Municipal Elections Matter

Municipal Elections Matter

By Todd Bingham, President, Utah Manufacturer’s Association

Municipal and elected positions do matter. This past week many municipalities across the state had elections for mayors, city Council’s and other positions at the local level. The public often pays significant attention to national elections including for president, U.S Senate and U.S. Congressional races. However, municipal elections often get overlooked and voting participation is generally significantly lower than the other elections mentioned above.

It’s an interesting paradigm however. it is stated that “the public is best served by the government closest to the people.” So if that’s the case, how come participation at lower levels for elections is so low? Wouldn’t it be who’ve most of us to participate more at a local level to determine who our city councilman, and mayor, and/or county commissioners etc. might be? The answer to that is yes. However these races and elections generally don’t get a lot of attention because they’re not funded to the same level as even state House and Senate races and specifically not to national level of races. That certainly doesn’t mean they are less important, however that they simply don’t get the publicity. When was the last time you saw an add on television for a City Council race? Never.

One can certainly argue that these elected positions are thankless and certainly don’t receive the respect perhaps they deserve. Dealing with difficult issues within your own community such as dog parks, trail systems, requests for stop lights, speed bumps and other important issues for local communities are important and are the issues closest to us all. Electing individuals who understand these issues and are a part of our cities and towns is critical to the success of these communities. Development of our towns and cities, smart growth and strategies for recruiting businesses and tax base are major roles of these elected officials. The right individuals in these positions understand the importance of business and industry in our local communities as a supporting tax base, job creation entities, and amazing community and neighborhood partners.

I once served on a planning commission in a local community. After a period of time, I began to notice that consistently other members of the planning commission were generally speaking overstepping their bounds and trying to limit and restrict the types of businesses that come into such communities. The planning commission’s job is to simply decide if the companies have a plied appropriately and fit within the zones and requirements for the cities to open their business. It’s not their job to determine whether the entrepreneur thinks a new bookstore or a barbershop will succeed in such an area. That’s for private business to decide. This brings me to my point that city council’s are the entities that make these decisions. Having the right people elected into

I certainly understand that elections are generally not an exciting thing. And in today’s world there are certainly many people who do not enjoy the political environment at any level. However, I would encourage you as an employer within a manufacturing company or other business to become involved in your local government. Helping identify and find candidates for such races is one way in which manufacturing companies can help with this. Company and management support of employees running for election in these communities is another way of supporting and fostering a spirit of community with manufacturing companies and local government.

The next time you see an agenda for a city council meeting or something similar, I encourage you to participate as an individual as well as a representative of your manufacturing company should the meeting or issue be pertinent. You might just gain a new respect for those who volunteer, serve, and dedicate their time to your local communities. I have several friends who serve as City Council representatives across the state in a variety of communities. Thank you to them for their dedicated service, efforts and sometimes taking of abuse to serve those around them in their neighborhoods.

Municipal elections do matter.