On Friday I filed to run for city council in my town of American Fork. I have spent hundreds of hours visiting with people who have lived here for longer than we have, and our connections here have roots that go back the better part of a century (or even further once we get into our family history). We listen to and try to serve people of all backgrounds and ages, from 98 year olds to our newborns. My wife and I now have a family of eight, and if there is one thing that makes life for families and individuals more complicated, it is the steady encroachment of anti-family influences including policies that curiously work against us in our neighborhoods, employment and homes despite our best efforts to represent ourselves.
I believe it is our right and our responsibility to petition governments for redress of grievances including the little things that add up to significant impediments, and to be proactive in offering to serve and contribute solutions where we can. Many people I have talked with either believe that participation in politics is hopeless because of corruption, or that they lack the time, means or skills to contribute. We need to address both halves of this problem.
I understand not running for an office because of life’s other more pressing concerns–that is where I come from personally–but there has also been historically low participation especially in our local and municipal elections in recent years. There is also a feeling of futility. I have tried to make a difference in national politics, with little or no measurable success. I have raised my voice to improve our state policies, only to be ignored. I have some reasons to believe I have improved our county politics, but where I have found we can make the most difference is right in our own homes and towns.
In the Internet age, too often we only pay attention to national voices and offices, and increasingly our lives, our fortunes and even our peace becomes tied to some remote thing that we have no control over. This effect centralizes power, removes checks and balances, and surrenders autonomy, draining life of its happiness. The unity and shared identity we ought to enjoy at the community level is often fractured by the latest thing on social or news media. We urgently need more grounding in what can be most enduring: our faith, our families, and our community.
The contention in political discourse often leads to either talking past each other with anger or shutting down all conversation on political topics (as though avoidance were a solution). Having a disagreement is not contention. Trying to solve hard problems is not contention. There are right and wrong answers and there are ways to improve our situation by the application of intelligence. Each of us is capable of doing this in some degree, and we need each other’s input. The authors of the Federalist Papers urged the necessity of union. Even ignoring the dangers of invasion, the fracture of society internally leads to nihilism, depression and despair. We are meant for better things.
What if we reframe the conversation? Instead of thinking in terms of “politics”, which usually devolves into mudslinging which are so well-worn that they are now battle trenches, what if we think in terms of policies? We can each name policies that make our lives better or worse than alternatives. We can each share ways to make policies better for ourselves, and if we talk to others and incorporate their feedback, we can make things better for them at the same time. If we are principled and discerning we can make things better for everyone.
Laws and municipal codes express policies. Therefore we have a need to speak up about and inform the making of our laws and municipal codes. Anyone who is suffering from systemic unfairness or unwisdom deserves to have his or her interests protected by those who wield any amount of power in making, enforcing and interpreting policies.
Yesterday at an event at the capitol I felt I should ask a stranger in the crowd what he thought about an election transparency question I was having difficulty finding a solution to. I believe his thoughtful answer solved my problem. This is not an isolated event! I invite you to express your frustrations as well as contribute your thoughts and recommendations to make our shared policy for living in our city better for everyone.
Now there is a temptation to try to categorize people by their alliances in national politics. This is usually if not always a terrible idea. Abetted by media smokescreens and spending, national matters are usually so far removed from our powers of direct observation and influence that such an approach limits discernment. I am not one who believes in either virtue or guilt by association. I believe every person will answer for his own choices, whether good, bad or mediocre. This helps us have conversations without shutting down good ideas merely because the person they are coming from voted for someone we wouldn’t have voted for–that is simply toxic perfectionism. While we ought to avoid perfectionism, I believe we can make our government better, and someday perhaps we may even enjoy a perfect government.
I believe we can succeed at opposing government overreach at all levels by asserting our rights and autonomy locally, following the pattern expressed by our founding fathers in the ninth and tenth amendments. I believe checks and balances are the missing key ingredient to restoring life, liberty and happiness to all who are willing to pay that price.
Importantly, I wish to express that this run for office should not be construed as a blanket vote of no confidence in our current mayor or city council. Generally the more vigorous competition there is for an office, the more vetting the voters do, the better candidates end up being elected and the better informed the political officers end up being on how to serve the people.
If you have concerns you would like to raise or ideas you would like to share, please, let’s meet! Let’s discuss and find policies that will make life better for everyone, not just many or few. Then let’s act on it to raise the issue and move our policies and practices in the right direction using the means available to us. This is what I love to do and will continue to do all my life whether I am in a race for office or not.
Please send me an email if you’d like to talk or meet, send me a message or give me a call at 385-208-5958.
stewart.seth.a@gmail.com
Filing of Candidacy – Seth Stewart
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