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Free Press Online

The student-run news site of Lawrence Free State High School

Free Press Online

The student-run news site of Lawrence Free State High School

Free Press Online

Students Describe Life as Children of Local Politicians

photo+by+vectorportal
photo by vectorportal

With all the attention on Mitt Romney and Barack Obama for president in Washington, D.C, we often overlook our own local political celebrities right here in Lawrence.

Much like Obama’s kids, Sasha and Malia Ann, everyone in a political family finds that being in the public spotlight can be challenging.

“Just having your dad gone for awhile at work is hard,” sophomore  Laura Corliss said.Corliss is the daughter of [one of] Lawrence’s city commissioners.

“When he got the job it was really cool and I was really proud of him,” Corliss said, “[his position on the city commission] is something he has been working toward since he was out of college…I’m really proud of him.”

Several students have parents who are a part of Lawrence’s government. Lawrence has five city commissioners elected at a city- wide vote. Three are up for reelection every two years. Every April, the commissioners elect one commissioner to be Mayor and the other Vice- Mayor. For 2013, the three officials up for reelection are commissioners Aron Cromwell, Mike Amyx, and Hugh Carter. Currently, the Mayor is Bob Schumm and the Vice- Mayor is Michael Dever.

Several student would choose to stay away from politics after seeing what they see everyday.

“It doesn’t really affect my opinions, but I don’t really want to do politics,” Senior Connor Chestnut said, “it’s just a lot of work and a lot of people hate you for it, and yeah, not for me.” Chestnut is the son of Rob Chestnut, who used to be a member of the Lawrence City Commission.

Children of other local political figures agree with Chestnut.

Being in the midst of everything that happens the Lawrence community requires long hours.

“They only have meetings on Tuesday nights, so basically every Tuesday night he will be home at eleven o’clock just because the meetings last so long.” Senior Kylie Dever said. Dever is the daughter  of City Commissioner Mike Dever.
However, even though the politicians sometimes have late evenings as they’re stuck in meetings or decisions, family is still a priority.
“Family is a priority for him so he tries his hardest to be home by 6,” Dever said.

Political life often stretches into the home sphere as well. Some families are required to attend mixers, miss certain holidays, and even face the diversity between the family members’ beliefs.

“We didn’t get to shoot off fireworks for fourth of July when he was on City commision because it would be hypocritical for him to be in city government and have him shoot off fireworks,” Chestnut said.

These students also have to deal with different beliefs throughout their own family. Corliss, Chestnut, Thellman, and Dever all said that sometimes they do have different thoughts on certain topics, but they just talk it out to understand each others views.

“The thing for my dad is that he looks at all sides of a situation and he is not going to vote one way or another just because of his political background,” Dever said.

Dever says that her dad analyzes both sides.

“But the hardest part is when your political beliefs are different from your friends or friends’ families,” Dever says.

Being in a family where one or both parents are in politics has its challenge, but it also has some benefits.

“Free football games and being able to knows stores are coming and when different stuff is coming to Lawrence,”  said Corliss with a smile.

These perks are just the beginning. City Commissioners and their families also get free tickets to some city events, free food, interesting conversations, and knowledge of local events.

“It’s just kind of cool to have a dad who is well known and well liked,” Dever said

Challenges always occur; some bigger than others. Every child of a political figure said that there is some hardship or downside to being the child of a highly influential  member of the community.
“All the police officers know you and sometimes we have to attend boring mixers,” Corliss said. “And just having your dad gone for awhile is hard.”

Chestnut agrees, “ It’s a lot of time and a lot of work for my dad and he was pretty stressed. He likes doing it but it is a lot of big time time commitment.”

Despite the ups and downs of being in a political family, Dever feels like it’s just part of their life now.
“I feel like the first time around it was really cool because I could turn on the TV on tuesday nights and be like ‘Oh that so cool! My dad’s on TV!’” Dever said. “But now it’s been seven years since that so it’s just part of my life… it’s more of a habit now.”

Each “mom or dad” who is involved in local politics works extremely hard to help push Lawrence in the right direction, and their kids agree.

“I get excited and I respect my mom a lot, so it’s good knowing she is holding an office,” says Thellman.

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