There’s a referendum on the ballot alongside the numerous elected positions to fill. “Shall the Village of Oak Park defund its Police Department?” is the ask and my opinion on it doesn’t really matter. What does matter is the question: Should we take this seriously?
Or put another way: should a ballot initiative with a question without context have more weight than a full on community engagement process where the nuances of Defund can be explained, where the public can be educated, and where people can have space to discuss? My answer to that is an unqualified YES, and here’s why.
First, we know that the question is devoid of local context - outside of last year's failed defund resolution, that the phrase ‘Defund the Police’ can take on different meanings depending on who you ask or read, and that consensus has proven difficult - even in advocacy circles. So knowing all of that, why should we take it seriously despite the uncertainty?
Because we also know that the community engagement process is inherently inequitable and prioritizes the voices of the few over the many. For people who aren’t hyper engaged locally like me, the ballot booth is the one place you interact with your local government and you likely do so only every two years.
You’re as likely to engage in the public comment process at Village Board meetings as you are to write a letter to the President and you’ve probably never watched a Village Board meeting at all. That means your sole chance for input into this decision is at the ballot box - via this referendum - and by your voting choices. So you should take it seriously.
You should do your own research on Defund and understand what it means in a variety of contexts. Next, do the research on the candidates that could represent you, understand their stance on this issue as well. Then make educated voting choices based on what typically drives you. I’m not here to tell you how to vote, just why voting seriously on the referendum is important.
Ultimately, the referendum is non-binding and community engagement will happen regardless of the outcome of this election, but in an imperfect process - which this is, there's no point where we will have more community engagement than this election. So use this opportunity and your voice here, especially if you’re unlikely to use it at any other time in this process.
You can check out my thoughts on why I think the community engagement process is inequitable here.
-CjW
