The 2022 Los Angeles mayoral election holds immense gravity due, first and foremost, to its major effects on the local government of the second largest US city. However, despite having both proximity to and direct impact on the Marlborough community, this election is being overlooked by the student body both in and out of classroom settings, especially in comparison to national politics. The 2020 US presidential election was a widely discussed topic within the Marlborough community, from the administration’s implementation of a history elective covering the 2020 presidential election to widespread community participation by casting ballots for a mock-primary election. 

Local elections don’t garner nearly as much attention despite being just as, if not more, important to students’ daily lives. Local governments hold importance as decisions about  a city’s public housing, public parks, police service, etc fall under city jurisdiction. In the past few months alone, local government rulings have made national headlines, from the marginalization of the LGBTQ community under Florida’s recently passed “Don’t Say Gay” law, to abortion restrictions under Texas’s “Heartbeat Law.” The stalled outcome of the 2020 election further demonstrates the enormous role that local governments’ can have in national  electoral procedures. In fact, to disregard the significance of local governments as they shaped the 2020 election, is to leave a vacancy in one’s understanding of the electoral process as a whole.

But when was the last time you had a current events question centered around your local community? Or talked about a local candidate in class?  

This issue of the UltraViolet aims to address the importance of youth involvement in local government, through highlighting the policies of the top five candidates in the mayoral election and including interviews with mayoral candidates Karen Bass, Rick Caruso and Mike Feuer. Our goal with this issue is to underscore the importance of civic awareness and engagement with local politics, by providing information on the mayoral election so that students can be more informed about their local governments and communities.