Last updated November 6, 2007.
I’ll summarize here some questions I have received, and answer them as best I can. This section will expand as new questions come up. To go back to my main campaign web page, click here.
I don’t know anything about city government. Why should I vote? Wasn’t there already a city council election?
Regardless of whether you know anything about city government, city government affects you. It affects the taxes you pay, whether you have good streets, whether you are safe at night, and many other things. Since in a democracy we citizens are supposed to be the government, and politicians are supposed to be our servants, we should learn more about our government so we can fulfill our responsibility to better guide it. This year is an especially important time to for us to take part in local government. The city council has recently made decisions that will have long term, irreversible effects on Springville and therefore on you, and some of those decisions were wrong. Please take time to read through these questions and answers to see what has concerned your neighbors, and then on November 6 get out and vote for three candidates who will provide the best solutions. I hope you decide that I will be one of those candidates.
In September there was a primary election for city council. That election narrowed down the group of people running for city council to six candidates. In the general election, voters will pick from those candidates to elect three city council members. Council members represent the entire city, not just one geographic area. It is a nonpartisan election.
Should Springville’s history be protected?
Certainly! Our town has a fine history, that many great people have contributed to. That history should be passed down and built upon. Its physical manifestations should also be respected. I was saddened to see the historic church on south Main Street come down. Some time ago I drove into a different Utah town that I hadn’t visited for many years. Entering from one side there were pleasant pioneer homes, a lovely and well established downtown, and then suddenly a transition to a long stretch of less sightly strip mall-type businesses with their gaudy signs. Sometimes progress is progress, and sometimes it isn’t. One way we can respect our history is by keeping our downtown, with its buildings of historic flair, in use and vibrant.
What do you think about building a new library?
I am absolutely, 100% in favor of a better library. A great library is essential to the intellectual and cultural vitality of a great city. Almost all of the people I talk to would rather have a new library than any other city facility. It is unacceptable to put other facilities first. Services to families come first, and for families the library is the most important publically-owned building in Springville.
Sadly, it seems this issue breaks down along old Springville/new Springville lines. Having said that I can already hear certain people saying “Now you’re being divisive.” No, I didn’t create the division between the dynastic old families and the many new families. I’m just pointing out what most of us know: that the division is there. And frankly, it’s time for old Springville to give way to new Springville on this issue. If that doesn’t look likely to happen, then it’s time for city residents to turn out and vote for people who will take control of city government in the interest of the majority. It’s downright creepy to meet with people and find that the most important order of business in order to gain credibility is establishing one’s local genealogy. It is time that community needs, not family history, determine what the city builds next. As near as I can tell, most people would like a library next.
There is currently a rumor going around that the city council has rejected what the citizen advisory board recommended for a new library. However, I am told that the council has not yet rejected it in favor of an economy library. In fact, I suspect that the council members do not plan to publically oppose an adequate library. They just plan to spend city savings on offices for themselves, and then when the money is gone they will shrug and tell the voters that maybe we can’t afford much of a new library after all. Springville residents should be clear on the fact that the new building plan does not include a new library, despite the fact that one is pictured in the site plans. Read the fine print. The plan is to build a new, unmanned fire station (three of them, actually), one new city office building that will include police and court facilities, and then to have a bond election to see if citizens want a new library. I have to say that at a recent meeting with the city council, the candidates, and the library board, I only heard one existing council member clearly support a new library. I also heard talk of a survey that would not ask people whether they want a new library, but rather how much they want their taxes to go up. This should set off alarm bells—lukewarm support for the library combined with tactics that would undercut a successful bond election does not add up to a new building.
I was asked separately about the Springville Playhouse, the theater beneath the current library. We have had this theater in Springville for a long time, and we should be glad we have such a resource. It would be good to take a serious look at providing sufficient multi-purpose space in the new library to allow for, among other things, small theater productions, along with other community events. A library/community center would be a great boon to the city, and would fit much better on the library’s existing location than jammed in across the street. Some parking issues would still need to be resolved, though, so that we do not lose much park space to large parking lots. Parking is a difficult issue to solve. It is easier to solve if the proposed public safety building turns into a real public safety building rather than just a fire station, and is built on the existing public safety site. This siting issue needs to be dealt with immediately, and if it isn’t fixed now, we will have an inferior library forever. Changing the city council is the only way it might be fixed.
Don’t we need a new public safety building now, so we can get help in case of an earthquake?
Perhaps, but I am not yet convinced that getting a new building up is an emergency. This question assumes that a new public safety building would survive an earthquake that would take down the existing building, and that if did survive such an earthquake, we would all then get emergency assistance upon calling 911. I’m not sure that at least the second part of this assumption is valid. If an earthquake takes down the public safety building, there is 0% chance the vehicles inside will be coming to any particular person’s house to help them. However, if an earthquake does not take down the public safety building, but still takes down the rest of the city, there is not much more than a 0% chance that emergency vehicles will be coming to any particular person’s house. They’ll be too busy.
