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Text of article below:
Former Cedar Hills councilman Wright to run for Utah County Commission
By Sara Lenz
Deseret News
Published: Thursday, Nov. 19, 2009 10:53 a.m. MST
Former Cedar Hills City Councilman Joel D. Wright has announced his candidacy for the Utah County Commission.
Wright, a 37-year-old lawyer, said he will run against Gary Anderson or Steve White in 2010 for a seat on the commission.
Wright, who grew up in Provo, returned to Utah County five years ago after living in New York and Washington, D.C. He said he made his decision to run for county commissioner about six months ago.
"I think Utah County deserves more effective solutions and focus on regional problems," Wright said. "There are regional issues that need to be pushed right now."
Some of those issues, he said, include removing obstacles to economic development, creating better transportation, improving accessibility of Utah Lake and fighting crime locally.
If elected, Wright said one of the biggest items on his agenda will be looking at changing the structure of Utah County government. Instead of having three full-time commissioners, he suggests that Utah County have one full-time mayor and five part-time county council members.
Wright said that would reduce the cost of government officials by one-third, and each council member could represent a region in the county.
The father of four has been involved with the Utah County Republican Party as a state and county delegate and has been on the Utah State Board of Regents and Utah State Charter School Board.
Wright received a bachelor's degree in economics and political science at BYU and a juris doctorate at New York University.
THIS IS THE COMMENT I POSTED ON THE ARTICLE ABOVE:
As the article stated, I believe we need regional solutions to regional problems. Right now, we send too much tax money to Washington DC or Salt Lake City, and then have to hope they send a little bit of our money back to us.
Utah County has 550,000 residents now, and will likely have over one million in 20 years or less. We are rapidly becoming an urban county, and we need to prepare for it. For example, there is no good reason why the State should own or manage the roads in Utah County that do not cross county lines. Instead, Utah County should keep their share of the gas tax, and manage these roads on their own. In addition, it is clear we can not count on the State or Federal governments to effectively stop Ponzi schemes in Utah County before they have mushroomed. We need to give our Utah County Attorney and Sheriff the resources and training they need to fight and prosecute these crimes. Finally, we need a Utah County government based on the principles of the US Constitution, with separate executive and legislative branches.
