Winfield’s date night with democracy

Before I was married, I heard the adage that too many couples spend a year planning their wedding and expend no effort planning their lives together. This spring I ran as a trustee candidate for the Winfield village board. The campaign season was typical for Winfield. There was official misconduct, anonymous letters, village hall blitzes from non-residents and shady money from special interest groups.

There was apathy by some, anger by others, and a smattering of disgust. The Daily Herald crystallized the moment with the headline; “Battle for Winfield.”

Winfield plans river-walks, housing developments and budgets but we have not spent a moment of thought about our democracy. There are no mentors, no tutors and no orientation for politicians here. Political signs are not viewed as a time honored tradition; they are viewed as a plague upon the land. The economics major in me sees Winfield as an economics problem born from badly aligned incentives and poorly thought out strategy. When Winfield was younger it made sense to have trustees elected “at large.” Now however, this “at large” election of trustees causes a “winner-take-all” incentive to our politics. It is possible that a small yet motivated group from one corner of the village can control everything. These high stakes amplify the venom, making election time just another opportunity to open old wounds.

To bring peace to our village, Winfield needs to abandon “at large” elections in favor of political districting. We need to rethink our hostility toward political signs that are only up for five weeks, every other year. We need to rekindle a romance with politics and politicians who work thankless hours to promote and protect the American Way in our tiny postage stamp of America.

It is time that we had a date night with democracy.

Tim Allen

Winfield