Opinion
OPINION: Council members deserve credit for showing up
I’ve covered every Lehi City Council meeting for a bit more than four years now at the Lehi Free Press and I want to offer kudos to our council members for showing up.
Over the last year we’ve seen Councilwoman Paige Albrecht battling cancer and still showing up. Although not always in person, almost every time she isn’t able to attend live, she attends virtually. This has been true not only from the comfort of her home but even during the unfortunate times she has been hospitalized.
Councilwoman Katie Koivisto, who visits her husband’s family in Finland each summer, has attended countless meetings remotely while in the wee hours of the night in Finland as her family sleeps.
This past week, Councilman Chris Condie was on a Fall Break vacation with his family in Florida and he showed up remotely, even though the meeting concluded at nearly midnight East Coast time.
Last week’s meeting also fell on Councilman Paul Hancock’s 25th wedding anniversary and he showed up. That’s a monumental occasion that many could have and would have taken the night off for, but public duty called.
I would share a story of Councilman Mike Southwick attending a meeting remotely, but I can’t even recall a time he missed a meeting in person because he always shows up.
Along with two meetings a month (sometimes the occasional three), our council members are assigned several liaison roles which require additional meetings and time such as with the Lehi Arts Council, Lehi Parks, Trails and Trees Committee, The Historical Society, TSSD and the League of Cities and Towns.
As I continue to cover the City Council to ensure accountability to the public, I wanted to make sure to give kudos where kudos were earned. I have high expectations for elected representatives, as members of the public should, and our council members have continually met the most fundamental mark by their commitment to showing up.
