A time for accountability — what you can do

Now that our four newly elected Vacaville City Council members have taken the oath of office, we must now hold them accountable.

A community leader who served as moderator at a virtual candidate forum was on point when she said that if candidates are honored to win the election, she hopes they remember the questions they were asked by “We, the People” in Vacaville.

As “We, the People” our responsibility begins.

However, if many of us were to be honest with ourselves, we would have to admit we don’t fully know how to implement the critical phase of the political process of holding our elected officials accountable.

A while back, I gathered pieces of information from various sources and came up with six steps that I believe we can implement to help us all be politically engaged voters

he first step is to remember that our relationship with elected officials is a quid pro quo arrangement, meaning the purpose of politics is to gain tangible and measurable benefits.

While a quid pro quo relationship may seem impersonal to some, this type of relationship does not mean we cannot enjoy pleasantries with our elected officials when we see them publicly and virtually. We just must guard against allowing our emotions to distract us from issues of concern.

Another step is to understand the role of a particular elected official. Our city council members are our first lines of elected officials at the local level.

While city council members have other responsibilities, they should be involved in the community, communicating with residents across all economic levels and backgrounds and serving as bridge builders.

Vacaville has developed voting districts enabling better representation of all constituents.

A third step is remembering what we want for ourselves, our families, and our community. Civic educators recommend writing down these thoughts in a political journal, preparing one for national, state, and local issues. Why? In some instances, we may be merely mimicking the talking points of a political party, what the media say we should care about or what our relatives and friends have adopted as their stance on issues. With a political journal, we can use the information to measure whether those who won our votes platform aligns with our agenda.

Those who viewed virtual candidate forums and took notes or received campaign materials and still have the information can use it all as a guide to assess if our thencandidates are fulfilling their campaign promises. Or at least taking steps.

Pay attention to city council members’ responses to issues and their votes on others. And are they active in the community and aware of concerns that affect their district?

Volunteering our time to organizations that we believe in, a fifth step, helps us gain a different perspective about issues and learn about other people’s concerns.

A final step is that we should obtain political knowledge. While gaining political understanding can be challenging because we have so much information coming at us, educating ourselves about specific issues in front of our elected officials, and urging them to act, we can begin making positive changes in our local community.

Implementing the six steps may seem like daunting tasks. However, we don’t have to do any of them alone.

We can join forces, whether it’s in a small group through social media and zoom, oneon- one interactions, or grassroots advocacy for a community cause, urging elected officials to back our concerns.

Holding our elected officials accountable is an essential part of the political process. And, the process is doable.

nolding our elected officials accountable is an essential part of the political process. And, the process is doable.