Let's Look Past Endorsements

In late 2013 the council was debating some important detail of the upcoming budget.

There are two things I remember very clearly about the discussion. First, it was tough and contentious. It was what I would consider good politics. Passionate, smart, thoughtful debate. I recall stating that this was a topic that was important for us all to reach a consensus on. Something we could vote for 7-0.

The second thing about this discussion I recall very clearly was the smiling gentleman with a pleasant accent that came up to me after the council meeting and asked me, “Why was it so important for you to get a 7-0 vote tonight?”

I didn’t know it at the time, but that gentleman was a former city councilmember himself and is now our current Mayor. Mayor Pestinger. My answer to him was that the issue was of such importance that I felt it would be best if we could find a compromise that 7 people could agree upon. I felt it was worth taking extra time to strike an agreement that was palatable by all and thus, in theory, by the widest spectrum of those we represent.

Fast forward two years. Votes like this have become much harder to come by. 4-3 votes are not uncommon anymore, we’ve even had a veto (which was overturned). We have ten people running for four races. And now we’re entering campaign season and we seem to have an awkward race for officials to give individual candidates their endorsement.

If you’re wondering why I’m focusing on endorsements, it’s because the Mayor has decided to endorse certain candidates over others. I haven’t heard which way we’re going in my race yet, though it seems to be anti-incumbent. I worry we’re accelerating down a road to division at this point. The Mayor and council must work together to do best for the community of Orting. It makes it difficult to work with someone who is actively campaigning against half of the sitting council.

This certainly doesn’t mean the Mayor has no role to play in the upcoming elections. In fact, there’s a great opportunity to play the part of the “uniter.” Instead of focusing on individual people to support or to campaign against, the opportunity here lies in helping to build a community discussion on the issues important to Orting. This election should be about Public Safety, the Bridge4Kids, Transportation, Leadership, and other ideas. It should not be about personal preferences of the Mayor.

An example of how this can be done has been provided by the Orting Police Guild. In their own endorsement announcement the Orting Police Guild stated,

“…we feel that the Guild blindly slapping a full “ENDORSED BY” label onto any one particular candidate in today's political climate is not only political in itself, but that it would do a huge disservice to the citizens who, we think, would make better informed decisions on their own if they had more information and insight into the opinions of the nominees.”

In this one statement, the Guild captured the vision we need so desperately at this time. We’re all going to see signs, door hangers, mailers, maybe even a candidate here and there. Please focus on the details and not the fluff. The details are the candidates’ platform, and the fluff is who endorses them.

At the end of the day what matters is the person you’re electing not the person adding their name and position to a byline.


Josh Penner
Orting City Council Position 6
Deputy Mayor, 2015

www.VotePenner.com
253-987-6655