{"id":80828,"date":"2024-10-31T08:26:03","date_gmt":"2024-10-31T12:26:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/earlham.edu\/?p=80828"},"modified":"2024-10-31T08:26:06","modified_gmt":"2024-10-31T12:26:06","slug":"earlham-politicos-local-politics-with-reece-axel-adams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/earlham.edu\/news-events\/earlham-politicos-local-politics-with-reece-axel-adams\/","title":{"rendered":"Earlham Politicos: Local politics with Reece Axel-Adams"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Editor’s note: this is part two of an ongoing series, “Earlham Politicos,” that investigates how alums, current students, and faculty\/staff are engaging politically this election season.<\/em> For part one, click here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Reece\u00a0Axel-Adams speaking to a crowd of supporters during one of last year’s union rallies | Photo credit Evan Weaver Pal-Item<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Reece Axel-Adams is currently the campaign manager for Indiana Senate candidate Susan Fortenberry, but their journey into politics really got started during their senior year of high school.  Reece got their start in the fight against injustice in their high school in Pendleton, Indiana, when they saw their school\u2019s Gay-Straight Alliance being treated unequally. They partnered with the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana to ensure that the GSA had access to advertising, keeping a level head throughout the process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI can only control how I will approach things,\u201d they said at the time. \u201cI cannot control how others will approach things.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps this more localized approach to activism is why the Earlham sophomore and politics major is so interested in the local, rather than national, political scene. In 2023 they worked on their first partisan campaign with Pendleton town council candidate Joe Noel, and lost, but did not let that deter them from continuing to get involved in other ways. This year alone they\u2019ve worked for Fortenberry as a campaign manager and fundraiser and represented as a delegate for the Indiana Democratic Convention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPeople don\u2019t know what\u2019s going on locally, but it\u2019s where it\u2019s at,\u201d they said. \u201cYou can get a lot more done locally and create meaningful change because there\u2019s less red tape and bureaucracy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the key issues for Axel-Adams this election cycle (or, perhaps, every election) is campaign finance reform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI feel like we need to pay our politicians more,\u201d they said. \u201cPeople always give me a weird look when I say that. Most local politicians are paid a base salary of $30,000, ultimately ranging from $35,000-$55,000 a year. That\u2019s not much to live off of.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo what happens? We elect doctors and lawyers and our legislature ends up lacking the diversity it needs,\u201d they said. \u201cWe need to diversify the legislature for it to truly represent the average American, and then, we need to pay them a livable wage. Doing this would literally be the difference between a 5 percent and 7 percent property tax, because the average American, the average person we ideally want to see in those positions of power, would understand that price hike and that difference in percentage and its trickle-down effects.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key issue for them is education. \u201cI come from a long line of educators,\u201d says Axel-Adams. \u201cEducation is core to me. If we improve education, we can plant seeds for fixing bigger issues.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like lunch debt, for example.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere is absolutely no reason why we can\u2019t indefinitely extend the free lunch programs we had during the pandemic,\u201d they said, ultimately seeing the solution as a win-win for everyone involved. \u201cSchools and parents would no longer be struggling with debt; kids would be adequately nourished and fed. \u201cLunch debt is one of the largest non-healthcare debts in the United States. But at the same time, paying off lunch debt one time is not enough. Once the debts are paid off, those kids are going to immediately start accruing more lunch debt. It\u2019s a never-ending cycle. It would be relatively cheap to just indefinitely extend free food programs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When asked why they keep fighting, their response was simple: they enjoy helping people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI hate putting it this way, but really, politics is a game,\u201d says Axel-Adams, \u201cand while I enjoy playing the game, I love helping people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Written by Jay Kibble, writer\/editor for Earlham’s Marketing Office<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Media contact<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Brian Zimmerman<\/strong>
Assistant vice president of strategic communications
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Email: zimmebr@earlham.edu
Phone: 765.983.1256<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n