On Wednesday, October 28th, Mira Loma hosted its second political symposium. This year’s symposium was targeted towards voters, people considering to vote, and other politically-minded students. The symposium offered the rationales of different party platforms without filters, bias, or debate. With the election less than a week away, local political party representatives were able to share their stances on local issues and national issues, as well answer students’ questions in spite of virtual limitations.
Prior to the symposium, each of the representatives were provided with relevant issues to be prepared to talk about. Both during and after this discussion, students were encouraged to type both open-ended and directed questions in the Zoom chat box.
The Representatives
At the beginning of the symposium, the representatives introduced themselves and gave a rundown of their takes on their party’s stances based on prompts that were provided to them in advance.
Nicole Castor – Green Party, Citrus Heights City Council candidate and Green Party Spokesperson
- Nominees: Howie Hawkins (president), Angela Walker (vice president)
- Castor’s thoughts on healthcare: Healthcare is a human right, not a commodity. It’s not something to be bought and traded. The problem with theACA is that it’s still being treated as a commodity and the law is more about selling insurance rather than providing care for people. Green party representatives support single party health care.
- Castor’s thoughts on climate change: Howie Hawkins, the presidential nominee for the Green party, was the first person to run on a Green New Deal platform in the United States. The Green Party is an environmentalist party.
- Castor’s thoughts on cannabis legalization/decriminalization: As far as the party platform goes we’re for legalization, and within the party there’s varying degrees of support. Personal opinions have more to do with the state someone lives in.
Taylor Brown – Republican Party, committee member on the Sacramento Republican Party
- Nominees: Donald Trump (president), Mike Pence (vice president)
- Brown’s thoughts on healthcare: having private access to private healthcare is best because it keeps the market competitive. President Trump’s influence on healthcare has been substantial despite speculation that he does not have a plan or is not doing enough.
- Brown’s thoughts on climate change: climate change is not a driving factor of California’s wildfires; instead, decades of mismanagement of forests should be considered. People would be unhappy if the states forced people to take individual actions to address climate change.
- Brown’s thoughts on the electoral college: The electoral college should not be replaced with a popular vote because we have informed and involved politicians who we entrust to make that vote.
- Brown’s thoughts on mask-wearing and COVID: Right now we have a policy where if you enter a private business you have to wear a mask and you have to stay six feet away from people. Whatever the law is, that’s what we should follow.
C.T. Weber – Peace and Freedom Party, Legislative Committee Chair at Peace and Freedom Party of California
- Nominees: Gloria La Riva (president), Sunil Freeman (vice president)
- Weber’s thoughts on healthcare: the ACA is just a protection of the insurance company. Members of the Peace and Freedom Party support single-payer healthcare systems.
- Weber’s thoughts on climate change: science and technology needs to benefit people. The standard of living should not lead to environmental degradation. The Peace and Freedom party is an environmentalist party.
- Weber’s thoughts on cannabis legalization/decriminalization: For many decades, we’ve been for either legalization or decriminalization at different times and for the effects of all drugs, not just marijuana.
Kendra Lewis – Democratic Party, vice-chair of the Sacramento Central Democratic Party
- Nominees: Joe Biden (president), Kamala Harris (vice president)
- Lewis’ thoughts on healthcare: Due to time constraints, Lewis did not comment on healthcare. According to democrats.org, members of the Democratic party tend to oppose privatizing Medicare and they aim to provide everyone with basic security in healthcare.
- Lewis’ thoughts on climate change: Due to time constraints, Lewis did not comment on climate change. According to democrats.org, members of the Democratic party tend to be committed to curbing and recognizing climate change while protecting natural resources.
- Lewis’ thoughts on the electoral college: This is tied to the landowners, and it’s not for the populace. It’s for those that have the most money and the most land. This is a great conversation to start having because it is affecting our elections.
- Lewis’ thoughts on mask-wearing and COVID: We should continue to use a mask until we really know more about the virus. We should try to have our public places, or workspaces as safe as possible.
James Just – Libertarian Party, vice-chair of the Sacramento County Libertarian Party
- Nominees: Jo Jorgensen (president), Spike Cohen (vice president)
- Just’s thoughts on healthcare: nobody has the right to force people into a system they don’t want to be a part of. There should be a catastrophic care system for people who need help immediately.
- Just’s thoughts on climate change: humans have at least some impact on the climate – how much of an impact is still up for debate. Californians are not prepared to deal with wildfires. Spreading awareness and making plans would help to deal with this.
- Just’s thoughts on mask-wearing and COVID: It’s important to see what other countries in the world are doing, where they’re being successful and where they’re not being successful. Mandates tend to create resistance, so we have to be very careful about other things that happen because of decisions we make.
- Just’s thoughts on cannabis legalization/decriminalization: Just (Libertarian) responded: The libertarian party’s for all legalization of all drugs. It’s dealt with on a medical issue rather than a legal issue.
Suggested Resources
Some of the representatives posted resources in the Zoom chat box over the course of the symposium.
Nicole Castor, Green Party:
- SCOTUS: https://www.gp.org/greens_reject_supreme_court_nominee, https://www.gp.org/the_scotus_hearing_sham
- Healthcare: https://www.gp.org/social_justice_2016#sjHealthCare, https://howiehawkins.us/the-hawkins-healthcare-plan-medicare-for-all-as-a-community-controlled-national-health-service/
- Wildfires: https://www.gp.org/fires_and_pandemics
- Immigration: https://www.gp.org/social_justice/#sjImmigration
Taylor Brown, Republican Party:
- The Trump Administration: https://www.whitehouse.gov/
- A site about the GOP: https://www.gop.com/
- SCOTUS: https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/amy-coney-barretts-judicial-record-criminal-justice-cases
Kendra Lewis, Democratic Party
- Sacramento County Democratic Party site: http://www.sacdems.org/main/
- California Democratic Party site: https://cadem.org/our-platform/
- A suggested book: The Color of Law by Richard Rothstein
James Just, Libertarian Party
- Libertarian Party site: https://www.lp.org/
- Criminal justice Reform: https://reason.com/2020/06/08/where-are-libertarians-on-police-reform-right-where-weve-always-been/
Voter registration resources:
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