Why I Support Brad Mayerle for Manzanita City Council

Submitted By: lynn.joy.steinberg@gmail.com – Click to email about this post

Some days, after reading the morning news, the words of the poet Amanda Gorman ring especially true: “It is a hard time to be alive,” she wrote, in a piece called Hymn for the Hurting.
Indeed. We live in troubled and divisive times.
So in this election season, I am looking more closely at candidates for office. Of course, it’s important to get a sense of how they’ll perform in the job they are seeking, and whether they are qualified to hold it. Can they effectively lead the city, state, or nation they are hoping to represent?
But for me, there needs to be something more. I want to see how candidates have conducted themselves in the public sphere. Are their words gracious and kind or angry and sharp? Do they lift people up or put them down? Do they invite views different from their own or ridicule the people sharing them? And do they speak the truth, however unpopular, and attempt to bridge divides in pursuit of the common good?
After carefully weighing these questions, and more, I am supporting Brad Mayerle for the Manzanita City Council.
-Lynn Steinberg