OSWEGO – If you live in District 15 in Oswego County, you may have recently seen John Gosek Jr. going door-to-door, petitioning to run on the ballot for District County Legislator as an independent. “I had to get 71 signatures out of about 270 registered voters in my district,” said Gosek, “the biggest thing I wanted to tell people was that I was running to give you a choice.” He believes his background in local government and teaching American Government makes him a perfect fit to run as an independent.
Running as an independent means that Gosek does not have the same ‘war chest’ as the two major parties. With that in mind, Gosek decided to hit the streets and let the people in Oswego be aware of his intentions. “I’m going to be honest with you, it’s kind of an experiment in democracy, can an independent candidate, with no war chest or party, break the stranglehold that our parties have?” said Gosek.
As previously reported by Oswego County Today, Gosek left the republican party during the reevaluation that had many residents of Oswego upset. “I was outraged over the reassessment,” said Gosek. “People are outraged over the raised taxes, we could have done the same thing as Syracuse,” said Gosek, “they looked at the economy and decided now is not the time.”
“One good thing about being an independent is that I’m not beholden to anyone, I don’t owe the kingmakers or the parties’ bosses anything,” said Gosek. He believes that this lack of oversight means he can listen to anyone unbiasedly, regardless of whether they are a Republican or a Democrat.
Gosek spoke at length that most people in the United States in general, are usually in the middle on most issues. He, like many Americans, believes that people don’t like being forced into a situation where they must accept extreme beliefs to belong to a party.
“I would place most blame on the problems we have today in America on the two political parties,” said Gosek. Gosek worries, like many Americans do today, that the two political parties are putting their own personal interest over the common interest of everyone.
Oswego’s rich history is not as celebrated as Gosek believes it should be. “Anywhere else in the world that has history like ours, they would be capitalizing off it,” said Gosek. He is referring to how Oswego was highly valued internationally in the 1700s, due to its location.
“People should be aware that this is one of the most important places in North America, the fate of the continent was determined here,” said Gosek, “the British destroyed the French power here, which is why we all speak English today.”
“It’s a shame we don’t capitalize on it, everywhere else in the world, their main source of income is tourism,” said Gosek. Gosek believes that not only would there be an economic boon, but also civic pride. “Oswego is a city of plaques; it should be a city of monuments,” said Gosek.
Gosek believes that putting Oswego first includes standing up for the little guy and making sure everyone gets heard. People are isolated more than ever. Gosek believes that the internet and political ideology are the cause. “We need to find some common ground, if not common ground, then moderation, let’s pull back from the extremes,” said Gosek.
Gosek was born and raised in Oswego. He received his BA in American Studies from Middlebury College in Middlebury, Vermont. He has taught at Pulaski High School for 22 year, where he teaches 12th grade US Government & Economics as well as 9th grade Global Studies. As for civic duties, he has served 2 years on the Friends of Oswego Library board. 1 term on the Board of Directors for the Oswego County Historical Society. He has served 5 terms on the Oswego City Council, for a total of ten years of service.
Kevin Hill, a republican, is the current County 15th District Legislator. Lee Walker, a democrat, is also running for the seat.
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