David Edward Garber (Councilman City of Orem, Utah, candidate 2023)

David Edward Garber (Republican Party) ran for election to Councilman City of Orem in Utah.^[1]

Elections

2023

Ballotpedia survey responses

David Edward Garber completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2023. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Garber's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

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Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I'm conscientious, hate contention, love building upon common ground toward unity around what's true-and-right, and despise corruption. My lifelong passions are religion and family and politics, which include both preserving and restoring all that's best in America's exemplary political heritage of rightful liberty under Constitutional law, which I've studied extensively (both formally and informally).

I love to help people to defend their equal God-given (or natural) rights from others' aggression to enjoy their rightful liberty---and, as such, I champion pro-freedom policies like minimizing taxes, balancing budgets, rejecting subsidies, policing Constitutionally to defend basic rights, abolishing zones and licenses and regulations and such, privatizing city-run businesses, and ratifying a wise municipal charter.

I was born in 1975 in Virginia, was raised near America's capital, and fell in love in Utah, which I chose for my adopted home. I'm a lifelong devotee of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, in which I served twice as a missionary. I got married this summer. I excelled in academics in my youth, attended BYU to major in physics, and now work at home for a Utahn crowdfunding agency.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

Budgeting Responsibly
Policing Constitutionally
Rightsizing Properly

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

I love preserving and/or restoring all that's best in America's exemplary political heritage of rightful liberty under Constitutional law, including by helping people to expertly defend their equal God-given (or natural) rights from others' aggression so that they may remain free.

What organizations or individuals have endorsed your campaign?

Bliss Tew, Lowell Nelson, Scott Swain, Doug Hale.

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

My first job was essentially as a full-time missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for two years (from 1994 to 1996), although it was entirely volunteer never paid. After returning from my missionary service, I worked at various BYU campus jobs, including as an undergraduate research assistant.

What is the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember? How old were you at the time?

I'm not sure. Perhaps the space shuttle Challenger explosion in 1983 when I was age 8.

Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?

My foremost hero is Jesus Christ, although I have many other heroes, including political ones like Cato the Younger, Captain Moroni, John Locke, Benjamin Franklin, Patrick Henry, George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and Ron Paul.

How important is it to involve residents in the government’s decision-making process? What plans do you have regarding resident involvement in this process?

Citizens create political systems to serve them, and they should remain its masters. So, citizens should ultimately guide political decisions. However, those decisions must remain limited in their scope---a proper political system is delegated authority specifically for the purpose of assisting its citizens in expertly defending their equal God-given (or natural) rights from others' aggression, not to reign over them with unchecked authority. So, it's wrong for some citizens to exercise political power to impose their will upon others beyond rights-defense. I staunchly oppose such democratic despotism, but I welcome feedback in general.

What plans do you have regarding infrastructure?

I want to keep public infrastructure minimal, limited to functions like like public roads that the private sector can't provide as easily. And I want to keep public infrastructure as efficient and effective as possible, while allowing free-market competition that will facilitate steady innovation that (I hope) will eventually render any remaining public infrastructure obsolete.

How would you address crime and public safety? Do you have a different stance than current city council policy?

I think that the proper role of any political system is to expertly assist its citizens in defending their equal God-given (or natural) rights from others' aggression, so policing properly is a top municipal priority for me. I want to keep our city police both localized and focused on rights-defense, operating strictly within the confines of Constitutional law (including by respecting due-process-of-law), rather than nationalized and dumbed-down and militarized and distracted by tasks that violate rights not defend them. Orem's police are currently doing rather well in general, but I'd like them to improve further.

How would you balance the needs and desires of existing business and housing communities with new development? Would you take gentrification and displacement into consideration when planning neighborhood development?

I believe that a proper political system should focus on defending its citizens' equal God-given (or natural) rights, including to both property and contract, which are the basis of free markets, which I believe should be allowed to function freely to best serve citizens. I believe that politicians should NOT seek to dictate how people will exercise their rights, including by devising grandiose central economic plans that they attempt to enforce upon everyone else, including zoning laws to dictate land use. I think that land is used better whenever politicians forgo central plans and instead allow markets to function freely. Markets are marvelous at nimbly providing efficient effective well-customized products and/or services, while political systems aren't well-suited to provide any services beyond rights-defense.

Do you think the downtown area is healthy? What is your definition of a healthy downtown? What changes, if any, would you like to make?

