Oh, those golden years. The glorious ‘Aughts, when it was great to be young and alive in City Politics.
Huh?
Yep, it was different back then. Elected office, long the province of Grumpy Old White Men, was opened to the twenty-and-thirty-somethings among us. Young, fresh Democratic faces like Anita Lopez and Wade Kapszukiewicz broke into entry-level positions on boards of education. Each soon moved up the ladder to be elected to county-wide office while still young and fresh. Youngsters like Karyn McConnell-Hancock and Ellen Grachek, Joe McNamara and Lindsay Webb, Frank Szollosi and Adam Martinez all made their way onto Toledo City Council. Vallie Bowman-English was elected Toledo Clerk of Courts. Even the GOP elected relatively youthful candidates to office, including John Birmingham on Council and Maggie Thurber as Clerk of Courts and then County Commissioner.
Fast forward to twenty fifteen. Lopez and Wade K. are still in county-wide office, slowly aging and getting less relevant. Among the young folks who took over Council, only Webb is still there, and her age now starts with a four. The only thirty-something on Council is Matt Cherry. Grachek and McNamara still work for the City, albeit in other capacities. The rest are out of City Politics altogether. Ditto Maggie Thurber.
What happened?
Barrier numero uno. Party leadership.
A decade ago, both major parties actively recruited viable, young candidates. The Dems especially worked hard to identify and elevate a diverse group of new voices. The results were undeniable, as listed above.
Then Dem leadership fell into a doldrums of in-fighting and malaise, such that by twenty thirteen there were only two endorsed candidates running for Council. The younger candidate, Shaun Enright, finished out of the running. The winning candidate, Steven Steel, is in his fifties, and even at that age, is still among the youngest members of Council.
GOP head Jon Stainbrook, to his credit, has repeatedly recruited young candidates to run for office. Unfortunately, he recruits the same ones over and over. And they keep losing. Heck, Alfonso Narvaez has lost so often he has stopped running, and he’s only in his twenties.
Barrier number two. Lack of entry level positions.
What can a young person run for? It takes time to build name recognition and a reputation with voters. It’s difficult to start at a high level office. It makes sense to start at school board or council, like many of the candidates of a decade ago.
But school board doesn’t pay and is a thankless job at that. Council only pays a half-time salary for what is effectively a full-time job. What young person can put their career and family on hold for under twenty-eight large a year? Not many, which is why even those who run and win don’t stay long.
Barrier number three. Zombie candidates.
One of the biggest barriers to young candidates is the generation of politicos that refuse to die. The opening in Council District 3, created by the term limits on Mike Craig, was a perfect opportunity for new Dem leadership to elevate a Millennial Mind to city leadership. Instead we got retread Peter Ujvagi, who actually raises the Council’s median age. And the race to fill the at-large seat on Council was not a race at all. Only one candidate ran, Cecilia Adams, which means no one ran who can do The Whip. Or likely even knows what it is.
County Recorder Phil Copeland and Prosecutor Julia Bates could step aside to allow a new generation of leaders to emerge. Not gonna happen. The race for Toledo mayor included a bunch of old folks, including Zombie Carty and the Undead Mike Bell. The youngest candidate was in her mid-fifties.
What is to be done? First, the major political parties must do a better job of finding good, young candidates who can win and break them in to the political process. Second, we must create attractive, entry-level elected positions that young folks can fill. Third, the undead glass ceiling must be shattered. Oldsters in office must set a retirement date, and help recruit the next generation to take their place.
Meanwhile, the minds of the young are going to waste. We can’t afford that in City Politics. Let the zombie war begin!