BY GARY STRADLING
Republican Candidate for
Los Alamos County Council
My only previous, experience with politics was as a little boy, when during a friendly dirt clod fight on our farm in Belen, my city friends used “road apples*” instead of dirt clods.
We had a great Rodeo day Saturday. I really enjoyed the parade and visiting with many people during the fair. But I had some interesting queries:
– Folks said, “How can you claim to be a good guy when people of your party ….” and then listed politicized demonizations against conservatives. Well, I do not resemble such straw men.
– Others said, “But what about ….” and raised contentious national policy issues, “dog whistles”. I respond, “I am exclusively focused on local Los Alamos County governance. Let’s work on that.”
The power of America’s political system is not in the ability to crush opposition, or to force compliance, but to have built-in restraint, and broad representation of different needs and viewpoints, to enable creation of cooperative goodwill solutions that serve everyone. Ours must not be a nation of hate.
I believe in America, whose Constitution is the culmination of human religious, social, and political development. Personal rights and freedoms stand paramount, followed by states governance, and then national governance. This hierarchy of rights and freedoms, from local to distant, differentiate us from other nations, prioritizing local circumstances and values. Every citizen of this nation is equal under the law. I look forward to the time when not only our Constitution but our human goodwill will make racism in our country a distant memory. No one should be oppressed or discriminated against. Every law-abiding citizen should feel safe with the powers of the state.
You can tell who I am by what I have done with my life. On the whole, I have chosen family and country, to do good, to be productive, and to serve.
I am a husband of 48 years to an amazing woman, and am the enthusiastic father of nine awesome adult children. Our children are all good people who are accomplished, and bring great happiness into our life. We know the value of children! Marriage and families are the essential foundation of a great nation and a prosperous economy. (http://stradling4council.org/my-heritage/) I have served this nation for 40 years as a scientist, a technical program manager, an international negotiator, a DoD nuclear forces policy maker, and a DoD federal manager with fiscal responsibility. I have overcome unique and consequential challenges in those assignments, preparing me to address the also-unique big problems of Los Alamos County. (http://stradling4concil.org/experience/)
I love the environment. I think deeply about this Earth, its origin, history, and life. I study geology, paleontology, and biology to understand it. I garden, hike, camp, and hunt to enjoy it. It is amazing! We must take care of it. My care about its future is based on human needs and science, not slogans, politics, or activism. Proximity matters in both benefits and responsibilities. I prioritize my efforts on my yard, local parks, community trails, nearby mountains, and the globe, linked in that order. Our county policies should be so prioritized.
From my Washington DC experience, I know how much this nation values LANL’s capability to develop unequalled technology and defense science. That national need will not diminish. We must look to the future of our county.
I love Los Alamos. I love meeting so many of our people, and learning their interests and concerns. All of our people (including commuters) deserve and will continue to need sufficient full-spectrum local housing. We also need a rich mix of local businesses, shopping, and entertainment, good roads, good schools, good infrastructure, inexpensive utilities, and an open and candid county leadership that makes frugal use of our resources, and that is focused on our citizens experience, safety, and wellbeing. I can look back 40 years in Los Alamos. Let’s look forward that far and beyond!
*For city folks: “road apples” are baseball-sized horse poops.