As candidates begin filing for Springfield’s April school board elections, a new political action committee has entered local politics.
United Springfield intends to focus solely on nonpartisan elections, such as city council, mayor and school board.
Co-chair Jim Anderson said the group was formed as a reaction to the steep rise in spending on local elections and the rise of uncivil politics across the country.
“What we see is divisiveness, disruption and polarization,” Anderson said. “It's all around us, whether it be nationally, statewide or regionally, and certainly even in our own community. We just can’t stand by and watch this happen.”
Anderson said the committee does not have any specific policy positions at this time but is looking to support candidates that are not driven by ideology or personal benefit and who come with a background that prepares them for governance.
Anderson is a former president of the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce and said he is a Democrat. Co-chair of United Springfield, Terri McQueary, is a local businesswoman active in the Republican Party. But Anderson said United Springfield is totally independent of the Chamber of Commerce, and “the steering committee is composed of an equal amount of Republicans, Democrats and Independents.”
Anderson explained, “we’re only looking at nonpartisan races, and I think we can make a very positive difference in our community.”
Anderson said he’d love to go back to a time when local elections did not attract the levels of spending they have in recent years, but part of moving forward with United Springfield is accepting the new norm.
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