Candidate Hopes to Inspire New Generation of Politicians

[Editor's note: Arianna Bayangos is a student journalist at Carlmont High School.]

Cameron Johnson, a candidate for the San Carlos City Council, spoke to Carlmont High School’s Junior State of America (JSA) club this week. The purpose of Johnson's visit to Carlmont was to get JSA members more involved in politics.

Alan Yan, president and founder of JSA commented, “I thought that there were many people who knew about politics but they weren’t engaged. I made this club to allow them to engage them in politics more.”

Yan invited Johnson to a JSA meeting to speak about his political campaign and
encourage more involvement in the club.

Johnson was interested in politics growing up; his interest sparked when he saw
a campaign flier at the First District of Oregon for a congressman. He began to
volunteer for the campaign by giving fliers door to door.

Johnson said, “Public decisions have a big impact on people’s lives. I think that all aspects of government are vitally important.”

Since then, he has continued to working in politics in various places such as
Washington DC and Europe.

In addition to politics, Johnson earned his MBA at Stanford Business school.

Currently, Johnson lives in San Carlos and has a two year old daughter. He works for Netflix, handling the social media side of the company.

Johnson is also in San Carlos’s Economic Development committee and a county
board that oversees mental health and alcohol drug rehabilitation services for San Mateo County.

Johnson decided to run for city council because he believes that “not a lot of young people get involved and people who vote are older. That’s what motivates me. I think San Carlos is an awesome place to grow up. We have this balance of great economic opportunity and great schools. I know my daughter can do whatever she wants and you guys (the students) can do whatever you want.”

His campaign is focused on preserving town history, education, and the budget.

In addition to talking about his campaign and addressing the students’ questions about politics, Johnson encouraged the members to get involved.

Johnson added, “It’s important for young people to get involved. There are not a lot of young people involved in politics today particularly in the Bay Area. It’s really great that there are so many people interested in government and public policy. I’m here to introduce myself and to encourage them to keep getting involved.”

Johnson also offered volunteer opportunities for his campaign to the students.

His words influenced the members of JSA to take action.

James Xie, the vice president of JSA commented, “He influenced me to get more
involved in politics. Not necessarily volunteering, because I don't have time.
However, he did explain the reasoning behind most of the annoying things that are associated with campaigns like phone calls, and now I'll pick up the phone and see what they have to say.”

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