众所周知，通货膨胀或许是2024年11月大选中最关键的问题。
然而上涨的远不止日常商品价格。在最近一轮竞选周期中，地方政治活动的成本也高得惊人，最终在4月1日的市政普选中达到顶峰。
想竞选芝加哥郊区的市长吗？如果今年的合并选举能为我们提供未来参考，那么在许多情况下，最受瞩目的郊区竞选活动花费将轻松突破六位数。
当你细想郊区民选最高官员的实际职责时，会发现这一点尤为引人注目。市长——在许多郊区被称为村主席——负责监督地方服务、管理预算，并作为社区代表出席剪彩仪式等各类活动。
传统上，地方市长选举本不应像高风险的国会竞选那般激烈——但从上一个选举周期来看，这类选举正日益呈现出这种趋势。
我们早知奥兰帕克村（Orland Park）的村长竞选竞争激烈，但看到2024年第一季度竞选活动支出超过58万美元时，仍感到震惊。
在一个拥有5.7万人口的城镇中，展开了一场村长竞选。
奥兰帕克市市长吉姆·道奇（Jim Dodge）作为"全民奥兰帕克"候选人团队的一员参与竞选。根据州选举委员会数据，在2024年4月1日选举前的数月间，道奇及其关联委员会共支出约19万美元。
道奇的对手、前市长基思·佩考（Keith Pekau）拥有一个名为“人民高于政治”的竞选团队。佩考及其关联委员会提交的报告显示，今年第一季度支出近40万美元，并获得了许多当地个人的捐款。值得注意的是，“人民高于政治”还记录了一笔来自莱克福斯特保守派大金主理查德·尤莱因（Richard Uihlein）的近1.5万美元捐款。
然而，这些资金为奥兰帕克镇的居民带来了什么？一场充满怨恨与丑陋的地方选举，昔日的邻居在此刻化为了势不两立的政治仇敌。
这正是我们担忧的问题所在：地方选举本不应成为华盛顿热议议题的全民公投。
地方政治理应有所不同。这些候选人参选是为了服务邻里。这种彼此之间以及与希望代表的民众之间的亲近感，传统上会促进更高水平的文明与尊重。
此外，当竞选公职的成本过高时，即便有些人可能是合适人选，也会望而却步。这种情况对地方民主十分不利。
对大量现金的需求也增加了开发商等商业利益集团对地方官员施加更多影响力的风险。
奥尔兰帕克并非唯一砸下重金的地方选举。根据《论坛报》对竞选申报文件的分析，斯科基市的市长选举同样耗资不菲，候选人花费了数十万美元。
据《埃文斯顿圆桌报》报道，在埃文斯顿市，正在竞选国会议员的现任市长丹尼尔·比斯（Daniel Biss）及其对手杰夫·博里尼（Jeff Boarini）在4月1日选举前的数月间共花费了近20万美元。
据熟悉州和地方政治的人士透露，竞选地方公职成本不断攀升的驱动因素之一是，政治活动——即便是在地方层面——正日益成为一种商业行为。举例而言，二十年前，朋友可能会自愿担任无偿竞选经理，负责竞选活动的方方面面。传统的老式上门拉票无需花费。而如今，即便是小型竞选活动，雇佣带薪员工、投资媒体广告、邮寄宣传品或其他专业服务也更为常见。
道奇表示：“当今竞选活动的本质是与一切事物竞争，吸引民众注意力的竞争异常激烈。必须通过充分的沟通才能突破这些干扰。”
这固然合理。但令人遗憾的是，它导致了如今日益常见的两极分化且高成本的地方政治现象。围绕地方政治兴起的周边产业，尽管确实有助于候选人传播信息，却似乎对提升社区讨论质量作用有限——甚至可能阻碍优秀候选人参与竞选。
请将不超过400字的信件提交至此处编辑，或发送邮件至letters@chicagotribune.com。
Inflation was perhaps the most pivotal issue on the ballot in November 2024, as we all know.
But it wasnt just the cost of everyday goods that was rising. Local po litics got awfully expensive in our most recent campaign cycle, culminating with April 1 general municipal elections.
Wanna run for mayor of a Chicago suburb? If this years consolidated election is our guide for the future, the tab in many cases will run well into the six figures for the most high-profile suburban races.
And thats striking when you consider what the top elected official in a suburb actually does. Mayors or village presidents, as theyre called in many suburbs oversee local services, manage the budget, and serve as a community representative at ribbon cuttings, among other duties.
Local mayoral races arent traditionally supposed to resemble high-stakes congressional battles but judging by the last election cycle, they increasingly do.
We knew the village president race in Orland Park was hotly contested, but we were still stunned to see what those campaigns spent in the first quarter of 2024: over $580,000.
For a village president race. In a town of 57,000.
Orland Park Mayor Jim Dodge ran as part of a slate of candidates called Orland Park for All. Dodge and his associated committees spent about $190,000 in the months leading up to the April 1, 2024, election, according to State Board of Elections data.
Dodges opponent, former Mayor Keith Pekau, had a slate of his own called People Over Politics. Pekau and his associated committees filed reports showing nearly $400,000 in spending in the first quarter of the year, and pulled in donations from many local individuals. Notably, People Over Politics also recorded a nearly $15,000 donation from conservative megadonor Richard Uihlein of Lake Forest.
But what did all of this money get the people of Orland Park? A bitter, ugly local election that saw former neighbors become bitter political enemies.
And thats the problem we fear is taking shape: Municipal races arent supposed to be referendums on the hot-button issues animating Washington.
Local politics should be different. These candidates are running to serve their neighbors. That closeness, both to one another and to the people they hope to represent, has traditionally encouraged a higher level of civility and respect.
Additionally, when its expensive to run for office, fewer people do it even if they may be a good candidate. Thats bad for local democracy.
The need for so much cash also heightens the risk of business interests like developers gaining more influence over local officials.
Orland Parks wasnt the only big-bucks local race. Skokies mayoral election was costly, too, with candidates spending hundreds of thousands of dollars, according to a Tribune analysis of election filings.
And in Evanston, Mayor Daniel Biss who now is running for Congress and his opponent, Jeff Boarini, spent nearly $200,000 in the months leading up to the April 1 election, according to reporting from the Evanston Roundtable.
As people close to state and local politics have told us, one of the drivers behind the growing cost of running for local office is that increasingly politics even practiced at the local level is a business. Twenty years ago, say, a friend might have volunteered as an unpaid campaign manager and handled every aspect of a race. Good old-fashioned door-knocking is free. Today, its more common, even in small campaigns, to hire paid staff and invest in media buys, mailings or other professional services.
The nature of campaigns nowadays is you are competing with everything, and there is a lot of competition for peoples attention, Dodge said. You have to have enough communication to get through all of that.
Thats fair. But its still a shame that its led to the kind of polarized and high-cost local politics were seeing more and more today. The cottage industry developing around local politics doesnt seem to be doing much to improve the quality of community discourse, even if it does help candidates get the word out and it could be deterring good candidates from running for office.
Submit a letter, of no more than 400 words, to the editor here or email letters@chicagotribune.com .
铁牛配资-在线配资查询服务-配资平台app-配资门户平台官网提示：文章来自网络，不代表本站观点。
