Who is most conservative?

Not much of a choice for voters as everyone on the ballot is hard left. In your opinion, which of the Arcata Candidates is most conservative and why?

Fair question. I’ll be honest: I’m probably not the “most conservative” candidate, but I’d push back on the idea that everyone on the ballot is the same.

“Left vs. right” is only one way to sort people. Libertarians use a two-axis model, often called the Nolan Chart. One axis covers economics, and the other covers how much power government should have over your personal life. That creates a spectrum from authoritarian to anti-authoritarian, not just left to right. Two candidates who both get called “left” can be far apart once you ask how much power they think government, or anyone else, should hold over you.

I’m a left libertarian. I’m skeptical of concentrated power, whether it’s government telling you how to live or big interests making decisions that affect your neighborhood without your input. Here’s what that means in practice:

• Personal freedom. I’m pro-choice and pro-LGBTQ+ equality. Your body, your relationships, and your identity aren’t the city’s business, and the city should treat everyone equally.
• Drug policy. What adults put into their own bodies is their decision. I support ending the drug war’s approach of treating use as a crime. Drug use should be handled as a health issue, with local resources directed toward treatment, harm reduction, and serious crime instead of arrests for personal use.
• Fourth Amendment and surveillance. You shouldn’t have to give up your privacy just by driving to work. I oppose automated license plate readers like Flock cameras, which log every passing car and store that data with a private company, whether or not anyone is suspected of a crime. If police want to track someone, they should get a warrant. Arcata should resist participating in a surveillance network around people who’ve done nothing wrong.
• Growth should pay its own way. New development should cover the roads, water, and fire protection it requires, instead of passing those costs on to existing residents. Conservatives and libertarians of all kinds tend to agree with that.
• Safety before height. I support more housing, especially at low and moderate income levels, but not beyond what our fire district can actually protect.
• Accountability for big decisions. When a hardware store becomes a low-employment data center without review by the Planning Commission or Council, that’s a decision being made for the community, not by it. Public oversight of major changes is how ordinary residents keep a check on concentrated power.

So if you’re a conservative who cares about fiscal responsibility, local control, and keeping government out of your personal life, we may agree on more than you’d expect. Ask each of us the same questions: who pays for growth, and who gets to decide, the city, big interests, or you?