Why restrict qualified candidates from running for office?

To the editor:

District-based elections offer the opportunity to ensure that every geographical area has some sort of direct representation. You know who to call, can find out how to call them and you can feel that you have a local to support your school. But is that sufficient reason to change our election system and create districts? I have spoken with opponents and proponents and considered the thought carefully.

Districting an election does not make representatives more accountable, it only increases the amount of politics that must occur. Those elected by geographical area must fight for projects in their areas. Lack of evidence of progress can result in them being unelected and even recalled. If people are elected at-large, they can focus on doing what’s right for the district as a whole. Subsequently, votes are traded or retracted based on politics rather than based on needs.

And do you know what? As a resident of the northern area I want to be able to take to task every member of the school board. When a board member from Palmer votes against installing a pool at Su Valley because he wants to expand his own, I want to call him on it. In a non-area-wide election, I can only call my local representative and voice my opinion. He will say that he’s one vote, and that’s the end of it.

Any claim that a non-core candidate suffers from a handicap for being so distant is disingenuous. One of the first mayors of the Mat-Su Borough was Dorothy Jones, a wonderful stateswoman from Talkeetna. If you think running a campaign from a rural area is expensive now, imaging running at a time when Talkeetna was at the end of a 70-mile gravel road all the way to Houston and there was no Internet or social media.

More recently, I ran for school board in 2006. I lived in Willow and also felt that the northern region was under-represented. Tragically, my father died that year at the very start of the campaign cycle and I chose to instead focus on my family and supporting the emotions there. I made no campaign appearances, I made no signs, I had no mailers, I committed no effort for the campaign except answering my telephone and replying to any emails that came in.

The seat I ran for was also the seat sought by former borough assemblyman Jim Colver. Competing against a very well-known politician, and making no strong effort like I would have had I not suffered the family emergency, I still took second place out of three candidates and pulled 25 percent of the vote for the seat. If you depend on how much you spend to get your message out there, it just means that your message isn’t strong enough to have its own legs.

Why restrict an otherwise-qualified candidate from running for office until his geographic area is up for election? By having more qualified candidates available to run for office, it keeps everybody who is in office more accountable to the area-wide populous and, as a result, there is more opportunity for fiscal restraint.

Christian M. Hartley

Houston