By Clare Mazzei, MVHS Junior
MOUNT VERNON – Mount Vernon High School’s AP government class received a visit from their state representative Rick Carfagna last Thursday. As the students have been studying the federal system of the United States Government, Rep. Carfagna was able to supply them with answers to many of their questions about government on the state level. The students had a questions prepared for the representatives that led to an engaging conversation between Carfagna and his future constituents.
Rep. Carfagna described to the class that as a state representative his job on a day-to-day basis lacks consistency; Carfagna is constantly traveling throughout his district in addition to meeting with the General Assembly. With only one assistant, Carfagna directly answers to his constituents, and does his best to understand the people and the issues from the communities from which he represents. He explained to the class that having formerly served as the chairman of the Genoa Township Board of Trustees helped him secure the votes of that area during his campaign. Carfagna acknowledged that one of his biggest challenges he faced while campaigning was making a name for himself in Knox County that had no ties to him, and since has worked hard to develop a strong relationships with these communities.
As a diverse group of young people whose opinions cover the entirety of the political spectrum, the students appreciated that even as a proud Republican Carfagna expressed a bipartisan attitude towards many issues. Carfagna’s conversation with the students made it clear that he has a great deal of respect for people from both parties. The students were impressed and a bit surprised that Carfagna knew so much about their community and problems within it. Carfagna discussed topics including the job loss the community has experienced with Siemens and the vacancy of Rian Hall. Carfagna’s knowledge of his district exemplified how passionate he is about his job. Furthermore Carfagna spoke about how taking his position meant taking a pay cut, by stating this, the class was able to truly understand Carfagna’s dedication to his career, and lead to an interesting class discussion about the salaries of government employees.
Meeting with Carfagna allowed the students to better grasp how the government works on a state level. Several students of the class have expressed interest in political careers, and a career as a state representative could very well be the occupation of one the students.
Moreover, towards the conclusion of the conversation with Rick Carfagna, the teacher of the AP government, course Jeff Gottke asked Carfagna if he was considering running for Pat Tiberi’s position as congressman since Tiberi had recently announced he will not be running for reelection. At the time Carfagna was not able to give a conclusive answer. In a later discussion, the students had mixed feelings about potentially losing the man who represents their community so well to a higher office. As political minded young individuals the students are sure to follow the career of Carfagna and were greatly impacted by their time with him.