This November 2 was my first opportunity to vote in a Sandy City election, for Mayor (eight candidates) and one City Councilperson (six candidates). Mom and I each studied the voter information pamphlet and candidate election ads.  You can tell a lot about candidates from how they describe themselves.  Like this educated experienced professional who bills himself as “pro-liberty, anti-tyranny, anti-socialism, anti-BLM, patriot.”  Or a current Councilperson who serves on no less than nine community boards and councils.  I was impressed by two incumbent Councilwomen, one who received both the Volunteer of the Year and Elected Official of the Year awards, and another who advocates for organizational partnerships and watershed protection.  And this year I get to vote for every single candidate—all 14!—due to the ranked choice voting experiment in which I vote for each candidate in priority order, one to eight for Mayor, and one to six for Council.  Being so new to the city, I do not know a single candidate and could only rely on their perspectives of themselves.  I voted for two women, one seeking a third four-year term who has business and city planning experience, and one with business and finance degrees and experience who regularly attends public meetings, trainings, and focus groups.  But who’s to know who the best candidates are.  Personally, I have worked for five Mayors and 28 City Councilmembers in my 28-year municipal government career.  Each is different, and being required to work together six at a time for four years each tends to knock off the rough edges and lead to slow positive improvement in the community—that is the hope.  One maverick can either endanger or uplift a community, but the peaks and troughs of year-to-year politics even out over the decades into a long and steady incline in the quality of life.  That is the hope.  Mom and Dad and I will see who wins and whether we notice any difference in city policy and management.  At least Sandy has an excellent City Attorney, Lynn, who I have known for nearly three decades.

(Image by Jackie Ramirez from Pixabay)