Jay Evensen
  • Front Page
  • Opinions
  • Second Thoughts
  • Portfolio
  • Awards
  • About

Why are people not running for office?

9/29/2015

0 Comments

 
Picture
The government in Millville, a small city in Cache County, doesn’t occupy an imposing piece of the landscape. As with many Utah towns, nature provides enough of a spectacular backdrop that some human-made City Hall monument would seem pretentious.

​Still, the city’s government building looks like a temporary structure that could easily be moved somewhere with a pickup, or perhaps a stiff wind. But then, the city has a population just below 2,000.
It also has a history of competitive municipal elections, until this year.

In the past, City Recorder Rose Mary Jones told The Associated Press, neighbors might have to get together and give someone the hard sell to convince them to run for something, but, “I think we’ve always had someone.”

Not in 2015. The City Council voted last week to call off Election Day in November. None of the three incumbent council members up for election have any competition. There is no need for a late-night Election Day party.

The same thing either has happened or is expected to happen in at least nine other Utah cities, the AP said. 
So, what gives? Is this a sign that all is well and everyone is happy with how things are being run, or is it a warning that something is terribly wrong?

However you see the answer to that one, it is indisputable that this is part of a larger trend nationally. The website ballotpedia.org looks only at state legislative races, but it finds a growing trend toward uncontested races. It found that 32.8 percent of Americans in places with state senate elections in 2014 had no choice on the ballot. The percentage of people with uncontested state House races was even higher, 40.4 percent. You can only guess how municipal elections fare. 

In Utah, the percentage of uncontested legislative races has varied through the years. In 1968, 4.3 percent of state House races offered no choices, compared to 22.7 percent last year. But ballotpedia makes the point that the percentage of races considered landslides has been growing, as well.

In Utah, only 6.7 percent of House races last year were decided by a margin of 10 percent or less, which is still a wipeout in my book. But in 1970, 34.8 percent of the races fell within that margin.
The website blames this in part on the nation’s growing political polarization. We tend to move to cities and counties where people share our own political beliefs. 

Except that Utah’s municipal elections are non-partisan. In small towns, there are no traditionally Democratic or Republican ways to maintain roads or catch stray dogs.

Are we lacking in civic engagement? That’s hard to say because that term has a couple of sides to it. 
Utahns tend to lead the nation when it comes to volunteerism. For nine years running, the Corporation for National and Community Service has ranked the state No. 1. When people here see a need, they are quick to show up, shovel in hand if necessary, and do their part. That certainly qualifies as being civically engaged, and it takes an enormous load off government, to the tune of $3.5 billion a year, figuring the average value of a volunteer’s time is $22.65 an hour.

But voting and running for office are a part of civic engagement, too. Sitting at home complaining about Washington doesn’t count. The most important government is the one closest to you.
Utah has among the lowest voter turnout rates in the nation. Local leaders think they have solved some of that by conducting many municipal elections entirely by mail this year, and there are signs to indicate they’re on to something.

But the method of voting doesn’t matter if no one’s on the ballot.

Millville resident Julie Hall told the AP she’s happy with the way her city is being run, but she still finds it, “kind of odd that nobody actually ran.”

​Maybe being happy isn’t the point. Democracy is about choices. Just as no two people are alike, no two people would run things exactly the same way. It’s good to consider different approaches, just as it’s bad to invite complacency and a sense of entitlement to office.
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    RSS Feed

    Search this site


    Like what you read here?

      Please subscribe below, and we'll let you know when there is a new opinion.

    Enter your email address:

    Delivered by FeedBurner

    Picture

    The author

    Jay Evensen is the Senior Editorial Columnist of the Deseret News. He has nearly 40 years experience as a reporter, editor and editorial writer in Oklahoma, New York City, Las Vegas and Salt Lake City. He also has been an adjunct journalism professor at Brigham Young and Weber State universities.

    Archives

    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012

    Categories

    All
    Campaign 2012
    Congress
    Crime
    Culture
    Iran
    Oil And Gas
    Poverty
    Steroids
    Taxes
    Utah
    Washington
    World Events
    World Events

    Links

    Deseret News
    Newslink
    Marianne Evensen's blog

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.