Steve Fioravanti is an ideologue

October 18, 2022

An ideologue is someone blinded by a rigid political idea — like Steve Fioravanti, a Redoubt extremist from California who is running for Boundary County commissioner. Fioravanti is so convinced that federal programs are inherently bad that he is unable to see when the federal government is helpful. For example, Fioravanti argued that Boundary County should reject its share, $2.3 million, of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA).

In Redoubt News, he wrote that ARPA is based on “cultural Marxism,” a scare phrase which means nothing. He said federal assistance “weakens the will of the people and discourages hard work.”

County commissioners recently approved using ARPA funds to purchase an ambulance, cardiac monitor and power lift for the Boundary County Ambulance Service. A new roof and HVAC repairs for the County Annex come next.

If Fioravanti is correct, the new ambulance and new roof will make people weak and lazy. He knows his ideology. He doesn’t know the people of Boundary County.

Here’s another example of Fioravanti’s ideology: He says the way to reduce property taxes is to “take back our federally-controlled state lands.” In other words, Kaniksu National Forest.

In reality, county and state officials can’t simply decide to take over national forests, but if they could, they’d have to raise property taxes to pay for containing wildfires, which will only get worse as annual temperatures rise. A Sikorsky helicopter costs much more than an ambulance.

To better understand Fioravanti’s ideology, look at the John Birch Society (JBS). This crackpot group is infamous for interpreting almost everything as a communist conspiracy. Here are some of the absurd JBS claims:
  • President Dwight Eisenhower (Republican) was a “communist tool.”
  • The United Nations, which authorized the Korean War against communism, was “an instrument of Communist global conquest.”
  • The U.S. war against communism in Vietnam was a communist conspiracy.
  • The Civil Rights Movement, led by Christian ministers, was a communist conspiracy.
  • Water fluoridation is a communist conspiracy to destroy U.S. children.
  • Earth Day is a communist plot.

The founder of JBS said the U.S. government was “The most powerful single force in promoting Communism everywhere.”

Fioravanti is the president of the local JBS club. This explains some of his other strange ideas:
  • Fioravanti wrote that “cultural Marxism has permeated every aspect of our society.”
  • Fioravanti’s campaign postcard promises that he’ll “Defend against UN Agenda.”

Fioravanti is running against the United Nations and the U.S. government, not for Boundary County. To put his unhelpful fear campaign in perspective, look at his opponent.

Commissioner Tim Bertling has spent his entire life in Boundary County and talks about real county issues, like repairing roads, reducing invasive weeds, and maintaining the Restorium for senior citizens. He voted yes on the new ambulance.

The opposite of ideologue is pragmatist.