Letter to the Editor: Santa Clara — charm or corruption?
I am a resident of Santa Clara, and I attended the Swiss Days festivities as well as the parade. My daughter participated in the Swiss Dancing kids group, and all of my kids always enjoy the carnival type festivities. I adore the charm of Swiss Days as well as the charm of the city of Santa Clara. My husband and I moved our family out of California; we first landed in Ivins but now own a home in Santa Clara. I have always thought of Santa Clara as a beautifully charming small town. I have never had an issue with our town until today.
I am disappointed in my town today. To put it more frankly, I am embarrassed to be a Santa Clara resident today.
You see, the election is coming up soon, and we have many people running for various roles in our state government. I saw one of the incumbents driving a float in the Swiss Days parade today in a car with his campaign signs all over it. It was very clearly a political float.
Normally, that wouldn’t bother anyone at all. Good for him for putting an effort in to his campaign.
Here is where my disappointment comes in though. When another candidate applied for a float in the Swiss Days parade, HE WAS DENIED a spot in the parade because his float was of the political nature.
The second I saw the incumbent’s float in the parade today, I felt a knot in my stomach and had several questions run through my head. Questions like “How is it fair to let one campaign drive through the parade but not another?” “Are all the terrible things I’ve heard about Santa Clara true?” (corrupt politics, etc.) and “Do I stay quiet, or do I speak up and stand up against political biases?”
I decided to speak out. It would be irresponsible of me to stay quiet and allow this to continue while I sit by and watch. I know the argument could be made that since that person is currently in office he was participating as a government official. If that were the case, he should not have been allowed to have his campaign signs all over his car.
Santa Clara has a bad reputation among many different groups of people throughout St. George. I thought it was just all silly antics between different groups of people who grew up in different areas. I never thought much of it.
Until today.
Today made me stop and wonder, is it all true? Does Santa Clara really meddle in politics? Is Santa Clara really corrupt? The sight of that float in the parade today made all those questions, antics, and rumors look a little more true today.
I understand that nothing can be done now that the parade is over other than a letter or phone call from Santa Clara to the person who was denied a spot in the parade, who was a victim of political bias, who was very clearly denied the same opportunity that the other party received. I want the public to know what is going on here. If it weren’t for me knowing that the other candidate applied and was denied, this would have gone by unnoticed. It makes me wonder about what else goes unnoticed. What else are they doing without anybody knowing? Does the charm of Santa Clara outweigh the corruption? Or is it just a way to make us look the other way?
Thank you,
Kristen Andersen, Santa Clara
The viewpoints expressed above are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of The Independent.
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