How has being young informed your thought process and decision-making ability while in office ?
On one hand it ’ s been a benefit because as a young person you are naive enough to try things that you wouldn ’ t try had you had more experience . That kind of risk-taking is exactly what you need to solve problems that have never been solved before . I think it also helps not to be firmly attached to the way things are – to not have any nostalgia for the status quo , which is a really powerful weapon when you ’ re trying to change the system or solve a problem .
When you leave office , what would you like your lasting impact to be ?
Maybe to have a statue or a fountain made of me ... I ’ m joking ! When you enter office at this age , you ’ re the youngest ever . That ’ s neat for a second , but you want to be remembered as the most useful ever . You want to go down as the mayor who helped get the most people hired , the mayor who greatly improved city infrastructure , the mayor who put the city on the best fiscal plan . My goal is nothing short of being young and the most useful mayor ever – one who handed off the city in much better shape than he found it .
Polls show most voters don ’ t think government works . What would you do to fix what some say is broken ?
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CONTINUED : Svante Myrick
The key is to engage . I know a lot of people – young people especially – who say they don ’ t vote because government is broken or politics is corrupt . To say that is like saying you won ’ t plant trees because the air is too toxic . The way to fix politics is to engage in it . The way you clean the air is for good people to engage , to vote , to run for office , to contact their representatives and keep them accountable – that ’ s what drives out corruption .
What ’ s the best way to get more people involved in the electoral process ?
I think you first have to look at the people who are engaged and understand why they are engaged , and it ’ s always because there came a point in their life where they realized how much government meant to them . For some people it ’ s when they turn 65 and get Social Security and realize , I can manage who ’ s in office because the person in office decides when my check goes out . Some people will become engaged the first time they decide to own a home because of property taxes . For some people it may be the first time they get a paycheck and they see their income taxes , and for others it may be the first time they or their child joined the military and now it suddenly matters who ’ s in charge because they ’ ll decide if and when they or their child are in harm ’ s way . The longer you live the more opportunities there are for you to have that “ ah ha ”
YEO Frontline News • Summer 2016 • PG 9
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