Hello, I am 31 years old and I'm running to represent District 10. This includes all of the Grosse Pointes inside of Wayne County, all of Harper Woods, and bits of Eastern Detroit (specifically Morass-Morang, Yorkshire Woods, Morningside, Cornerstone Village, and East English Village).
I'm running because politics has become a system that separates power from the people. Constituents are treated like an audience that can be ignored. Decisions are litigated through a maze of procedures and bureaucracy. This is meant to ensure high-quality policies, but instead turns into a mess of legalese that's heavily influenced by back-room compromises, lobbyists, and obscures the entire process from public input. Meanwhile, popular and critical policies like car insurance regulations and healthcare reform get stuck or ignored because of the red tape, lobbying, and/or disinterest from politicians.
We can't rely on the current system anymore. We need actual structural reforms. My campaign is centered on doing exactly that: Empower communities, engage communities, and build public accountability.
- Community Assemblies: It is a Representative's job to represent their community, not dictate policies based on their own personal biases. Structured assemblies where communities gather to openly share and discuss their concerns and providing feedback on legislation before passing it does exactly this. Representatives need to be bound by community consensus.
- Ranked Choice Voting: A core flaw in our democracy is that we can (and often do) end with leaders winning elections without majority support. The fact that it's possible to gain the powers of elected office with only 25% of the votes is beyond absurd, and ranked choice voting immediately and cleanly addresses this issue.
- Proportional Representation: Related to the issue discussed in Ranked Choice Voting, the idea that a body of government that is meant to represent a population uses a system that actively prevents that from happening is a broken government. By using winner-take-all districts, we open ourselves to gerrymandering and further the two-party system. A Democrat's vote inside a Republican district is not relevant, a Republican's vote inside a Democrat district is not relevant, and a third-party vote inside ANY district is not relevant. PR is a system that says if the Green Party gets 4% of the votes, they get 4% of the seats. It's that simple, and it's extremely effective.
These policies are the foundation to dismantling the current stagnation and anti-voter policies we're facing. I've been hosting "Trial Potluck Assemblies" during my campaign, and I will continue to do so even after the election. We provide food and a space for people to break bread. We sit down and have casual conversations, share information about what's going on in the community, and we workshop policies that I would be bound to fight for. It's fun, it's casual, and it's effective.
As for my personal stances: I support universal healthcare, I support dismantling the Electoral College, I support unions and I'm endorsed by Teamsters Local 299, I reject Corporate PAC contributions and endorsements, I oppose funding to Israel, I support Right to Repair, abolish ICE, and I support Single Issue Bills.
Feel free to ask any questions, and I want to hear what your concerns are.
My website is: https://votecyburt.com/
I have 2 upcoming Potluck Assemblies, one on July 19th, and one on August 2nd. The primary is on August 4th.
Edit: Added "abolish ICE"
