Audience members listen intently
As a Community and Regional Development student at the University of California at Davis, I have learned a lot about the state of our country.
In the past three to four years I have witnessed an insurmountable decrease in state support for higher education and been exposed to the depth of issues that are present in California state government and in the United States federal government alike.
However, I have also learned that it is too easy to become a hopeless cynic, even at a young age. It is discussions like the one that occurred in Davis on Tuesday, January 10th that make me hopeful for the future.
Elected officials, local political activists, students, and community members sat together and engaged in a thoughtful discussion about the California Forward Action Fund’s Government Performance and Accountability Act (GPAA).
Through the discussion, strong emphasis was placed on the fact that the GPAA will not miraculously solve all of California’s problems, but even so, this is no reason to dismiss it.
“This is not the only thing that needs to be done to fix the state, but the Government Performance and Accountability Act is the most important foundation we can lay,” Sunne Wright McPeak, a member of the CAFwd Leadership Council, asserted.
And Yolo County Supervisor Don Saylor added, “I encourage you to not throw out the good in search for the perfect.”
This made me realize that politics is not debate between absolute ideologies, in spite of the political circus we have witnessed in the past years. Rather, it is a series of negotiations between parties that are looking to serve the people.
It was at that point that the importance of this initiative became clear to me: if it passes, politicians will be held accountable to negotiate with each other to serve and support the people of California to the best of their ability.
It’s not perfect, but it’s definitely a good start.
Andrea Friedman is an undergraduate at University of California, Davis and a member of Saving California Communities
