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In this interview, Dawn Ramsey explains how she got involved in politics, how the gospel affects how she approaches her constituents, how she has received inspiration in her mayoral role, and the challenges she faces of incivility in today’s political environment. She closes by urging others to become involved to make a positive difference. This interview was conducted on August 30, 2021, by Kate Hall, a BYU student majoring in political science and civic engagement leadership.

Kate Hall: For a little context, would you mind just telling us a little bit about yourself: where you grew up, went to school, a little bit about your family? Just some basic background information.

Dawn Ramsey: Absolutely. I am from the Salt Lake Valley. I have lived in Salt Lake County my entire life. I went to Cyprus High School, and then I went to the Salt Lake Community College in the University of Utah. And then I took a break from finishing my education because my husband and I got married and our kids started coming. And anyway, I am, just now, as we speak, in 2021, working to wrap up finishing my degree at BYU. I love BYU, and I’ve been a student there for a long time, and I am majoring in family sciences and almost done there. So I have six children. My husband and I have been married for a long time. We’re almost on our twenty-ninth wedding anniversary as of October 21. It will be our twenty-ninth year. And we have six kids: three sons and three daughters. And three of them are married, and we have one grandson who’s two, and a second grandson due in about a month.

Kate Hall: When did you first become interested in politics?

Dawn Ramsey: You know, I don’t know that I grew up ever thinking I would run for public office. We didn’t talk a lot of politics at my house. My parents didn’t. We just didn’t, you know. Some people grow up that way, and it’s really a theme in their home, and it wasn’t in our home. We wouldn’t talk a lot about it, and my parents have never been super political.

But I’ve always been a leader and I’ve always, always held leadership roles. I was the first student body president of our elementary school, so there’s that. So I think I started down this path pretty young. And I always did things that in hindsight led me to this.

I’m just finishing my first term as mayor, and so I’m at the tail end of my fourth year right now. And I had never run for public office before, but I’d always been very, very involved in the community. And I represented all the parents over fifty-seven schools at our school district administrative level. I served on the state PTA board of directors. But as far as really getting into politics, I’ve always followed a little bit what’s going on locally and just paid a little bit of attention to what’s happening nationally. I think we have the obligation to do that.

I never planned on maybe being quite this involved. But I just knew that when we had an open seat, four years ago, this was the right thing for me to do. It was my husband’s idea. He’s the one who said, “It’s time. This is the right time. You’re going to become the first woman who’s ever been elected mayor in South Jordan.” And he was right. And so now it consumes my life. I serve on more than thirty different boards and commissions across the state of Utah now. And so I’m just really blessed to get to be a part of a lot of good things. And one thing it’s really taught me is that there’s a lot of good people who are working hard. Nobody thinks you can trust anything about politics these days, or anyone in politics, and I want to give you my promise and my witness that there are good people who are working hard to do the right thing.

Kate Hall: Thank you for sharing that. What made you decide to run for mayor? You mentioned your husband kind of putting out that idea. But what made you decide, “OK, I’m going to do this”?

Dawn Ramsey: We had an open mayoral seat. The mayor wasn’t running for reelection, and I knew that I had a lot to offer. And I had the chance to represent the residents in our city through my school affiliation with public schools for quite some time, and I had been really engaged. I knew I had a lot to offer, and I really felt confident that I could do a lot for our city and do a good job of representing the residents who live here if they wanted me to. And it wasn’t life-or-death for me. My whole self-esteem wasn’t wrapped up in it. My whole future wasn’t wrapped up in it. And it doesn’t pay hardly anything so that didn’t matter, you know. It wasn’t going to make-or-break whether I got the job. And so, I just put myself out there because I knew I had a lot to offer. I knew I did. And I thought, “If the people want me, I’ll do my best work.” Things had gone fairly well, so I just thought I’d offer, and if people wanted me to do it, I offered to give it my all.

Kate Hall: What do you think the role of religion in politics should be?

Dawn Ramsey: I appreciate that the leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have always said our members need to be involved regardless of what country we live in, regardless of where we are. I mean, even in our Articles of Faith. You know, we discuss this. We have an opportunity and an obligation, I believe, as members of the church to be engaged.

But should religion play a dictating role? No. But I do think religion is an important part of society. And I think politics should reflect society and the desires of society. I appreciate too that the leaders of the church have said we don’t take a position, one way or another. We don’t tell you how to vote. We don’t back a candidate either way. I appreciate that the church does not endorse candidates and does not get involved with that and does not say you should belong to one political party or the other, you know?

Just recently we were reminded that all good members of the church anywhere and everywhere can belong to any political party they choose. And there can be truths and teachings found in each political party, and I appreciate that. I don’t think religion should dictate, but I do think religion needs to be an important part of society, and I think a society that values religion is reflected in their politics or not. And so that’s what I think.

Kate Hall: Were there any specific church teachings that influenced you to become involved?

