FROM THE PRESIDENT’S OFFICE
’Tis the Season: Get Out and Vote
by Kate Schwennsen, FAIA
AIA President

Summary: ’Tis the season. No, not the season of too-early Christmas decorations mixed in with the Halloween costumes and a dash of Thanksgiving cornucopia. ‘Tis the season of the negative political ads. If you let it get to you, you can feel very, very depressed.

But please, don’t be discouraged. Cut through the clutter and go to the polls next Tuesday to vote. I mailed my absentee ballot yesterday, and I feel great. I feel great not only because I’ve done my civic duty, but because I voted based not on what I heard and saw in those annoying ads, but on what I read online and in the papers about where the candidates stood on my issues. On our issues. On AIA issues.

What are our issues?
Take a moment to review our public policies and positions and government advocacy agenda, linked to the AIA’s home page. You’ll find many issues to use as a lens to evaluate candidates—their credentials, their passions, their insights on matters critical to the future of our communities.

Where do they stand on energy policies, environmental protection, and water quality? What do they think about climate change, and how would they deal with this issue? Have they informed opinions on brownfields development, smart growth, infrastructure improvements, and sustainable design and livability issues? What is their knowledge and enthusiasm for small-business tax and health-care support? Qualifications-based selection? School construction and modernization? Historic preservation? Housing repair and reconstruction?

As an organization, we have worked collectively to develop clear and closely reasoned positions on these issues. AIA members from all over the country, large firms and small, rural and urban have sat down together, gathered the facts, and taken principled stands on what we believe are issues that affect our profession and, more importantly, issues that will shape the quality of life for generations to come.

Because we’ve done our homework and because we are engaged, our collective voice is gaining strength

Because we’ve done our homework and because we are engaged, our collective voice is gaining strength. We are gaining credibility on issues supporting the design and creation of livable, healthy, sustainable, and beautiful buildings and communities. We’re known and respected.

Advocating our priorities
A few weeks ago, I met with one of our congressional representatives to start discussions about legislative opportunities for next year; specifically, how we might assist our representative in advocating our priorities. We had a very constructive conversation about these opportunities, with the clear understanding that the possibilities are dependent on the outcome of this election.

For his part, the congressman was direct in his challenge: If we want to advance our agenda next year, we need to “get our people out; out to support their candidates at rallies, in conversations, and at the polls.” Don’t underestimate the power of your voice, he said; it’s a power that cannot be dismissed.

We can change the climate, not by our hand on the thermostat, but by our action in the polling place: Vote!

His words came back to me when I picked up a copy of the October 30 Washington Post and read the lead editorial titled, “Changing Climate on Climate.” The writer spoke of the need to “change our political climate on climate.” Although he lamented our nation’s lack of progress in overcoming an addiction to fossil fuels and carbon, he went on to specifically recognize that a carbon-neutral future depends to a great degree on building design: “A huge percentage of buildings in this country will be refurbished or replaced in the coming decades,” he wrote. “Aggressively pushing design features that maximize energy savings would reduce energy use enormously without much pain.”

Regrettably, we can’t rewrite history and political ads are not ours to script. We can, however, help script the future of our profession, our communities, and our planet. As both the congressman and the op-ed writer make clear, seldom if ever before in our nation’s history have architects been in such a strategic position to make a difference. We can change the climate, not by our hand on the thermostat, but by our action in the polling place: Vote!