The Daily Campus

Issue date: 11/3/09 Section: Commentary

Today is Election Day for all of the municipal governments in the state. Seats on the board of education, town councils and the position of the mayor will be decided. But most college students probably don't even know there's an election happening at all, let alone who the candidates are and what they stand for. Local elections are a chance for small communities to debate and discuss issues that happen on the community level. Yet despite the importance of these elections on the lives of young people, on-campus student groups have had virtually no engagement with young voters. ConnPIRG, College Democrats and College Republicans have not had any type of sustained "get out and vote" campaigns. This is an unfortunate occurrence that UConn students will be paying for down the road.

Local elections influence policy that relates directly to student life. This election will determine who sits on the town council, the board of education (K-8), the planning and zoning commission and the Region 19 board of education. These may not seem like important races, but these offices hold a lot of sway in deciding how the university will interact with the surrounding community. For instance, whenever the issue of Spring Weekend comes up, it is the Mansfield town committee that is the voice of the residents of Mansfield, who are always worried Spring Weekend will degenerate into violence and destruction. It's this town council that always pushes for increased police presence, and the elimination of entire days of festivities. The zoning board decides the type of housing ordinances that will determine what it's like to live in the Storrs-Mansfield area. These organizations have a very real impact on UConn student life, yet we have seen no interest from student political groups to focus on local issues.

Student groups that normally expend copious amounts of resources during presidential and congressional campaigns should take a lesson from the Obama victory and try to be as grassroots as possible. Municipal elections are an excellent way for young organizers to get some experience in smaller scale campaigns, and to build up their leadership teams for when the bigger elections come the following year.

By ignoring local elections, UConn student groups are missing out on a great opportunity to get some firsthand knowledge of Connecticut voter opinion, train their leadership and engage students on issues that will directly affect their lives as local residents in the Mansfield community and beyond. The good news is, since no one is doing it, whoever picks up the slack will have a huge advantage in the future.

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