San Diego County limited government activists have two reasons to be enthusiastic next month: San Marcos’ Mike Hansen and Coronado’s Richard Bailey are running for City Council seats in their respective cities. Both gentlemen are under 30, both are active in the local Republican Party (Hansen as a donor and volunteer and Bailey as a donor and Central Committee Member), and both are public advocates of constitutionally-limited government.
Both are endorsed by the County Republican Party. San Marcos has a 3-2 Republican registration advantage while Coronado has a 2-1 advantage. This is good news for these candidates because local volunteers are distributing RPSDC voter guides to all Republican households . More importantly, Hansen and Bailey are aggressively walking door-to-door and meeting voters. Their youthful energy is being well received by Republicans, Democrats, and independents alike.
I was impressed when I met both men because each approaches public service with a humility not traditionally found in candidates. While I enjoy talking about the Second and Tenth Amendments with them, each has campaigned on vital local issues. Hansen currently serves on the San Marcos Traffic and Safety Commission and has gained credibility by offering solutions which protect the taxpayer from future tax hikes. Bailey campaigns on a balanced budget and brings private sector experience as a financial analyst to the table. Bailey did a nice job at articulating that the Coronado Cays are sometimes neglected in the decision making process and discusses issues which affect the Cays.
More importantly, these gentlemen are taxpayer-focused. Consider these quotes… from Hansen in the North County Times:
“People want to make sure there’s somebody who’s going to be looking out for the taxpayer, support our property rights and small business rights. I put a lot of emphasis on being a council member who listens, who advocates for residents’ concerns,”
…from Bailey on eCoronado.com:
“The first step in finding solutions to the issues we face is to elect someone that has the energy to go out into the community and listen to the concerns of residents and their ideas to solving those issues. Hearing from residents that show up to council meetings is great, but an effective councilmen should be willing to knock on doors of residents outside of their usual circles.”
“Bottom line is that we need better dialogue between local government and residents. I will be in the community actively seeking out opinions from our residents and not relying on preconceived notions about how to address any issue. The best ideas always come from the community, not the government.”
These notions, that Council members should get out of the chamber, and solicit opinions from those citizens who don’t have the time or patience to come to Council meetings, is something I’ve never heard from my generation of elected officials. My generation’s approach has always been “government goes to those who show up” and frankly, it hasn’t worked. “Those who show up” are typically the looters, the folks who want government to levy some claim on others’ property or income, for personal gain. Be they union hacks, lobbyists, or crony capitalists, my generation finally had to push back because the looting is about to collapse our federal, state, and local governments. That’s what the tea party movement really is–a late but visceral response to the unintended consequences of the abdication of self-government.
Maybe these guys will be co-opted once they get into office. Maybe they’re “talking the talk” and we’ll have to wait and see if they “walk the walk”. I don’t think so. I see two enthusiastic, young, principled conservatives who respect the question, “Is this the proper role of government?” I think they’ll win, do great jobs, and stick to their principles. Their principles are mine so they have my full support and endorsement.
The next generation of political candidates knows that our generation has, quite literally, “passed the buck” to them. Hansen and Bailey are two guys who are willing to say, like Harry Truman did, “The Buck Stops Here”.