Liberty

Americans treasure their unalienable, individual liberty as a natural right that is both prior to and superior to government authority and power. Local governments, like all levels of government, must respect the natural rights of their citizens and can justly burden or constrain individual liberty only within very broad limits and only for specific purposes. Individuals possess liberties that cannot justly be intruded on by government power, no matter how large a democratic majority may exist that favors the intrusion. The City of Columbia has grown very intrusive in the scope and extent to which it regulates the lives of its citizens. City officials, both elected and appointed, have become so used to exercising such power that many are actively contemptuous of the rights of our citizens and of other local property owners and businesses. If elected, I will work to restore the appropriate balance between the just use of government power and proper respect for the liberty of the people.

Limited Government

A government must have sufficient power to accomplish its legitimate purposes. A local government's core responsibilities are to provide public safety, such as firefighting and policing crime, and to supply public infrastructure, such as public roads and bridges, for citizens' common use. These are the areas where local government authority is greatest, and where it properly has the most power to interfere with the free choices of its individual citizens. However, to be just, the exercise of government power must be limited to appropriate purposes and hemmed in with safeguards to constrain abuses of power. Government is a blunt instrument and the exercise of government power always creates a series of unintended consequences, even as it incompletely accomplishes the intended purposes. Often the unintended consequences of a governmental act swamp its intended consequences. The exercise of government power must always be constrained by a careful, intentional estimation of the foreseeable costs as well as the expected benefits to both the city government and to the individual interests of its citizens. It is important that government officials act with an attitude of humility that acknowledges the limits of their ability to predict outcomes. If elected, I will work to restore proper limits to the scope of city government activity and power.

The Rule of Law

All human beings are equal in the eyes of God. This fact yields many political implications. First, political leaders and citizens must recognize each person's fundamental human dignity and respect their ability to exercise their natural rights according to their own understandings. Second, each citizen has equal political rights in their government. Third, citizens must receive equal treatment before the law, including equal protection of the laws. Local governments can violate the principle of the rule of law in any number of ways. Violations include arbitrary and capricious behavior toward individual citizens as government officials exercise their power, policies that favor the rights of one citizen or group of citizens over others, and inequitable provision of public safety. If elected, I will work to strengthen the rule of law in Columbia and to restrain the arbitrary power exercised by politically unaccountable officials.