When I took the Utah League of Cities & Towns (ULCT) training for newly elected city council members they specifically discussed individual rights versus community rights and said this is one of the “polarities” that city councils need to address appropriately. ULCT stressed that these polarities are sets of opposites which can’t function well independently. Favoring either one will lead to divisiveness.
I believe the success of a community comes from acting with civic virtue, a dedication to the common welfare of our community. My posts, “Civic Virtue In This Year’s Election” and “The State Tells Us Harmonious Baloneyous” talk about why this is so important right now.
I’ve heard from a lot of residents that a city council election isn’t really important because the Mayor and City Manager run everything. Not remotely true. The City Council runs the show. I’ll gladly explain that more if you want, but back to the topic at hand.
I believe that all the candidates running for City Council are good people who want to do the right things for the community. But I believe some of them prioritize individual rights over community rights, which is the wrong approach for this job.
Sharon Barton and Sharon Gillespie have made it clear to me and Patty, in articles and public hearing comments, that they understand this tension between individual and community rights and have demonstrated their ability to respect individual rights while focusing on community rights to keep Ivins special. They both have our votes.
And, in our view, they are the only two candidates we see spending a lot of time doing homework and researching issues. That has become more important. There are so many complex issues facing us that we need city council members who will put in extra time and effort needed to better understand issues and search for practical, community-oriented solutions. Reacting in the moment at city council meetings isn’t enough anymore.
They are also the only two candidates who have taken time to regularly express their views in emails to the city, speak at public hearings, and post their views on social media. We like to see that openness, transparency, commitment, and passion. To be fair, Jenny Johnson has also been vocal on issues and made her positions clear, because she has had a “seat at the table” as a member of the city council.
We also like the fact that Sharon Barton and Sharon Gillespie would be new to city government. Yes, there is value in experience, up to a point. But there’s more value in refreshing the system, getting fresh perspectives from new council members.
So, it makes sense for city council members to serve one or two terms then get out of the way to give more people a seat at the table over time. We should get in, contribute to the community, and get out. Six of the eight candidates “check” the new to city government box but except for Sharon Barton and Sharon Gillespie they all miss the other criteria important to us. The other two candidates, Cheyne McDonald and Jenny Johnson, have already served 12 and 8 years respectively. We need to thank them for their service.
I know we each have three votes, and there are a couple of other people that we wish we knew more about. But they have not been vocal about their views and positions on so many important issues over the past couple of years. So, we’re not sure where they stand on issues, and we also wonder if they are really committed, engaged, and passionate enough. We need people who will put in effort on issues.
So, we’re going with two exceptional candidates, Sharon Barton and Sharon Gillespie. Sharon Barton’s website is www.SharonB4Ivins.com and Sharon Gillespie’s website is www.SharonG4Ivins.com.