Reflections on the Candidate Forum

Today I attended the AAHSA City Council and Mayoral Race Candidate Forum at the Mexican American Cultural Center. It was about what I expected; all of the candidates were prepared, rehearsed and civil. I was happy to see Seat 1 opponents Perla Cavazos and Chris Riley smiling and laughing with each other, since I really like them both as candidates.

Everyone answered pre-submitted questions about their thoughts on health and human services and meeting the needs of the least among us. Most spoke with sincerity, but only Carole Keaton Strayhorn spoke in her outside voice—it was a nice break from the almost NPR-level even-toned candidates. Everyone talked about the importance of providing funds to basic needs groups so that we solve our cities problems and realize our potential at as a community. Answers were more similar than they were different, and I can’t think of anything more controversial discussed than a false claim that Council Member Cole voted on a measure to outlaw panhandling.

More importantly, I went to meet up with my friend, mentor and college recommendation writer (and former Crossroads keynote speaker) Robert Egger. He has started the V3 campaign in an effort to get candidates and elected officials more versed in the business of nonprofit and its effect on the economy and quality of life, versus just the nice things we do for people so the city doesn’t have to. We feed people, we clothe people, we take care of them when they are most in need, etc. As a nonprofit sector, we employ more people than the construction industry, but we are too unorganized to have the voting power/influence in lawmaking that our friends in hard hats do. We don’t get the respect fire fighters do, we don’t get the cool picket signs angry teachers do—we sit back and listen to candidates promise to continue to fund us.

Robert and I discussed this possibly being because of the relationship we have with government. Most of us need them more than they need us. We need their grants and permits and attention, and if we rock the boat too much with difficult or unexpected questions, we’ll lose what favor or influence we have with them.

I would love to hear a candidate address working in our community to strategically align some of our nonprofits or even (gasp!) merge a few to help us strengthen our community investment. I would love to hear a candidate talk about the economic impact of nonprofit employees and how to help keep OUR lives affordable so we can keep doing this good work. I would probably cry if a candidate talked about building capacity in nonprofits to better harness the human capital of this community, since we are one of the most volunteering communities in the country.

If anyone is with me, I invite them to send this sweet little blog post to a friend/colleague/candidate of their choice. I love that candidates say they won’t take their dollars away, but I would prefer to hear how they will help us do our jobs better and build our communities stronger.