Guest MINDSETTER™ Mark Stoutzenberger: Why I’m Running for State Rep.

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Saturday, July 21, 2012

Mark Stoutzenberger, GoLocalProv Guest MINDSETTER™

I am running for state representative. Many may think this is a slightly delusional thing to do. I am running as an Independent (I am amongst the 37 Independent candidates who are running for a seat in the General Assembly this November) and many may think this is a mountain that is just too high to summit, in a state so clearly controlled by a single party. I have some pretty stiff competition. I face the winner of the Democratic primary between Art Handy and Bill McKenna. Art has held the seat since 2002 and Bill is a former state representative himself. Art is a gentleman and a seemingly all around good guy and Bill is passionate about his beliefs and not afraid to share his opinions. I wish the two of them the best of luck.

I am a voice for the majority. The thing about the state of Rhode Island is that we are clearly in the midst of the majority of the people evolving with the times, but the government is simply lagging behind. 50% of you good folks out there are tired of party politics and are registered as Independent voters. And I would venture to guess that many more of you are tired, so tired, that you haven’t even bothered to switch your party affiliation. I am an Independent candidate and believe that if the people are ready then the government must follow.

Some simple changes need to take place for the government to keep up with the will of the people. Our ballot must be fair. Those lines that you can connect on the top of the ballot, the “master lever”, those lines that allow a person to vote a straight Democrat or Republican ticket is antiquated and painfully biased and must be eliminated from the ballot. The members of the General Assembly should be limited in the amount of time they are allowed to serve their district. I know that the philosophical argument of term limits can go many ways, but I fundamentally believe that an elected official needs to have a certain amount of predetermined time that they are allowed to serve, and then they must move up, move over, or move out. These structural governmental changes are the tip of the iceberg, but the main point is that the government must keep up with the will of the people; otherwise we no longer have a government that is representative of the people.

When the government begins to align with the will of the people then we will have a government that is more reflective of the majority. Accurate representation of the majority is the foundation of a strong middle class and a strong state and country. Right now, there are just too many people in our state that are working too hard and not being able to make ends meet and a whole lot of people that are hardly working and on the precipice of complete reliability on a failing government.

The people of our state have wrapped their brains around the problems that exist within the government, so the government must follow. The government must then do what is best for the majority of the people and the people must begin to do what is best for our state. These are not insurmountable changes. If our intention, as a state, begins to move in a more positive direction, then the results will follow.

Mark Stoutzenberger is an Independent candidate for State Representative in District 18.

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