Hello, Felicia

Re: Q&A: Felicia Williams. Continuing a Community Mandate

Felicia Williams is quoted as saying – There’s a famous quote: “Picking up trash is not political.”

If you Google that quote, the only result that comes up is the Local News Pasadena article. It’s not a famous quote. And in fact, it’s incredibly inaccurate.

The allocation of limited resources, the drawing up of budgets, the prioritization of services…all of this is inherently political. Perhaps Williams is confusing “political” with “partisan.”

Here’s a great article about how we should be wary of those who proclaim to be “apolitical.”
https://www.civicnebraska.org/20230330-everything-is-political

“Despite the popular definition that causes such revulsion, politics is not just the narrow actions of Beltway insiders. Politics is our realm of public life. It’s where Americans of diverse backgrounds, ideals, and opinions work, directly or indirectly, to shape our society. We all participate in politics, whether we know it or not: What we buy, who we agree with, who we disagree with, our daily discussions, our donations and volunteer hours, every daily act that favors the common good or advances our individual interests – all of these are political acts.

Consider an ‘average day’ in America. Everything from the resources we expend to the physical infrastructure we share to the worker and consumer protections we enjoy is the result of someone at some point asking, Why are things like this? and then championing ideas to make them better. These ideas may have seemed radical or unattainable at the time. Ask those who advocated for the 40-hour work week, or clean drinking water, or strict public health standards, or safety benchmarks for housing, roads, and bridges, or protections for consumers. Once, these obvious elements of modern society were controversial ideas being batted around the public square….

Claiming to be apolitical is to announce we are settling for the world as it currently is.”

Felicia Williams wants us to settle.