League of Women Voters forum

Text of my intro statement at the Candidate Forum on August 26, hosted by League of Women Voters of Cache Valley with media sponsor Utah Public Radio

Who am I and what can I bring to the Senate? I’m an ecologist, a researcher, and an educator; a mom and a grandmom. I have a history of community, professional, and public service. I have lots of leadership experience, including as a city council member and on the governing board of a professional society. I have experience working together to find acceptable solutions for problems involving land, wildlife, and city policy.

As a Senator, I would bring better balance to the Utah legislature, beginning with bringing my skills and perspectives as a scientist and a teacher. I would aim for better-informed, more comprehensive policy and better governance. I would seek to include all perspectives and favor policies that balance the many issues that matter to people and make for strong healthy communities.

I would focus on our communities and not run nationally derived bills on culture war issues, which are divisive and not about Utah problems. I would work to get things done for Utahns, and not assume that economic growth alone would solve all problems, as it has not.

I aim for a politics of working together to get beneficial things done. I think our government should represent and work for ALL of us, and that good governance is work, hard honest work, not a battle.

I’m especially concerned now for public education and for our fundamental rights and freedoms. Recent actions by the legislative super-majority threaten both. Housing, living wages, political dysfunction, water, air quality, childcare and more also are concerns for many Utahns.

Thanks for the chance to talk with you tonight about things that matter to Utahns.