For 10 months out of the year, we call the Binghamton area our home. We contribute to the local economy. We enjoy its services. We pay taxes. Yet, to many of us, the local government that directly controls the local economy, public services and taxes, seems foreign.
This need not be the case. The purpose of local government is to bring decision-making to a level where we can directly participate. Local government institutions like mayor’s offices, city councils and town councils are designed to cater to the demands we make. However, year after year, we fail to assert ourselves on the issues that affect us the most. As a result, the level of government that is intended to be the most inclusive fails to incorporate student voices. Whether it be a failure to mobilize for local candidates, an epidemic of absentee voters or a tendency to avoid the ballot box, we have silenced our own voices. Though the current state of our relationship to local politics may look bleak, we have the power to transform our local political landscape. All we have to do is get involved.

As a community of nearly 17,000 students, we have an immense opportunity to influence the decisions made in local government. By failing to get involved, we not only allow thousands of potential votes to go to waste, but also we allow a litany of candidates who value our voices to lose. We must do better.

In recent years, there have been notable efforts to further engage our community in local politics. The recent campaigns of Binghamton City Councilman Conrad Taylor and Broome County Executive Jason Garnar provide great examples. Despite the success of these two campaigns, we have failed to institutionalize our voices. Both of these campaigns had student coalitions form and then disband once election season had passed. In order to empower students to become agents of change in local politics, we must make our voice an institution in local politics. We must demand candidates tailor their rhetoric to students just as they tailor their rhetoric to other important constituencies, such as the middle class and seniors citizens.

This year, we can prove our constituency is critical for any local candidate to be elected. On Tuesday, Nov. 7, the office that has the greatest effect on our lives in Binghamton is up for election: the mayor of the city of Binghamton. From handling absentee landlords to establishing public safety initiatives, our mayor has the power to vastly alter the Binghamton area as we know it. By electing a mayor who values our voices, we can create the change we want to see.

Earlier this month, the two mayoral candidates participated in a forum sponsored by the Center for Civic Engagement. At this forum, both candidates claimed to empower our voices. However, only one candidate was genuine in their claim: Tarik Abdelazim.

Throughout the forum, Abdelazim was eager to empower student voices. Abdelazim argued that students have as much of a claim to local government that any other citizen has. He advocated for an official youth delegation in city government. He even stated that a youth policy platform created by Binghamton University students was “amazing” and “looked like a page stolen out of my notebook.”

Meanwhile, the opposing candidate, Rich David, simply stated that the newly established Town-Gown Advisory Board would set up sub-committees to provide students with a voice in a variety of areas, such as how funding from the University is spent, code-enforcement issues, housing issues and public-safety issues. This answer lacks significant substance. The forum made clear that Abdelazim values our opinions more than Rich David. Overall, it is incredibly rare to see a candidate so enthusiastic about our ability to enact positive change in Binghamton.

Today at 5 p.m., Abdelazim is holding a rally on the Broome County Courthouse Lawn. This rally is exclusively sponsored by Generation Vote, which is an organization comprised of BU students who aim to empower student voices in local politics. At this rally, Abdelazim and Generation Vote will speak to the importance of student opinions in local government and provide ways for students to get involved in local politics between now and election day. This event represents an important step toward institutionalizing our voices in the local political conversation. Through direct interaction with Abdelazim, we have the opportunity to influence the matters we want to change in our community.

For far too long, local government has seemed foreign to us. Let’s speak up, and take the stake in government that we deserve. I’ll see you on the Courthouse Lawn.

Jacob Bezner is a sophomore double-majoring in political science and history.