VOTING YOUR CONSCIENCE MEANS:
• VOTE with the understanding that the public trust can only be preserved if public officials make informed decisions that reflect core ethical principles.
• VOTE with the understanding that we hold ourselves and our public officials accountable for ethical principles of honesty, fairness and caring.
• VOTE with the understanding that public officials should make decisions based on what is good for the community, not on what is good for the elected officials’ own individual interests.
• VOTE with the understanding that public officials should use logic, involving critical thinking, and understand logical fallacies. The use of logical fallacies violates the basic rule of ethics, namely respecting the dignity of others and treating people as ends rather than as means. Treating people as ends, not means, means officials do not manipulate citizens’ thoughts, feelings and prejudices for their own ends.
• VOTE with the understanding that public officials are not to engage in or encourage ad hominem argument, that is, criticizing or personally attacking an argument’s proponent in an attempt to discredit the argument by distracting attention away for the substance of the argument.
• VOTE with the understanding that those we elect to our city council reflect our own ethical values, or lack of ethical values.
NOTE: Election Day, Tomorrow, Tuesday, April 13, 2010; Polls open 7:00 A.M. – 8:00 P.M. at Sunset Center, E/s San Carlos St. @ 9th Av., Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA.
1 comment:
Honesty, fairness and caring. I hope Jason will be a catalyst for changing Carmel's reputation of lack of caring for city employees and dissenting residents. Now more than ever the city needs to change its ways and not be so provincial and above admitting they are capable of doing wrong. Every time city officials are not honest, fair and caring, they should be confronted with their wrongdoings, make apologies and pledge to not act similarly in the future.
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