Political Interest

I cannot remember a time when politics was not a part of my life. When I was growing up, my grandfather, Jack Arrington, was a member of the Ogden City Council. During his second term there, he was elected to the State Legislature where he served twenty years. Into my early married life, I spent every other fall working with him on his campaign. While he was still a State Representative and I was newly married, he inspired my own political interests. I was an elected party delegate in my district. He also encouraged me to run for Ogden City Council. The competition was difficult, but I adopted his grass roots approach and had a great experience, including an impressive victory in the primary election of 1993. Shortly after that I moved to Oklahoma, but I knew that I would run for city council again one day.

I learned great lessons from my grandpa about elected public service. I observed many conversations in which he patiently listened to his constituents and then explained his own views. At times they agreed, at times they did not. But, he always respected the opinions of those who had elected him and gave careful consideration to differences. Ultimately, he always acted on his values. He believed that those values were the reasons he was re-elected so many times. This is a pattern I have followed with the citizens of West Haven.