Biography
Walter is currently a student at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign studying History and Secondary Education to achieve his dream of becoming a high school history teacher. He has been active in the local community and campus working for effective change to fight urban sprawl, increase environmental sustainability on campus, and working to bring an end to the Iraq War. Walter is a member of the Prairie Green Party, Illinois Green Party, Students for Environmental Concerns, Midwest High Speed Rail Association, Students United Against Sweatshops, and was Vice-President of the UIUC Campus Greens in 2007-2008. Walter is interested in cycling, participatory democracy, effective pedagogy, sustainability, chess, and likes to read in his free time.
Why am I running? And why Green Party?
I am running to bring positive and effective change to the county board so that we can live in a clean environment, have a vibrant locally based economy, and ensure a healthy people.
I'm running for the farmer who is finding his or her land being gobbled up by sprawling development. I'm running for the working poor and the elderly who are counting on dependable and effective county services. I'm running for the average citizen who feels disenchanted and disempowered by a county government that neither listens to them nor delivers through on its promises. In sum, I'm running to bring genuine representation to the people of Champaign County.
I'm running as a Green because we need to change the way politics currently works. Greens don't accept donations from corporations because of the overwhelming influence they have on our representatives and on how politics work. We believe that representatives are supposed to serve in the interests of their constituents not Big Business. Power ultimately resides in citizens and the people. That's a fundamental cornerstone of our democracy.
I also believe that the Greens have the most effective policies whether it is on the environment or on health issues. The guiding values of the party are embodied in the 10 Key Values of the Green Party of the United States:
- Grassroots and Participatory Democracy
- Ecological Wisdom
- Nonviolence
- Social Justice
- Decentralization
- Community Based Economics
- Gender Equity
- Respect for Diversity
- Personal and Global Responsibility
- Future Focus
For more information on the Green Party please visit: