Running for political office in Draper can be a rather "MAD" experience. I had the conception that seeking office was a noble and patriotic endeavor. After our great success in the primary, however, accusations and misrepresentations flew like an arsenal of missiles launched to destroy the three "Stop the Madness" candidates.
Todd Anderson, a former city councilman, sent a letter to every household in Draper just a few days before the election that claimed the "Stop the Madness" candidates "want to sacrifice lives and private property" to stop growth in Draper. How do you stop growth? My platform stated very clearly that I want slower, managed growth that retains quality of life and includes proportionate expansion of infrastructure, a far different statement from stop growth. There were those who chose to misrepresent our platform and to remain uninformed about our goals apparently for their own purposes.Part of the great American ideal of "We the people" governing ourselves, is the right to run for office particularly when it appears that citizens' interests are being ignored in favor of big time developers. Just a few weeks into the campaign, I found myself at a Meet-the-Candidate Night sponsored by the city and moderated by the mayor of Draper. For about an hour, the mayor spotlighted only the " Stop the Madness" candidates with trial-like questions that seemed to be personal insults or advertisements for South Mountain development. After each answer, the mayor gave her own commentary. The following morning, we arose to find that all our big signs were gutted and little ones stolen. "This is madness," I thought.
Developers get huge profits, and we get traffic and potentially an obliterated lifestyle. Reason demands then that citizens should have input in the type of development that shapes their neighborhood and ultimately defines their city. It is our God-given and constitutional right to try to protect our property from the onslaught of reckless development profiteering at the expense of citizens. The game is played on City Council.
I challenge the current and new council members to implement the neighborhood advisory committees that we talked about in our campaign platforms. These committees are an effective forum for gathering citizen input and will hopefully "Stop the Madness" in Draper.
Summer H. Pugh
"Stop the Madness" candidate