SAINT LOUIS, Mo. --Food, shelter and a need for change—those are the issues some see on this year’s ballot.
“There are a lot of people of here who don’t have jobs, don’t have a place to stay, you know,” said 36-year-old Calvin Shelton outside a poll Tuesday afternoon. “You know, people say there’s nothing wrong with the economy, that we are not in a recession but to me, the recession has already hit; it has already happened.”
Shelton , a father of three children, has been unemployed since Sept. 18 of this year. He said he is frustrated with the last eight years and is ready for a change.
Shelton also said his desire for change is rooted in issues he observes in the community.
“Myself, I’m not working right now and I gotta pay $75 to be seen at a free clinic so it ain’t free to me,”
Shelton said. “If I have to go to a free clinic, where am I supposed to come up with $75?”
Stephen Conway, St. Louis alderman of the eighth ward, said people like
Shelton represent a large portion of the population in his ward.
Conway said, as a result, the important issues they face include unemployment, healthcare and the general state of the economy.
“We have working class people,” said
Conway . “When you have middle class people that are just a paycheck or two away from keeping their house or keeping up with your medical bills.”
Shelton said he was excited to see people of his own race at the polls and knows that he is not alone in how he feels about this election.
“Even the temp. [agencies] don’t have work,”
Shelton said. “I mean, I went to the unemployment office and I see a lot of my friends outta work and we’re good hardworking men coming out of the black community. We aren’t jailbirds, you know. We work hard. There just no jobs out there…and it’s kinda weird. I go to the store and I see the drunks saying they gotta stay sober to vote Tuesday. They’re tired. They say even they’re tired.”
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