Dawn Ramsey: I have come to gain quite a testimony that this work—public service and serving our fellow man—it is the Lord’s work. I was voted on by the people. I was chosen as mayor against two other candidates as mayor of our city. But to me, I know this is the Lord’s work because I’m serving his children, and the decisions that we make impact the day-to-day lives of God’s children. And I really gained quite a testimony that this is his work. This is certainly not for everyone. But we all have a place, and we all have our strengths, and we all have the things that we’re good at and ways that we can serve. And they don’t have to be in public ways. In fact, I think the best service isn’t public, right?

I think the best services—what we can offer to one another—are just quiet and secret. But we do need good people who are willing to step up and take very public service roles and do it with integrity and with a really altruistic heart and serve because they want to serve the Lord and they want to serve their fellow man. They don’t approach it with a hope to gain anything personally. They just really want to serve. I think knowing that this opportunity is a chance for me to serve God’s children and my brothers and sisters in the world and here in South Jordan and across Utah—wherever—but that we’re all sons and daughters of God. That played a big role in why you would choose to do this.

Kate Hall: Has your approach to specific policy issues been affected at all by your religious beliefs?

Dawn Ramsey: You know, it’s interesting because in local government, we aren’t dealing with a lot of the social issues that you might think about at the federal level. Abortion is not an issue that we are specifically overseeing. We don’t have authority over that at all. That’s not our jurisdiction here in local government. Or even the right to bear arms; we don’t have jurisdiction over that, you know.

I always try to think when we look at policy perspectives of how it will impact families. What is the policy going to do to impact families? It’s one thing to see a bottom line in a spreadsheet of numbers and say, “Oh, it’s going to play out this way,” or, “This is what things will cost,” or, “How much revenue could be generated?” I always try to consider how it will impact our schools and families. Really, what is this going to do to the day-to-day to families? What’s it going to mean for their bottom line? What’s it going to mean to how much time they’re stuck in the car? Is it going to take away from families’ ability to be close, or is this going to benefit the families that we serve? So in that way, I think, yes it has, because family is really quite important to me, and so I do try to look at everything through that lens.

Kate Hall: Do you make, or do you seek inspiration, while you’re making these decisions?

Dawn Ramsey: Absolutely. That is an unequivocal yes. I do. I can bear testimony that I’ve experienced more miracles during my first four years in public office than ever in my life, and it’s part of why I know this is the Lord’s work. His hand is in it. He cares about his sons and daughters, and it doesn’t matter to me what your religion, or your background, or your beliefs, or your lifestyle, or anything. None of that matters. And I know how much God loves each of his children. And I know this work matters to him. And I know he answers prayers and is involved with it. If we will ask, he’ll help us, so definitely.

Kate Hall: Do you have any specific examples you would like to share about that?

Dawn Ramsey: We had a golf course that was privately owned and had been turned over by a judge to a receiver to be sold for development, because that was the most lucrative use, they figured. The residents all around the golf course were very upset by that. And then people from across the whole state were upset by that. All who love this golf course. And we really could not figure out a way to save the golf course. And it was almost 100 percent consensus across the city that everyone wanted it saved, but “don’t raise our taxes to do it.”

And the city didn’t have money to buy the golf course and run a golf course. That was really challenging. We had almost five hundred people in a high school auditorium for four hours and listened to testimony of people who loved this golf course and why it should be saved. But there wasn’t an answer. The best experts that we had were helping us try to figure out what could be done because South Jordan is growing like crazy. We are certainly not antidevelopment; we are growing like crazy. But this specific golf course and this green space was really important, and the right thing to do was to preserve it. We couldn’t figure out a way, and I’m sitting on the stand in front of all those people after four hours of testimony.

I said a desperate prayer in my head to know, “What do we do? How do we help these people? We wish we could help all these people begging us to, but there isn’t a way.” And an impression came to mind of the course of action that we had never considered. Never. And it came very clearly, immediately, as an answer to that prayer. After going through the entire process that we’ve gone through, there really was no other place to look. The answer came right then quickly. And when I proposed it out loud in the meeting, there was a huge eruption of cheering and unanimous support from the council. And it changed the direction, and we were able to save that golf course. And it’s such a tender mercy and an example to me that the Lord is mindful. He’s mindful of the prayers of all those people who begged to have it saved and who had their tender reasons and all of their reasons. He heard the prayers of many, many people, and that night they were answered, including mine.

Kate Hall: Thank you for sharing that. Have your interactions with constituents and other public officials that you work with been shaped by your religious beliefs?

Dawn Ramsey: I think so. Just what we talked about before about my approach. I never want to become contentious. We are never going to always agree, but if I try to remember that we’re all here because we care for this city or for the state or whatever it is that we’re approaching. We all want to do the right thing and even if we don’t see it the same at all, contention is not the right way. It’s a method. You know you can fight and bulldoze your way over the top of people, but I just don’t think that’s the Lord’s way and so, yeah, I think in my approach that’s definitely my religious upbringing and my beliefs that would play into that.

Kate Hall: Do you believe that incivility and polarization are problems today?

