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The Michigan Socialist | News |
Michigan News
Carl Williams for OCC Board!
IN THE MONTHS leading up the Nov. 2004
elections, there are a number of local races that will be decided.
Among these is the election for the Board of
Trustees of
Oakland Community College.
What separates that race from others is that the
working people of Oakland County have a choice in that election.
Carl Williams, a student and worker at OCC, and a
supporter of the Socialist Party of Michigan, has entered the race
to present a democratic socialist and working people’s alternative
to the candidates of big business.
Oakland County, one of the largest and richest
counties in Michigan, is also a microcosm of class division and
antagonism.
Working-class cities like Pontiac stand beside
capitalist enclaves like Bloomfield Hills and Birmingham. Within a
15-minute drive, you can go from the heights of wealth and power to
the depths of poverty and ruin.
The County government, like most places in
Michigan and the U.S., is dominated by representatives or members of
the capitalist class, as are all boards and local offices. This fact
alone makes Williams’ campaign significant.
Of the nine people seeking the three spots on the
OCC Board of Trustees, Williams is the only candidate who is not a
representative or member of the capitalists.
“As someone who both works at and attends OCC as a
student, I feel I can bring a unique perspective to the Board of
Trustees,” says Williams. “I want to build my candidacy around the
needs and concerns of the people who attend Oakland Community
College and maintain its operations on a day-to-day basis.”
Among the elements of Williams’ platform are
demands to provide year-round childcare for students, additional
online courses for working students, greater participation by
workers and students in the decision-making process, and eliminating
the criminal background check for students applying to the nursing
program.
In addition, Williams has committed himself to
opposing any increase in tuition or fees at OCC, declaring his
support for free, quality education.
Williams’ election to the OCC Board of Trustees
would be a small but significant victory for working people in
Oakland County.
For the first time, workers and students will have
one of their own sitting on the main decision-making body for the
college — someone who understands what it means to balance work and
school while trying to make ends meet.
Since the overwhelming majority of those who
attend OCC are workers, or the children of workers, Williams’
election as an OCC Trustee would mean their concerns would not
simply be ignored or dismissed.
The OCC Board election is June 14, and we
encourage all our readers in Oakland County to go to the polls and
vote for Carl Williams for OCC Board of Trustees.
For more on Williams’ campaign, or to help out,
check out his website at
www.williams2004.org. |
