I have always believed that Democracy thrives on choice and opposition. It is therefore incredulous to me that four candidates will be running unopposed for the four open seats on the Watsonville City Council on Nov. 6. Unopposed races are the antithesis of the democratic ideal, since they essentially allow incumbents to serve another term without having to defend what they did in the previous one, and allow new candidates to cakewalk right into a job they (may) have been handpicked for (now we all know that has never happened in Watsonville right?) Sarcasm aside, it puzzles me how a political candidate can be declared the winner of an election when they run unopposed. These election-by-default races also perpetuate a Catch-22 of voter apathy, driving down turnout at the polls, which in turn further reduces participation in local politics and the pool of candidates who will file for the next election.
General apathy is rampant in Watsonville. With legitimate good reasons, few people want to become involved in politics at the local level because of the blatant corruption and cronyism in city government. If you aren’t a part of the current political machine, you can kiss your chances of doing anything but what the status quo wants good bye. None of the unopposed candidates have to prove themselves in anyway: no debates, no talk of what their plans are or vision for this community.
So I have come up with my own solution: when I vote in the general election next month, I am leaving my vote for my district representative blank. I encourage any of you in these unopposed district races to do the same. We need to make a statement that we aren’t going to stand for this anymore! We indeed need to take Watsonville back, back from gangs, back from crime, and back from corruption in city government.
The other thing this community needs is an elected Mayor. Too long have we endured a rubber-stamped, sock puppet, put in place by the corrupt majority. I promise this: if the next seated City Council does not give Dr. Nancy Bilicich her long overdue shot at being Mayor, I will personally spearhead a petition campaign to gather signatures to get this community an elected Mayor who will represent ALL OF US rather than a particular demographic or political persuasion. Who is with me?