I think that Orem's downtown area is relatively healthy, but that it could be even healthier with less zoning. Zoning has become so commonplace in these United States that most Americans don't question its existence anymore---but they should. Zoning laws originated among European socialists and, like other socialistic policies, zoning is innately counterproductive.

Zoning’s supporters claim that zoning replaces alleged chaos with order to improve the economy’s efficiency, residents’ health, buildings’ aesthetics, et cetera—but every one of these alleged benefits is actually provided better through genuinely-free markets, which facilitate innovation that increases efficiency, effectiveness, and proper customization.

Zoning’s opponents correctly note that zoning curtails development, reduces competition, reduces housing supplies while raising housing costs, mandates false “order” and/or aesthetics over genuine needs, excludes “undesirables,” wastes people’s valuable time with needless paperwork, retards economic progress, and lowers standards-of-living.

Zoning is partly why heavily-zoned Los Angeles endures insane housing costs, while zone-free Houston enjoys some of America’s most affordable housing. Houston’s many benefits accompany a few costs like occasional land-use quirks, but they’re arguably worth-it. I want Orem to thrive like Houston by rejecting zoning for free markets.

What do you think about the city's current approach to public safety? Would you take any different positions?

I think that the proper role of any political system is to expertly assist its citizens in defending their equal God-given (or natural) rights from others' aggression, so policing properly is a top municipal priority for me. I want to keep our city police both localized and focused on rights-defense, operating strictly within the confines of Constitutional law (including by respecting due-process-of-law), rather than nationalized and dumbed-down and militarized and distracted by tasks that violate rights not defend them. Orem's police are currently doing rather well in general, but I'd like them to improve further.

What plans do you have regarding the police department? Would you make any changes from current policy?

I think that the proper role of any political system is to expertly assist its citizens in defending their equal God-given (or natural) rights from others' aggression, so policing properly is a top municipal priority for me. I want to keep our city police both localized and focused on rights-defense, operating strictly within the confines of Constitutional law (including by respecting due-process-of-law), rather than nationalized and dumbed-down and militarized and distracted by tasks that violate rights not defend them. Orem's police are currently doing rather well in general, but I'd like them to improve further.

What policies would you have implemented in reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic? Why did you select those policies?

I believe that alleged emergencies are insufficient excuses to suspend the proper role of political systems, which is to expertly assist their citizens in defending their equal God-given (or natural) rights from others' aggression so that every citizen may enjoy his/her rightful liberty. So, even during crises, I think that political systems should continue to help keep people free, including free to devise their own nimble efficient effective well-customized solutions to the problems that confront society. Free-market solutions are invariably superior to heavy-handed political edicts beyond rights-defense. Politicians should never use public health as an excuse to impose mass house arrests, unwarranted surveillance, and/or compulsory medical treatment.

How would you set priorities and develop plans in a way that will reflect community values and goals?

I believe that the proper role of any political system is to expertly defend their citizens' equal God-given (or natural) rights, so that every person may freely pursue his/her own values and priorities and goals---and NOT to aggregate some people's values/priorities/goals to impose upon other people. I think that the plans of the few are far inferior to the plans of the many. People are meant to be free, not to live in figurative cages, regardless of how figuratively gilded those cages may be.

What do you think about the city's environmental health? Would you make any changes to current policy?

I believe that it's the proper role of any political system to help its citizens to expertly defend their equal God-given (or natural) rights from others' aggression, including aggression like poisoning other people's land and water and air---but not to use environmental protection as an excuse to overstep people's rights to reign over everyone with limitless authority. I prefer eliminating all regulatory law, which I believe is counterproductive, so that our police can focus more intently upon criminal law.

Did the COVID-19 pandemic change your approach to local policy issues? If so, please give us an example. If not, why?

I believe that alleged emergencies are insufficient excuses to suspend the proper role of political systems, which is to expertly assist their citizens in defending their equal God-given (or natural) rights from others' aggression so that every citizen may enjoy his/her rightful liberty. So, even during crises, I think that political systems should continue to help keep people free, including free to devise their own nimble efficient effective well-customized solutions to the problems that confront society. Free-market solutions are invariably superior to heavy-handed political edicts beyond rights-defense. Politicians should never use public health as an excuse to impose mass house arrests, unwarranted surveillance, and/or compulsory medical treatment.