City officials have sometimes declared that we need a new building because the old one does not meet building code. Most buildings in Springville do not meet code, because the code changes every year. We do not, for example, have to renovate our houses constantly to keep up, because the code doesn’t apply retroactively. So I’m not very impressed by that argument.
There may be better arguments that I have not yet heard, such as that we should rebuild because it’s worth the cost in order to improve fire protection and provide better emergency medical services. That kind of argument would make sense to me. It’s just not clear to me that there’s an emergency now, demanding immediate construction. And it is far from clear that our small city’s volunteer fire department needs multiple unmanned buildings all over town. The city claims we need satellite facilities closer to our homes in order to keep our homeowners insurance low. It seems to me that building extra satellite facilities would cost more in taxes than we would save in potentially lower insurance premiums. Moreover, the current central location puts the whole city within minutes of the fire station right now. I favor making a new downtown public safety building a true public safety building, one that houses police, EMS, and fire, located right where it is now. That would be better than splitting off the police department offices and putting them in the new city hall.
Here is what Springville really needs right now for improved public safety: 24 hour paramedic coverage on the ambulance. In my view it is both doable and essential to have this 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The police also need to move the 911 electronics out of the furnace room. And we should plan to keep public safety together in a central building instead of splitting the police off to be located with city administration, zoning, etc.
Do you want to destroy the park?
No. Currently, there is a controversy over whether to split the library away from the park, and put a public safety building near where the library is, and perhaps someday cram a library onto the lot where the public safety building now is. It seems to me that the city fathers just don’t get it. The library and the playground and picnic areas outside of it are like our town square. They go together well. Many of us can’t imagine separating them. They should stay together, on the current side of the street where there actually is room for a library/community center. There’s plenty of room on the existing public safety site for a new public safety building, especially if satellite buildings end up being built elsewhere. The city could even build up, and put in a firepole. Unfortunately, despite considerable public opposition the city council voted in early September to play musical chairs with these buildings. I was astonished the next day to visit the Senior Center and hear the depth of anger many people felt following that vote. More recently candidate Michele Dugdale and I met with a “Save the Park” group. They wondered if it is still possible to turn things around. Yes, it probably is possible. If you elect three new council members who are willing to tell architects and contractors that upon taking office the new council will immediately cancel and renegotiate any contracts entered into by the current council, that will slow the rush to construction enough to minimize financial loss to the city. Better to sacrifice a little now than to quietly allow a long term disaster to be imposed by a lame duck council. Be aware, though, that I would be willing to give up a little park space to put an adequate library/community center on that site. It will be a challenge to solve the parking problem without giving up too much space, but it seems like a solvable problem. You will hear “can’t” quite a bit from the current city government; it’s their favorite word (they use it as a substitute for “won’t”). I am more into “can.” This year, elect three people who can and will do what you want.
I was also asked about a possible initiative petition to deal with this problem. To get an initiative on the ballot in time for the general election, petitions would have had to be gathered 120 days in advance. There isn’t time to do that before the November election, and any time later would likely be too late.
How do you feel about tax increases?
I don’t like them. If a government official has a pet project he or she is anxious to make work, but there’s nothing in the budget for it, it’s tempting to think about a tax increase. The problem is, every year there’s a new batch of people with new pet projects, and we can’t just keep increasing taxes to fund them. Government should set an adequate tax rate, and then should live within its means, without looking for excuses to keep inching tax rates up. Government officials especially need to be sensitive to those they may not see enough of: senior citizens and others who are on fixed incomes and can’t afford unexpected increases in their expenses.
That said, I am not an anti-tax activist. It is hypocritical to expect something for nothing, and I have noticed that people who oppose taxes don’t mind living in a free country protected by tax-supported armies and police departments. They don’t mind breathing clean air, kept that way by tax-supported government regulators. Taxes are how we pay for the benefits we, or sometimes just our neighbors, enjoy. I’m glad to hear city officials tell us that this or that municipal service or development will cost little or nothing to implement. That’s great. But when I hear that often, I begin to wonder whether they have some objection to actually spending money to accomplish important goals. We need to be prudent, but it doesn’t do to be miserly. Too much penny pinching leads to things like paving with gravel. When a community agrees on a public goal, it then needs to rearrange its budget so that it can fund the goal as necessary, and its leaders do not need to apologize for spending money on what needs to be done (of course, sometimes funding is not necessary—a considerable amount of great work is done in town by volunteers).
