Tag: civic engagement

local government - committee meeting at conference table

Why Local Politics? (guest post by Bryce Shelley)

09/23/2023 / Bryce Shelley

Which politician is the most influential in your day-to-day life?

When I ask my 8th graders, most of them respond that the President of the United States is the most influential politician.

They are surprised that the President’s fame and power is principally a result of the media wanting to make money. A story about the president will sell in 50 states. A story of a senator is usually limited to one state. And the story of a city councilman is of such small readership that no significant news source can cover it and still stay in business.

Yet it is the city council who we give the power to make laws that affect our roads, safety, building codes, community design, taxes, parks, libraries, recreation services, water, and sense of community that make so many want to call this town home. If you have a problem with your neighbor’s pet ostrich, it’s the local police you call. If your house is burning down, you don’t wait for the president to call out the national guard. When your kids want to play this afternoon, you go to a local park, not a national park. So even though it’s not covered in the national news, picking your city councilman is probably the most important political decision you can participate in.

American Fork Presbyterian Church with mountains

AF City Council Interviews: My Own Reflections

05/31/2023 / David Rodeback

I mostly kept my own views out of the several previous posts in which I reported my one-on-one interviews with all five members of the American Fork City Council. But perhaps you’ll indulge some personal thoughts as we conclude.

I’ve observed and worked in politics and government at the local, state, and national levels since childhood, and I studied government in an academic setting for years. Whether or not I was inherently so at the beginning, I became cynical and skeptical. At the same time, I remain idealistic enough to hope for better than we often see in some contexts, and, yes, to be misled by the occasional politician, at least for a while.

A Jeffersonian Virtue

That said, these interviews increased my existing sense that there is a sort of Jeffersonian virtue about American Fork’s city government these days. I know people have grievances and disagreements; I know things things are imperfect and in some cases outright flawed. There is ample room for improvement.

But I just spent about five hours with good, capable people who I believe are doing their best to serve the city and its residents — and who I believe have done well, especially as a group.

Multifamily housing in American Fork - city council interviews

AF City Council Interviews: Growth and Its Challenges (Including Development)

05/31/2023 / David Rodeback

Growth is a fact of life in American Fork, as it is on the Wasatch Front and in Utah generally. My conversations with members of the American Fork City Council included much discussion of growth and its challenges. That’s also a topic on which they often hear from residents.

This post will look at the challenges of growth generally, then focus on two perennial concerns: striking a difficult balance between regulating and facilitating development, and promoting civic engagement among the residents of large new neighborhoods.