Diebel/Moore Race Exposes what is Broken

Iowans may disagree on the harm caused by the recent political meltdown in Washington, the government’s invasion of privacy in the name of terror, or the tossing of Iowa Supreme Court Justices from office over the marriage ruling; but most will agree our political process is broken. Candidates and officeholders are quick to twist facts and grandstand, and are too often unwilling or unprepared to offer ideas on how to solve the problems our country, state and communities face. They do the first to win votes and are scared to do the second for fear their plans may not be immediately popular.

The Des Moines City Council race provides a poignant example of what is wrong in modern politics as well as an answer to how we voters can begin to fix that which is not working.

From every angle Chris Diebel is a committed, hard-working, intelligent and caring person. A Hollywood screenwriter would be hard-pressed to find a better person to study as a model candidate for an at-large city council seat of a progressive American city. Diebel is confident and appeared well prepared when he entered the race a few short weeks ago. But, he quickly made a wrong turn. Instead of making the case for why it was his time to lead, he chose to dirty his opponent. To make things worse, Diebel’s false accusations showed he doesn’t understand the biggest issue facing the City of Des Moines.

Diebel sent voters two mailers attacking incumbent Skip Moore for the council’s failure to set aside money for an illegal utility franchise fee the courts have ordered the city repay. Diebel claimed his opponent, Skip Moore, “ignored orders to pay back illegal fees,” which is simply untrue. Diebel ignored the plainly obvious fact Moore was elected long after the City made the poor decision to charge the fee. Diebel ran a political play to convince voters to toss Moore out. Diebel should have made the case for why voters should vote him in.

Diebel made a poor choice to go negative and a reprehensible one to go negative with untruths.

I know Chris Diebel, like and respect him. However, this error in judgment should cost him this election. He is clearly not ready to lead, but this mistake should not disqualify him for future service. Des Moines needs people like Chris Diebel to create the vibrant city we know Des Moines can be. Yet, before he wins office, Diebel needs to earn the people’s trust. He has failed to do so this time around.

The first step to righting local, state and national politics will be taken when we elect candidates more committed to doing the job for those they serve than they are winning a position for themselves. Chris Diebel may be such a person, but his campaign tactics suggest otherwise. He was gaming to win votes because he wanted to win. That had more to do with what Chris Diebel wants than what Des Moines needs.

It is time we vote for the candidates best prepared to lead, not those who make us feel good or, worse, those who make their opponents out to be unworthy by slinging innuendo or misstating facts.

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Graham Gillette can be reached at grahamgillette@gmail.com 

This entry was first published as a Des Moines Register online essay.