My friends, you may have noticed a recent spike in my activist/politically-related posts here. If you haven’t noticed this, you haven’t been to my website enough lately, so fix that please.
As I’ve taken the time to peruse the Provo City Code, all 600+ pages of it, I’ve found myself increasingly frustrated by intrusive government and crummy laws. I believe that government is a necessity in this world. I believe in law and rule of law. I believe that a genuinely representative form of government is the right type of government; I also feel that local governments are the best type of representative government due to an increased potential for actual responsiveness.
After years of studying and pondering issues related to government, particularly studying government through the lens of history (yes, I know the victors write the history books), I am finally approaching what I believe are my core values regarding government, its role, and its necessary duties and limitations.
With all of this said, I am now considering running for one of the seats that is opening up on the Provo City Council this year. I have not made a final decision and am announcing nothing official here at all, but I am very curious to know what your thoughts on this potential move might be. Anyone from any locality in the world is welcome to weigh in with your thoughts. I will especially value input from people who live in Provo, Utah, for obvious reasons.
And if I do run, maybe my campaign signs should look like this:
or this:
So, your thoughts?
I say GO! We need more law passionate pple in govt. not job passionate. The second banner sounds too much like what every one says. The first is def. an attenention grabber and would make me curious abt looking you up. Wish I was a Provo res!
Thanks, Tanya! I actually like the first one too, although they’re both kind of a joke. I would never get elected on the first platform, I don’t think, and the second is just a play on what everyone else says. A deliberate, satirical play.
Hmm, I wish you were a Provo resident too. That’d be another vote.
Got any babies I could kiss?
🙂
Do it, Jared.
I like “Fixing Stupid Rules”. You’ve inspired me in my own efforts to change the stupid zoning rules here that prohibit backyard chickens.
It’s people who care who need to run.
But it’s those same people who often get mowed down in the process.
The father of a good friend of mine–a man who’d run many hugely successful corporations–ran for mayor and won, hoping to do a lot of good. He ended up hitting dead ends and had nasty, nasty experiences, including people trying to smear his name.
Since I grew up in Provo (and know two former mayors, have a friend whose husband works closely with the current administration, and have a brother who works w/ the city), I’m interested in what happens there. I say go for it if you’re ready for the fight.
Because it will be one.
Annette, many thanks for chiming in. That’s a valuable perspective. I’d been getting an inkling about how tough of a fight it will be, particularly as I’ve slogged through parts of the city code.
Inertia is a tough thing to fight.
I’m pretty close to a decision. Stay tuned.
Good luck, I hope you decide to go for it. I am tuned.
Cool! That’s a clever way of loikong at it!