Let’s face it. We in Springfield and Sangamon County are products of a very political environment. Politics permeates our government, businesses, agencies, schools, churches and other aspects of our lives. But we can no longer just accept the notion that to get ahead here one must be forever indebted to power elites.

Patronage-based politics is gasping its last breath. Democrats, Republicans, independents and others need to shed the old way of doing business and help craft a future that reduces our dependence on a system that swaps government jobs for loyalty and fuels “what’s in it for me” politics.

Government and politics are likely to always play an important role in Springfield and Sangamon County, but what form they take is ours to shape.

Sheila Stocks-Smith is a special projects consultant and adjunct professor at UIS teaching a class on public policy. She has been active with the Sangamon County Democrats since 2003.