The right to be heard

I’m not here to tell you which candidates or ballot measures to vote for on Nov. 5.

But when elections come around, I’m always interested to find out how others decide. One thing that most people seem to agree on is that good candidates are hard to come by these days. But, to be honest, that’s probably always been the case. Political campaigns are like target practice, and who in their right mind wants to dodge darts for nine months straight, let alone sentence themselves to four more years with a bullseye on their back?

Still, you can’t have good government without good elected officials. And you can’t have good elected officials without good candidates. So, persuading good candidates to run for office is a must. And voting for the best ones is as well.

I recently asked some friends to give me the top three traits or criteria that they look for when trying to decide which candidates to vote for. Whittling it down to three wasn’t easy. But after careful consideration, most were able to come up with a solid short list.

At the top of my first interviewee’s list were aspiring office holders who genuinely care about others. It may be difficult to find a candidate who’s not self-centered, a promoter, or fake, but unfeigned altruism seems like a noble essential that every true public servant should possess.

Second on her list were nominees who embody fiscal conservatism. Fiscal conservatives embrace the economic philosophies of classical liberalism, such as advocating for reduced government spending, minimal debt, tax cuts, free markets, deregulation, privatization, and free trade. The third trait that my initial responder looks for in would-be public office holders is a sound understanding of what they really have power to do, including a respectful appreciation of the limits of their authority.

My next respondent offered three entirely different measuring sticks that help him identify worthy candidates to vote for. First, in his opinion, future public leaders must be absolutely truthful. Otherwise, what good are campaign promises? Next on his list were contenders with effective people skills, by which he meant excellent communicators. Finally, critical thinkers who are proven problem-solvers make the best governing representatives in my second answerer’s mind.

My third volunteer confided that he seeks out representatives who trust in a higher power and put family values first. He also thinks a healthy sense of humor is important, so he looks for aspiring leaders who don’t take themselves or life’s problems too seriously, who remain calm in times of crisis, and who instill in others the confidence that it will all work out in the end if we just stick to the plan and keep following tried and true principles. And that led to his third set of priority characteristics that good candidates should embody, which are moral virtues like equity, compassion, wisdom, integrity, and justice.

So, what are your top three metrics, touchstones, barometers, or benchmarks for selecting the next set of public office holders who will represent you on the local, regional, or national level? Your transcendent trio will undoubtedly be different from mine and everyone else’s. And, believe me, it will stretch you and maybe even be a bit painful to pare down to your overarching trifecta. But I’m confident the effort will prove enlightening and help you to better identify in your own mind what motivates you to vote the way you do.

Here in Boulder City, not only will you need to decide for whom you will cast your votes but also for what. That’s because there’s a ballot question to approve using up to $9 million more from the city’s Capital Improvement Fund to design and build a new swimming pool facility. That’s in addition to the $7 million already approved by voters in 2021.

Again, I won’t tell you how to vote. But at the risk of oversimplifying, it seems to me that the question boils down to need, cost, and trust.

The first question is: Do we need a new pool? If your answer is yes, then you’re a third of the way toward voting in favor. If no, then you can stop there and vote against. Ever since I was first elected to City Council in 2011, I’ve been hearing from professionals, expert consultants, and city staff alike that we need a new pool. It leaks, its old equipment costs tens if not hundreds of thousands to repair and maintain every year, it’s not deep enough for competitive meets, it has to be closed periodically for health and safety compliance as well as bubble installation, and only band-aid fixes rather than legitimate repairs are any longer possible. But you have to decide whether you agree or not.

The next question involves cost: Is it worth the estimated $36 million? Again, you’ll have to answer for yourself. But I will say this. Before I left office as mayor in 2019, the cost estimate was $9 or $10 million less than it is now, and that was for a design with several more amenities than the current one. So, inflation is real. I don’t have a crystal ball, but I think I’m safe in prophesying that costs are only going to continue going up, not down.

The last question is about trust: Do you trust the current City Council and staff to do the right thing and finally get the new pool complex designed and built? Or do you want to wait, let inflation continue to do its magic, and take your chances on a future group of representatives at a higher cost? The choice is yours.

But isn’t it a profound blessing that we actually have choices? And that we can make those choices known every year at the polls! So, whatever your choices may be, please exercise your right to be heard by either voting early or showing up to cast your ballot on Nov. 5.