Dawn Ramsey: Yeah, I do. In fact, before the public comment portion of every single city council meeting, I put out a little disclaimer that the expectation in that chamber, in our city council chamber, will be civility. That we will have a civil dialogue and that we will remember that we’re all here because we care about this city. We may not see things the same about what we think should happen or how to fix things or how to work toward an outcome. We may not even see the same outcome as the desire. But we’re all here because we care, and we’re here for the same reason. And so remaining civil and respectful is the expectation for everyone in that room: the elected, the staff, and the members of the public—everyone there.

And so yeah, I think it’s become quite a problem, and I think social media is the driver of a lot of it. I think the internet is a hard place to be sometimes. And there’s so much good that can come from social media, and there’s so much that’s not awesome. There’s so much that’s not true that’s out there. In media in general, I think we have good journalists and good people, and I think even the best of people sometimes, in the spirit of anonymity, say things that maybe they wouldn’t say in person, through social media or whatever.

And so, yes, I think polarization is a concern, which is why I mentioned, I think, local government being nonpartisan is so great, because I do think that’s how it should be. Let’s just get the work done that affects people and not let partisan politics be at play or hold up doing the right thing or keep someone from doing the right thing.

I believe strongly in working together, and I also don’t think that if you’re willing to come to the table and work together to compromise, whether at the federal level or the state level or at the local level, I don’t think that’s being a traitor to your party. If you’re willing to sit down with members of the other party and work together to come up with the best solution for the people that you all represent, right? It’s easier said than done. It’s harder than people know. And I just don’t think anyone can even really understand it unless they do it. Just like all things in life, right? But yeah, I don’t think you’re being a traitor to your party if you’re coming to the table and compromise together. And you can adhere to your values. I’m not saying you have to compromise your values and your party’s beliefs, but I do think if you can remove some of just the partisan ugliness and really come up with solutions that are good, that’s critical. And it’s something I’d like us to see more of.

Kate Hall: I have one last question for you. What lessons have you learned about politics that you would like to share with young Latter-day Saints considering and involvement in the government or politics?

Dawn Ramsey: I would say, get involved if you want to get involved. But I think we really need people, kind of going back to what I said before, who are not getting involved because they have something personally that they want to gain. I think you can be more effective if you’re not going in with a specific objective. If your objective is to serve and make good things happen and it’s OK to have really strong, you know, specific ideas. I’d love to do this. I’d love to do this. I’ve just seen a lot of people who want to get involved to get somebody fired or to get somebody ousted because they don’t like the way they’re doing things; I’m going to run for public office to get rid of that person. And I think that’s harder to win on. I don’t think that that’s actually the best way to go about it.

But get involved; we need good people to get involved—good people who recognize the value of service and who know that we’re all God’s children and who are not going to make policy based on anyone else’s religion, or beliefs, or color, or their sexual orientation, or the lifestyle they choose, whatever. We need people who are really going to care about people, the way the Savior cares about all of us, to be involved with policy. And that might sound simple, that might sound like, “Oh yeah, that’s sweet, but she has no idea.” Trust me. I have a lot of ideas. You don’t do this for this many years and not know. I do know. And it is easier said than done; I get that. But it really is important that we have people who care. We’ve got good people everywhere serving. I’m going to go back and kind of finish with that.

My three trips back to the White House to have the opportunity to represent local government in Utah taught me a lot. I always looked at the federal government as maybe this faceless bureaucracy full of people making all these big decisions. But it wasn’t until I went back there and really spent a good amount of time back there, over the course of those three trips, that it showed me there are really good people, good people from both parties. These were bipartisan roundtables that I was a part of. And good people from both parties who were working really hard from across the country to do the right thing. So, I think it’s important in public office, if you want to get involved, not to forget that.

And sometimes it’s easy to forget when they’re getting loud just screaming at you or when you get emails, which I am getting inundated with right now, because of certain social issues that are taking place here, as we have been a year and a half into the pandemic, you know. I’m getting emails that say, “As your constituent and as your boss, I demand that you” and then fill in the blank. Whether they want masks, whether they hate masks, whether they want vaccinations, whether they hate vaccinations, I’m getting all of that. And again, those aren’t even within the purview of my authority as mayor of a local city. You know, even though we’re a large city, as mayors in Utah we don’t have that authority. So that’s not our purview. So I think it’s just important to be willing to look from a big picture, step away from noise, get involved, keep the Lord close, and pray for guidance.

I knew that running for public office was the right thing for me to do, and it took maybe a little bit of time for me to align my will with heaven’s will because I wasn’t sure I wanted to do it. We were fresh off a really contentious 2016 presidential election. And I thought, “Why would anyone want to do that? You’re kidding me. Why would you put your name out like that? And your family? Why would you do that?” But we need good people who are willing to do it. And the only way to make it better is for us to get involved and choose to make it better.

I think it’s important, and I know the Lord needs us. He needs us. This is his work. And if it’s something you end up feeling you’d like to do or compelled to do or interested in, I say do it. Because the Lord needs good people who are willing to do hard things. And that’s what this is. But I couldn’t love it more. It’s been such a blessing for me in a way I never could have imagined, just to have the chance to meet and work with and serve so many great people.