We keep wondering whether there’s any need for this newspaper to continue making the effort, and taking up the considerable space it requires, to run our election questionnaires before each general election.
Our philosophy – in hindsight, perhaps a naive one – has always been that the public deserves to know the positions of candidates for elected office, so that they can make the most well-informed decisions they can when they cast their votes, based on the issues and where candidates stand on those issues.
But how do we account for politicians who don’t keep their campaign promises, or abide by their stated positions?
This is especially noteworthy when we have politicians whose word doesn’t even last a few months.
This week, city councilman Jim Young – elected by just 14 votes in the November 2025 election – totally abandoned his stated position in favor of maintaining the Sesquicentennial Park on the northwest corner of Court Square. One has to wonder if Young would have won (even by just 14 votes) if Graham voters had known he would so readily abandon that pledge.
Just three months (!) ago, Young responded to this question submitted to all candidates for city council in the October 16, 2025 edition of The Alamance News: “In general, do you favor keeping Sesquicentennial Park where it is, on the northwest corner of Court Square, or moving it elsewhere?” Young’s short and direct response: “Keep.”
A follow-up question asked, “If keep, how would you propose to pay for the repairs necessary to fix the park’s sinking foundation?” Young’s response: “We should explore grant funding, public-private partnerships, or modest budget allocations. Most importantly, we should let the public weigh in – possibly through a voter referendum.”
But less than two months after being sworn in, it was almost as though Young had amnesia this week. He actually did recall that his position as it evolved during Tuesday night’s city council meeting, was at odds with his previous answer to the newspaper’s questionnaire. But why let principle, or a campaign promise, stop a change in position? Or in Young’s words, “I would be a fool not to have my mind open to being changed – about anything.”
Gone was the commitment to keep the park at its current location.
But perhaps even more startling, gone was any of Young’s expressed commitment to letting “the public weigh in.” Instead, Young seconded the motion to ram through the proposal to move the park, the public’s opinions be damned.
No public hearing, no ability to have a “referendum” or any other form of public input. Let’s just do it, was his attitude, despite his previously-stated position.
The problem we have with politicians who don’t keep their word on one topic, such as keeping the Sesquicentennial Park, is that it brings into question whether the public can trust that politician’s word on any other response(s) he gave during the campaign – or anything he ever says, again.
If Young can’t keep his word on this, we’re not very convinced he can be relied on to keep his word on much of anything else.
