By STU CLAMPITT
news@readthereporter.com
Democratic Carmel City Council At-Large candidate Sara Draper has taken an interesting path to community service. When she and her husband came to American from Britain, she was not even allowed to work for nearly a decade.
“My husband works at [Eli] Lilly, but I was what’s called – very harshly in my opinion – a ‘trailing spouse,’” Draper told The Reporter. “That meant I couldn’t work. I couldn’t go back to school. I couldn’t get a credit card in my name. I was like a toddler, totally dependent. And if, God forbid, something had happened to my husband I’d have had only a few days to leave the country. It was an uncertain, difficult way to live.”
That lasted eight years, during which time the Drapers had to leave the country every year to renew their visa.
“We got a green card after eight years,” Draper said.
Since her husband was in America on what is called an H-1B visa, which allows U.S. employers to temporarily employ foreign workers in specialty occupations. The terms of that visa do not extend the right to work to spouses.
To make this inability to work even more absurd, it should be noted that Sara Draper is an Oxford graduate who speaks five languages.
“At first, because there was nothing else I could do, I threw myself into volunteering for various different causes,” Draper said. “I have had some kind of volunteer work going the whole 23 years I’ve been here. At first it was not a choice. I just wanted to get out of the house to do something and volunteering was my only option.”
When she became a citizen, Draper said the amazing life Carmel and Hamilton County had given her family made her feel that she needed to give back.
“The volunteering started as something useful I could do,” Draper said. “Then it became a passion to give back to the community that has given me so much.”
Draper said that she still can’t vote without crying.
“Every time I stand by that thing, I’ve got tears streaming down my face,” Draper told The Reporter. “It’s the privilege of being an American and being able to vote in America.”
After the way U.S. emigration policy treated her, The Reporter ask Draper how she could care so much about politics.
“How do I not have time to care about politics?” Draper said. “It’s an important thing that affected everybody’s everyday life. City council has arguably the most impact on some of the everyday stuff – the roads we drive on, the fact that we have first responders who do an excellent job. I don’t think a lot of people understand how important municipal elections are.”
Draper’s campaign slogan is “listen, learn and lead.” She told The Reporter that is because she doesn’t assume she knows everything that needs to be fixed.
“At the moment I am on what we call a listening tour,” Draper said. “I am talking to various stakeholders across the city: city employees, service providers and residents to get an idea of what the major issues really are. I have some ideas, but I am just one person, so I want to get as much input as possible to figure out what the priorities are. That specificity will develop as I talk to more and more people and get more in depth into the issues.”
Draper said she firmly believes Carmel is on a good path.
“We have a thriving economy,” Draper said. “We are doing good things environmentally. But there is more we can do. There are some really simple things we can do, but until I really understand the concerns and challenges different people have, I don’t want to be too specific because I don’t know. I have an idea, but I don’t KNOW.”
Draper said she is a Democrat because she agrees broadly with the Democratic policy and platform, but she also said she sees city council races as almost non-partisan.
“Having good streets is not a Democrat or a Republican issue,” Draper said. “Having great public safety largely is not a partisan issue. Keeping the economy thriving isn’t really a partisan issue. On a lot of the issues, we agree on more than we disagree on with the Republicans.”
The told The Reporter her goal is to make sure everybody’s voices are heard and to represent everyone.
“When I’m elected, if someone voted Republican it doesn’t mean I’m not going to listen to them or advocate for them as appropriate,” Draper said. “The city councilor is the person who should be representing the best interests of everyone in the city.”