The SHS Political Club hosted a civic engagement forum, where councilmen Mike Kan, Jermey Zelwin and Macke Bently answered questions from the club’s officers. The councilmen were asked about various topics ranging from S.O.M. Center Road construction near the school to a campus-wide ban on e-bikes, before answering a handful of questions from the audience.
The Oct. 24 forum was put together by the SHS’s Political Club’s executive board of officers, which includes SHS students Diego Gonzalez Escobar, Drew Kelly, Dylan Ineman, Grant Ferencie andZehra Daglioglu. Daglioglu and Gonzalez Escobar said that the board were motivated to bring the forum to fruition after not having an event like it in four years.
“We were especially able to do it this year because of how committed the club officers were,” Gonzalez Escobar said. “We were dedicated to the purpose of having the entire Solon student body aware of current politics.”
The forum had a good turnout according to Political Club advisor Bryan Ashkettle. Many students came to get extra credit for their government classes, but some, such as senior Julia Shepteban, had other reasons.
“I’ve been doing photography for Mike Kan’s reelection campaign for the past couple of months, and he asked me to attend the forum to take a few photos,” Shepteban said. “I was already interested in the forum because I heard about it on the announcements, so I was happy to attend.”
That reelection campaign resulted in a win for Kan. Regardless of election results, both Shepteban and Ashkettle said they thought the forum went well. Ashkettle said he was especially proud of the officers.
“The work the officers did [was] phenomenal,” Ashkettle said. “And then the three councilmen were really, really super. Everything they said seemed to be very reasonable and well explained, so I thought it was a huge success.”
The councilmen gave their stances on the various topics they were questioned on, such as Issue 33, which recently passed, allowing a new winery to be built in Ward 1 of Solon. The councilmen took other questions, which had been sent to them and approved ahead of time, before answering concerns from the crowd. Ward 3 Councilman Jeremy Zelwin offered general advice to the students in attendance.
“Get involved with what’s important to you,” Zelwin said. “Whether it’s with politics, whether it’s with causes, if you’re passionate about a certain charity. Get involved.”
This kind of sentiment was echoed by the rest of the councilmen as well. Ward 1 Councilman Kan said he thinks students contribute more to the community than they realize. Ward 4 Councilman Bently said he hopes students get along better after attending the forum.
“We’re all just people,” Bently said. “We’re all just human beings in this world [that are] just struggling along every day to try and make ends meet. Just because you like ketchup, and I like mushard doesn’t mean I’m gonna hate you. In today’s politics, sometimes that’s the way it seems.”
Ashkettle, who teaches AP U.S. and Comparative Government & Politics classes at SHS, had a similar outlook.
“This country is riddled with problems, and our current [political institutions] are not tackling them,” Ashkettle said. “Democracy is not a pretty process. It’s slow, it’s ugly, it’s at times inefficient, but it’s still the best form of government that’s out there. My big fear is we’re gonna lose a whole generation of kids I would want to get involved.”
It seems that, at least for Shepteban, this fear won’t be realized.
“I learned more about local issues and became more familiar with who was on the city council,” Shepteban said. “Overall, I think that SHS should organize more events or forums like this to encourage student engagement in local politics, even if that simply means just learning more about the city council’s structure and how it impacts our day-to-day lives.”
Despite civic engagement forums being once in a blue moon for Solon, Bently said he hopes more of these kinds of events will happen in the future.
“I couldn’t wait to come and do it again,” Bently said. “If [they] asked me every day, I would come every day, honestly.”
