This is Not a Game
Dear Editor,
At the risk of sounding naive (which I am not) …
The coming of an election season, while competitive at its core, should inspire candidates’ passion for public service and engage their constituencies to reach out about their concerns and ideas about how we can work together to effect change for everyone’s benefit.
As our city is currently in the midst of a big election season, with a hotly contested primary coming up, it saddens me to look at it with more dread than hope.
This is not a game. Please stop playing it like it is. Put aside the infighting and put all that fighting effort into improving the future of this city for the good of ALL of its residents.
I don’t speak for anyone else’s political leanings and there’s not another person in this world that can speak to mine. I vote on conscience, not odds.
While the center of attention is my least favorite place to be and I have zero political aspirations, over the years I’ve played my part in trying to get things done, whether it be in our public schools, in my neighborhood, our city, and beyond. I have deep ties in my neighborhood and this city. I love it and have defended it my entire life.
The most successful projects I’ve been involved with have been the most collaborative ones; where many entities worked together (even with lots of differing ideas and egos in the room) to achieve common goals, and when those goals were celebrated as collective, not singular, victories.
So… when all the dust begins to settle this November, please, no matter how this all turns out and who is sitting in those seats, use what was hopefully your original motive, public service, to find a way, even if slowly but surely, to sew the division that can tear this city apart and find a way to come together to move it forward in a positive direction for the good of us all.
Thank You,
Nicole Deveau
