Mayoral Candidates' Report Cards Are In

The Youth 4 Change Alliance publishes full report on the candidates' performance at its Mayoral Candidates Forum.

Civic Engagement | Pitu Sim | Friday August 27, 2010 10:55

Providence, RI (August 19, 2010) ­– Two weeks ago, during Youth 4 Change Alliance’s (Y4C) Mayoral Candidates Forum, Angel Taveras made a daring statement, encouraging the audience to grade him.  He even went on to say, “I know I'll get an A.” Well, Mr. Taveras, Y4C did grade you, as well as all the other candidates. But did you get the grade you wanted?

Y4C held a youth-led Mayoral Candidates Forum attracting 175 people to listen to the mayoral candidates’ opinions and policies when it comes to youth issues. Attendees were given a packet of materials essential to participating in the forum, including the program for the evening’s event, red, yellow and green cards, and a report card.

As the mayoral candidates answered Y4C’s questions, the colored cards started to pop up in the air. The red card was used as a sign of disapproval; yellow meant that the person was unsure or neutral about the candidate’s position on an issue; while green indicated a favorable attitude towards the candidate’s answer. Some audience members even used a combination of two colors.

While the colored cards provided great visual feedback for the candidates, the tables were turned even further. Y4C found it imperative to quantitatively measure the audiences’ responses to the candidates’ questions; and the report cards did just that. Youth became teachers and mayoral-hopefuls became students vying for good marks. Participants were asked to grade each candidate’s answer using an A through F grade-key; A meaning “I strongly agree with the candidate’s response” and F meaning “I strongly disagree with the candidate’s response.” 

At the end of the event over 80 report cards were turned in for tallying. Candidates received individual grades for each question asked and a final overall grade averaging the individual question grades together. Y4C has published a more detailed report card and video on its website: http://www.y4cri.org/forum, but here is a sneak peek of the results:

FINAL OVERALL GRADES