The six reasons I am running

A county delegate recently asked me to give him the 5 main reasons I am running. It made me think long and hard about what I specifically value the most. But, I could only narrow the main reasons I am running down to six points, and I couldn't eliminate another one. So, here are the six reasons why I am running for Utah County Commissioner Seat A this year:


1. Fiscal Responsibility: Utah County's budget has grown 50% in the last 5 years, while our population has only grown by 25%. This has resulted in a need to raise the property tax rate by 20% in the last 2 years to sustain this increase in spending. And in 2008, my opponent voted to raised his salary by 10% in the middle of the year (to $104,000) and then had to raise property taxes by 11% at the end of the year. I find it amazing he would raise property tax rates instead of repealing his salary increase. If elected, I will vote against any budget that contains an increase in the property tax rate for the next 4 years, and I will vote to repeal the 2008 salary increase.

2. Economic Development: I believe government should remove the obstacles to economic development, instead of assuming the government actually is the economic development. One example. The County Commissioners recently borrowed $40 million to build a Convention Center in downtown Provo, which will be owned by Utah County. However, Utah County is responsible for a sewer plant in Pleasant Grove that makes a lot of stink. The American Fork Chamber of Commerce says this is the #1 problem for business in the Lindon/American Fork/Pleasant Grove area, and the Pleasant Grove City Council believes the stink is blocking over $300 million in economic development, including a convention center funded in part by the private sector. If elected, I would focus on doing what government should be doing (removing the stink) and less on putting us further in debt. When I was on my city council in Cedar Hills I was a strong advocate for removing the obstacles to the development of our commercial sector by Wal-Mart and a permanent solution to our city's money losing golf course.

3. Transportation: I believe we need to take responsibility for our own transportation problems, and be less subservient to the state and federal governments. Specifically, I believe we should push the State of Utah to turn over to Utah County all roads that do not cross county lines, as well as our portion of the gas tax, and let us fund our roads as we see best. We also need to work to expand the Commuter Rail to Santaquin if the initial phase is successful, and build more and better bicycle trails that connect throughout the County. Most importantly, we need to proactively make 20 or even 50 year transportation plans, that take into account Utah County's population will grow from the current 550,000 to over one million in 20 years or less.

4. Crime: Over 60% of Utah County's budget goes toward fighting crime through the Sheriff and County Attorney. I believe we need to give our law enforcement all the resources necessary to enforce the existing laws. If we are unwilling to do that, we should change the law to something we are willing to enforce. While crime is generally low in Utah County, there are three areas in which we need to improve, specifically: (a) Investment Fraud, (b) Prescription Drug Abuse, and (c) the Sexual Abuse of Children. Please see my campaign blog for more details, but note that investment fraud claims filed with the County Attorney have gone from under $30 million in 2007, to $104 million in 2009, making it an economic development issue as well as a criminal issue.

5. Constitutional Principles (form of government and term limits): I believe Utah County's current form of government of three full time Commissioners with "executive, legislative and judicial" powers is not based on the Constitution, does not provide for appropriate checks and balances, and does not provide for regional representation. If just two County Commissioners would trust the voters, then we would hold a first election asking the voters of Utah County if they wanted a new form of government. If the voters said yes, then a study commission would be created to examine the issue for a year and recommend a new form of government. They could recommend a Mayor/County Council (both Cache and Salt Lake Counties have done this) or go with an Executive and part time County Council (Wasatch, Summit and Morgan Counties have done this) or expand to five or seven full time county commissioners (no county has done this). I believe it is time to consider this change. Also, I believe the Founding Fathers understood the nature of man, and were wise to set a precedent of no more than two terms in any elected office. My opponent is asking for a fourth term as a County Commissioner. I would not serve more than two terms as a Utah County Commissioner (or 8 years) under any circumstances.

6. Engagement and Transparency: I would send a monthly email to everyone who would receive it highlighting the main decisions we were making and issues we were tackling. I would include all press articles on Utah County, and warmly ask for input and feedback. I would post on a web page where anyone could make comments, even anonymous comments. I would also post all the information I received on the web for the public to review to the greatest extent possible, so the public could read and review the information going into our decision making process. Finally, I would end the practice of scheduling general public comments at Utah County Commission meetings at the END of their meeting. I believe our County Commissioners should listen to public input at the very beginning of their meeting, before they make any decisions.

Thank you very much for considering the reasons I am running. I am very interested in your thoughts. Please give me your feedback below.