Doug Scribner: Like those he wants to represent

Lolita Harper

Doug Scribner is the anti-politician.

He’s not a lawyer, he’s not a millionaire, he’s not an Ivy League

legacy and he wasn’t born with a silver spoon in his mouth.

He is a “regular guy” who is best equipped to adequately represent

the people, he said.

“The reason I am qualified is because I am just like [the

constituents],” said Scribner, who is running for the realigned 68th

Assembly District seat. “I am a citizen of the district who wants to

participate.”

Scribner said government has moved away from including average

citizens in the decision-making processes and instead promotes career

politicians who have a lot of money.

Ordinary people may not have political connections and large

campaign donors, but it doesn’t mean they don’t have great ideas,

Scribner said.

Scribner’s experience with government is limited to his time in

the Air Force and his substitute teaching job, which he said gives

him a refreshing perspective on leadership.

“I will be able to reflect what average people dream for and live

for and hope for,” Scribner said. “I think my ideas are important and

more people need to here them.”

Scribner added that he values people and respects the diversity

that makes this country wonderful, he said. It is his deep-seeded

respect for individuality that prompted him to seek a leadership

position. He is looking to incorporate diversity and variety in state

government.

“People are so special because they are so unique, and any system

that treats us as if we are all the same -- a one-size-fits-all

solution -- is inefficient and not the best way to treat the

citizens,” Scribner said.

Too much regulation stifles people’s options and limits them to a

stringent mold, he said. Politicians seem to delight in pitting

special interest groups against each other -- placing ethnic groups

at odds with other ethnic groups or Christians against homosexuals --

by passing laws that favor one group over another.

Once one group gets slighted, it urges its leaders to pass laws

for them, which irritates another group who pushes for their own

rules and the nasty cycle continues, he said.

Scribner said he has the ability to listen to and understand

various points of view. He also understands that what works for one

person, or group, won’t work for another and people can agree to

disagree, he said. His work as a substitute teacher in alternative

education programs has taught him that not all people flourish at the

same time, and individuals must be given the freedom to pursue what

works for them.