature of the evening.
Some of his lines on responsive politics: “More people voted for weed than Rick Scott, but Rick Scott is governor and we have no weed.”
On the policies of other candidates: “Y’all not an expert and I’m not an expert.”
When asked about a particular economic development issue: “Commissioners need to be honest, and I haven’t thought about this issue."
On diversity in local government, he said there’s a lot of people we need to get rid of in local office, and we can fill their seats with diverse candidates.
This candidate’s responses seemed to be unrehearsed and improvised. They were clearly spoken from the gut and were intended to catch the audience by surprise. Despite the unorthodox and mesmerizing power of his responses, I had to believe that he was answering each question with complete sincerity. At no point did I think this candidate, with all of his eccentricities, was running for City Commission for selfish purposes.
This is somewhat unique to local politics. I’d like to believe that local politicians are pursuing office for unselfish reasons.
Let’s face it, running for the Gainesville City Commission will actually harm a candidate’s reputation more than help it. Most commissioners remain nameless in the minds of many, but when they are remembered, it’s probably not for a good reason. Taking a stance on a controversial issue like GRU could make your neighbor stop speaking to you. Remember, this is local politics. The only people voting for you — or against you — are the people who tend to be around you the most. They live in your community, shop at your grocery store and attend the same church as you.
The pay is not that good. As referenced in the debate, the most promising county residents are offered better-paying government jobs in nearby cities and counties. A candidate will probably not get rich by occupying a commission spot.
This is small-ball politics. Though it’s a small stage, the policies put forth by the commission really affect the lives of the residents, including students. National politics get the most attention in the media, but the issues affecting our everyday lives are handled by local politicians. They handle our water, energy and commuting issues. The candidates debating truly believed in the issues they supported, especially when they had actually thought about the issue beforehand. The crowd even more so.
Local elections are politics in its purest form. They’re unrehearsed politics. They’re emotional. They’re honest. The responses to questions are given from the gut. The barriers to becoming a candidate are low.
They’re purposeful, unscripted and raw. And of course, local politics are always important and entertaining.
Michael Beato is a UF economics junior. His column appears on Thursdays.
[A version of this story ran on page 6 on 2/26/2015 under the headline “Local politics should not be underrated”]