How should record requests from the public be handled? Do you have any policies around transparency and accountability you want to enact?

I believe that, in a self-governing society like ours should be, citizens can't effective master their political system if they don't know what it's doing, which means that all public activity should remain entirely open to public oversight. The only exceptions are during wartime to conceal military secrets from enemy nations---but not otherwise, since secrecy is otherwise conducive to tyranny. So, other than this one wartime exception, I favor letting the public know anything-and-everything that they want to know.

Do you believe crime rates are changing? Where do you get your crime rate data from? Would you make any changes to existing public safety policy?

I'm not aware of any significant recent changes in Orem's crime rates, thankfully, which are relatively low compared with other parts of the USA. And I'd like to keep crime rates low by enabling our municipal police to more effectively defend people's equal God-given (or natural) rights within the confines of Constitutional law.

What qualities does this office possess that makes it a unique and important part of the state government and legal system?

I believe that, in a proper political system, individual households are both its fundamental unit and the source of its authority, that smaller jurisdictions should be served (not mastered) by the larger jurisdictions of which they are part, and that political authority should remain as decentralized as possible, ideally among individual households. This means that, second only to individual citizens, municipal governments should be the most important level of government in performing its proper functions, which are to expertly defend citizens in defending their equal God-given (or natural) rights from others' aggression. So, the position of city councilor ought to be more relevant than U. S. President, although our political system isn't functioning ideally at present.

Are there any little-known powers or responsibilities held by this office that you believe more people should be aware of?

I can't think of any at this time.

Do you believe that it's beneficial for holders of this office to have previous experience in government or politics?

I believe that a candidate's most vital qualities are both personal virtue and political wisdom, which aren't usually gained during tenure. And that experience can always be gained during tenure, but that experience is worthless if it's experience at doing the wrong things. So, I view experience as unessential but an added bonus.

What kind of skills or expertise do you believe would be the most helpful for the holders of this office to possess?

I believe that an ideal politicians should be both personally virtuous (including impeccably honest) and politically wise (like America's founders), devoted to championing people's equal God-given (or natural) rights from others' aggression, and that such qualities are better judged by records than by rhetoric. Labels can be deception and appearances are frivolous. And experience is unessential but a nice added bonus.

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

I believe that an ideal politicians should be both personally virtuous (including impeccably honest) and politically wise (like America's founders), devoted to championing people's equal God-given (or natural) rights from others' aggression, and that such qualities are better judged by records than by rhetoric. Labels can be deception and appearances are frivolous. And experience is unessential but a nice added bonus.

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

I believe that any politician's core responsibility should be to operate within the constraints of his/her delegated authority to expertly assist citizens in defending their equal God-given (or natural) rights from others' aggression, and NOT to reign over society with unlimited authority.

Is there a book, essay, film, or something else you would recommend to someone who wants to understand your political philosophy?

John Locke's Second Treatise of Government; The U. S. Declaration of Independence; The U. S. Constitution; The Federalist Papers; St. George Tucker's A View of the Constitution of the United States; Frederic Bastiat's The Law; Smedley Butler's War Is a Racket; and Jerreld Newquist's Prophets, Principles and National Survival.

What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?

I'm highly conscientious, I hate contention, I love humbly building upon common ground toward unity around what's true-and-right, and I despise corruption. I'm passionate about restoring and/or preserving America's exemplary political heritage of rightful liberty under Constitutional law, which I've studied extensively (both formally and informally), including by being devoted to helping people to defend their equal God-given (or natural) rights from others' aggression.

What legacy would you like to leave?

I'd love to be remembered for being a valiant servant of Jesus Christ, a devoted husband and father, and a valiant champion of rightful liberty under Constitutional law.

What is something that has been a struggle in your life?

I once struggled with post-streptococcal movement disorder, which involved involuntary muscular tics that invited intense teasing from my peers, but it taught me both patience and empathy. I also suffered for many years from crippling depression-and-anxiety, which I eventually overcame with God's help.

What was the last song that got stuck in your head?

"Remember When" by Alan Jackson.

What is your favorite book? Why?

I love The Holy Scriptures most because they've invariably improved my life in countless ways, and they continue to do so.

Tell us your favorite joke.

I can't decide.

If you could be any fictional character, who would you want to be?

I can't decide. But I'd love to render the factual story of my own life worth both remembering and retelling.

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