This evening, the Edgemont neighborhood held a debate at the Timpanogos Elementary School where Steve Clark, John Curtis, and a few individuals seeking Council seats came to answer questions. I was disappointed that the candidates were only able to answer a few questions each and most of the issues were those that have been asked at nearly every public venue since the primaries (i.e. Economic Development, constructing a recreation center, etc.). There was, however, a point of interest during the introductions of the evening. Mr. Curtis made a point of telling the audience that the process candidates going through while seeking public office in this City is grueling and stressful, but he has learned a great deal from his time on the streets talking with people. He stated that the stress is a great weight loss tool (having almost lost seven pounds) and it is causing many a sleepless night. He also stated that he will be relieved when November 3rd is gone and can finally get some sleep.
No one doubts that the process of running for elected office is stressful; Provo is not alone in the refiner’s fire of purging candidates about their past and current associations, plans, visions, and goals. This is the public testing the waters to see if they can trust an elected official with their neighborhoods and tax dollars. Criticism has fallen hard on Curtis, some may say because he has a flip-flopping past between political parties or refuses to provide concrete plans. Others might say that he is the victim of any individual who seeks to implement change in a society that holds engrained ideologies. Regardless of your perception of why criticism is directed towards Mr. Curtis, we can all agree that it is beginning to show on his demeanor.
What I believe Mr. Curtis fails to realize is that the hardest part of his journey is not the path leading to November 3rd, as he is looking to this day as a release from a majority of his current stresses and sorrows. November 4th is when the true stresses will begin for either John Curtis or Steve Clark, because right now both candidates are only concerned with garnering enough votes to obtain office. After being elected, they will need to worry about appeasing the entirety of Provo City, not just their constituents. Life right now is only a small hill to climb, but the Mayor’s direct responsibilities will be like scaling Mount Everest. If the trials and stresses of the campaign are causing you to lose weight and not sleep, Mr. Curtis, then if you are elected you will have four years of little-to-no sleep and may have to buy a new wardrobe to fit your new physique.
These new-found stresses to Mr. Curtis’ campaign might also be linked to a report released today by Mayor Lewis Billings about the state of our City. Mayor Billings announced that we are the safest City in Utah, with the lowest rate of property crimes and second-lowest (Orem had the lowest rate) in violent crimes. What came as a stunning blow to Curtis’ campaign is that Mayor Billings announced that instances of graffiti are down 36 percent compared to the same period of time in 2008. Gang activity, which has been fanned into the fire of a supposed epidemic by Mr. Curtis, was reported to be “down 49 percent from the same period last year.” [1] Billings also stated that “people should not assume that all graffiti is gang-related,” placing massive holes in Curtis’ belief that graffiti is linking a notorious street gang to our community. All of these data-based facts are a direct contradiction to Mr. Curtis’ assumption that he made at the Chamber of Commerce debate when he said “we can’t assume that Provo is the safe place that we would like it to be and that we think it is.” Mr. Curtis, Provo is a safe community, and your “facts” about gang activity and lack of safety in our community is showing its true colors: sensationalism meant to instill fear in the hearts of people, which is nothing but an elaborate charade of lies and deceit. You should be stressed, Mr. Curtis, because people are finally seeing who you really are.
[1] http://heraldextra.com/news/local/central/provo/article_acdab9fc-ebca-5fa0-b7e7-bcf7029ef00d.html
