I had the opportunity to attend Representative John Curtis’s town hall meeting at the Orem City Council office On January 24, 2018. This was the first town hall that I have ever been to. I have been privileged to spend a year interning in Washington, D.C., but, I have not had much experience in politics at the local level, so this spring semester of 2018, being back in Utah, I have made it a goal of mine to become more familiar with local politics. I had heard a lot about John Curtis before, for the most part, all good things. The one criticism that I had heard previously was that he was a Democrat that had run as a Republican because he knew he wouldn’t be able to get into office otherwise. But, like in anything that I do in life, I like to question things for myself and go straight to the source.

Candidate John Curtis during town hall meeting on August 8, 2017

After listening to Representative Curtis for over an hour, I have to say that I walked away being pretty impressed with him. I think he will do a good job in D.C. at helping bring both sides together and not spend his time playing partisan politics. A major issue in D.C. right now is that both parties have become so polarized that passing any major legislation is difficult unless there is a substantial majority in one party in both chambers.  I think the biggest struggle that he will run into in D.C. is not having any name recognition and not being familiar with all the topics of today’s national politics. Truthfully, John Curtis is a small fish in a big pond. This is not necessarily a bad thing, as most politicians have to start at the bottom and make their way to the top.

Preston Parry as an intern in Washington, D.C.

At the town hall there were many opinionated people, mostly on the left. People were very outspoken, and some were even emotional. There was one woman in particular who was an undocumented immigrant. She was very upset with the way that the DACA issue was being handled at the national level and felt scared for herself and her family. She became so upset that she began to cry and yell and did not accept what Representative Curtis had to say. I think this is a huge problem, because if we cannot talk in a calm and composed manner, then we will have a very difficult time making any substantive progress in America.

I also had the opportunity to ask the Congressman a question. I asked Curtis how he felt about those in positions of power at the FBI and DOJ and some of the new allegations that are coming to light. As much as I liked most of what he had to say that night, his answer to my question was one that concerned me. He basically said that he believes that those who are in positions of power know what they are doing and that they are the best people for the job. He explained to me that he trusted those who were handling sensitive cases to the national security of the United States. This bothered me because we have seen time and time again why we should not trust someone just because they are powerful. If anything, I would argue that power and influence can have very negative affects on people. Additionally, I think we have seen much evidence laid out in the past couple months that suggest there have been huge issues at the highest levels of our government.

Overall, I am very happy that I got to attend the John Curtis’s town hall. I feel that he is a very good man who wants to do best for the people of the 3^rd district of Utah. Being a junior congressman, I believe that he has a lot to learn, but I am confident that he will do so to the best of his ability. It is also my hope that collectively as Americans we can get to a point where we can have a dialogue that is both calm and productive.

               Preston Parry, UVU student

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Daily Herald about town hall meeting

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