Prominent state Democrats gathered with members of the Washtenaw County Democratic Party at Skyline High School for an annual fundraising dinner Saturday evening featuring Flint Mayor Karen Weaver as the keynote speaker.
Other speakers included state Rep. Debbie Dingell (D–Dearborn), state Rep. David Rutledge (D–Ypsilanti) and Judge Deborah Thomas of Michigan’s 3rd Circuit Court in Wayne County. Several local politicians, union leaders and activists were also in attendance.
The night began with WCDP Chair Chris Savage commending the remarkable unity Washtenaw County Democrats showed throughout the primary season, as opposed to elsewhere in the nation where supporters of Hillary Clinton, the presumptive Democratic nominee, and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I–Vt.) traded barbs with each other. He said Washtenaw County Democrats are wise in lining up early against a common enemy — Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump — rather than continuing to engage in inter-party conflict.
In her keynote address, Weaver recounted her struggle through Flint’s water crisis, criticizing the city’s emergency management system. She expressed hope that Flint can serve as a starting point for national dialogue on infrastructure quality and safety.
“People in Flint are so scared that it will go away and people will forget about us before it’s resolved,” she said in an interview afterward. “We want other people to use this to learn from us, to not let it happen in their communities, to use this as a platform and a voice about infrastructure and the need to invest and about water quality standards.”
Weaver also urged citizens to pay attention to key issues in their regions and vote in local elections, highlighting the complacency behind crises like Flint and demagogues like Trump.
“We have got to emphasize the power of voters,” she said. “We’ve got to emphasize in local elections and state elections because we know when we vote, we win. When we don’t vote, we get emergency managers. We get Snyders; we get Trumps when we don’t vote.”
Other speakers also warned against lack of engagement in politics. Dingell said though Clinton had her “better 10 days” as a result of her opponent’s recent gaffes, she believes a Trump presidency is still not out of the realm of possibility.
“Too many people don’t know that the America they love can be in danger,” Dingell said.
Another major theme of the fundraiser was anti-privatization on both local and national fronts in the wake of Eastern Michigan University’s plan to privatize its dining halls and Arizona Sen. John McCain’s proposal to hand the Department of Veterans Affairs health system to the private sector.
Ozzie James, president of the local division of the American Federation of Government Employees labor union, said privatization is not the answer to VA’s complex problems, and that Americans can fix the department within its current framework.
“Our veterans need to be supported through the VA (like) they’ve been doing since World War I and World War II,” he said. “We still have men and women coming back home and looking for the care that our government has always promised us, so we’re looking for that coverage to continue to be there for us.”
Judge Thomas, who is running for the Michigan Supreme Court, focused on the importance of the judiciary in a functioning democracy. She said that, even though courts have tremendous impacts on citizens’ day-to-day lives, Americans do not pay enough attention to the judicial branch, where a few judges can impact millions.
“(The Michigan Supreme Court decides) whether we are going to have courts that are restorative justice courts that help bring peace to our neighborhoods, our families,” she said in her speech. “Whether or not we’re going to have veterans’ treatment courts, whether we’re going to have mental health courts, whether we’re going to have drug treatment courts. All of these are restorative courts. This conversation is being had by seven people.”
Thomas pointed to education and more visibility of the judiciary as ways to engage more people with the courts.
“As a former teacher, I think that we have fewer civics classes, and so young people are not learning the three branches and the importance of each branch,” she said.
Big money, another contentious topic in this year’s election, was also a hot topic. Stuart Dowty, chair of grassroots organization Reclaim Our American Democracy from Big Money, said, though Americans are generally defeatist about the influence of wealthy donors in politics, it can be solved if they can wait patiently.
“The people who benefit from the status quo don’t want you to think you change things,” he said. “It’s a long term struggle — it didn’t happen overnight; it’s not going to be solved overnight — but we’re trying to spread the word and educate people about the problem.”