4-23-2026
🏛️ Issue of the Week: The Power of Community
Summary
One of my favorite things about being a dad in our district has been connecting with other parents at our kids’ activities. The laughter, comradery, support, and relatability improved everyone’s quality of life and as well as the community.
As I have been canvassing, I’ve been surprised to meet so many people who haven’t met their neighbors or know how to find out what is happening in our local and state community. I believe that to make our government work well, we must know each other and know what is happening around us. This issue cannot be legislated, but here’s what our elected officials should do to help build community:
Social Connection Makes Us Happier and Stronger:
In 2020, Robert Putnam wrote a book called “Upswing: How America Came Together a Century Ago and How We Can Do It Again”. He describes the term Social Capital as the strength, meaning and connection derived in close knit communities. He documents how this was built in America after the Gilded Age, how communities collapsed after World War II and how we can build it again.
• Americans are describing higher levels of isolation and helplessness. Between the demands of work and caring for aging parents and children, there is little time to find places to join in to stay connected.
• Research shows that people who are connected in local communities live longer, feel better, and make bigger contributions. In order to make these connections, people have to find the organizations, and these groups must be flexible to fit into people’s lives.
• Government and Elected Officials Should Make a Difference. From funding, to communication, to participation, our elected officials owe us support for the organizations that bring us together- especially the non-partisan ones.
Key District 33 Details
We Deserve a District with Abundant Social Capital.
• From Rotary, to Optimists, to the Legion, to the Chamber of Commerce, to PTA we are lucky to have great social/service clubs to join in this district. They are all hungry for more members.
• Our schools, libraries, and parks and recreation centers all offer opportunities to bring all people together. They work diligently to serve the entire community.
• Local woodworking clubs (my bias), garden clubs, book clubs, and even ski, sailing or boating clubs, offer small groups of people to get together around common hobbies in our district. There is always room for more!
There is a Better Path Forward
While Social Capital exists in the 33rd District, our current state government is counting on us taking it for granted. We need to make it clear we will not. Here’s what we should expect:
• While Legislative Newsletters are helpful, we need regular public Town Hall Meetings. Elected officials need to be accountable when cutting funding for the organizations that offer public gathering spaces and causing huge needs that service organizations scramble to backfill. People shouldn’t have to drive to Jefferson City to get a meeting- if even allowed in.
• We need proactive outreach from elected officials to our community groups, and not just at election time. Great elected officials know their community organizations and what their goals are. They can’t know what is going on in these groups if they are not a part of them or at least showing up regularly.
• We need elected officials to play a role in building social capital by promoting the clubs and organizations that bring us together, not divide us. The more we recognize and support those connections, the stronger our community becomes —purely as community, not as politics.
Conclusion
I am really concerned about the legislative developments happening at the State level right now. I also believe that if we are going to fix this at the root level, we must support community groups that build social capital and demand that our elected officials be held accountable to them. If you are a member of a local group, I want to talk to you. If you want to get involved in your community, I want to know so I can help connect you. Local social capital is the only way to fight off the small number of people using financial capital to mortgage our future in Missouri. We need to grow social capital now.