Occasionally there may be extraordinary expenses that require financing through some means such as bonding. It so happens that such a time is approaching here in Springville. Our population has exploded, and growth is still going whole hog. City services have not increased to keep pace, and city services require city infrastructure. Sooner or later, and probably sooner, we must have larger facilities. Buildings constructed decades ago for a population numbered in the thousands will not work for a city that will build out at around sixty thousand people. We can use existing savings to get some of this work completed. Unfortunately, the failure of most Springville voters to show up at the last bond election let a small group of voters kill off timely construction, and to catch up now will cost millions of additional dollars. Waiting longer will make things even worse. Therefore, I will likely agree to finance such work through whatever means will get it done promptly, such as bonding. The city cannot afford to continually be so far behind where it ought to be, that we are desperately playing catch up. We’re seeing that on 400 South currently. We must maintain the ability to plan ahead and to implement those plans, and that requires proper facilities and personnel. When we do build new facilities, we should build them so we won’t outgrow them in a few years—they should be designed to serve us even when the city’s undeveloped areas are completely built out, so we don’t have to keep spending more on additional construction. If additional taxes are needed to pay for a bond for one time major construction, those taxes should be reduced back down as soon as the bond is paid off.
I was also asked about the recent property valuation notices that Utah County mailed to homeowners. Property valuation is a county function, not a city function, so it is not an issue I will pretend I could have any say over as a city council member. That said, I will correct a misstatement the mayor made in a recent city newsletter. He went on about a frightening tax increase caused by Utah County’s property valuations. Increased property valuations do not increase property tax rates, because when values go up, the tax rate is adjusted down. The only way that tax revenue increases with increased valuations is if a governmental entity holds a “truth in taxation” hearing and approves keeping the tax rate up. Utah County has not done that. However, Nebo School District has. There is an article in the August 23 Springville Herald explaining this rather counterintuitive taxation process. Like many of you, I am not happy with the recent valuations.
Can we get more businesses in town? A bigger grocery store? Restaurants?
It is very important to develop the 400 South interchange by getting stores there that will significantly boost our sales tax revenue. The alternative is to see those stores go to Spanish Fork and ease the tax burden of Spanish Fork residents instead. In October the city newsletter announced that financial concerns are not the most important thing determining whether big box stores locate here instead of in nearby towns. We were told that big boxes will locate here because we’re a nice community. City government needs a wake up call, because all that big box stores care about is their bottom line. Buried in the middle of the October newsletter’s all-is-well-in-Zion message, the city pretty much admitted that we are being out competed. We can’t be naive about this, or we will have an economic disaster. Springville can provide financial incentives. We need to compete now with Spanish Fork for high quality big boxes like Target and Lowes and Costco, before it is too late. Botched 400 South development would cripple the city, and we are too close to being too late.
Meanwhile, we need to protect and enhance our downtown. Market forces largely determine whether businesses locate downtown: where business people see a demand, they will step in to provide a supply. Theoretically. Sometimes it helps to have economic development people point out the potential demand. It is also possible to offer financial incentives to businesses that relocate, but downtown I am very wary of offering potential new business such breaks because that seems unfair to homegrown businesses that are here already. Some people are upset by the amount of money spent on the traffic islands and faux brick crosswalks downtown, but it seems that some amount of sprucing up is appropriate, and may make the area more attractive for window shopping, which leads to more business. I recently drove into Santaquin and was surprised at how just a bit of new landscaping and signage at the entrance to town made that town look as if it took pride in itself. We have that at our south entrance, and it would be nice to do something at the north entrance as well. Taking pride in our community will make Springville more attractive, and will show potential restaurant developers that Springville is the kind of place where people are likely to dine out. We can each do our part by shopping and dining locally.
I have heard complaints that the city’s planning and zoning department makes business development difficult, and that the sign ordinance the city drafted may hurt businesses out near the highway. I have also heard that the city blocked a restaurant from locating in Springville. When I looked into the restaurant rumor it proved to be inaccurate. However, with regard to the other concerns it seems that the city and the Springville Area Chamber of Commerce need to have more cooperative discussions with an aim to resolve these differences and to build relationships of greater respect and trust. If it turns out that city policies are driving off business, we will fix that.
How about a pool and a recreation center?
The existing pool is good for a wide segment of the community, and a recreation center would be as well. There is widespread support for a better pool and for a rec center. We need to decide whether we want an outside pool in the future, and what sort of recreation center we should build. However, the current building needs downtown mean that such additional construction will have to wait awhile longer. That said, we still have to plan for it, since we need to make sure we have enough land set aside for such projects when it is possible to complete them. Then Springville residents will likely have to actually get out and vote in favor of these facilities at a bond election. The city recently announced it would survey some city residents to gauge support for providing these services. Hopefully this will not be another bogus survey like the slanted one a few years ago. Assuming it is legitimate, if you get one be sure to turn it in.
Is the city attorney full-time?
Yes. That doesn’t strike me as inappropriate for a city of Springville’s current size. I’m not sure what motivated this question, not having heard anything negative about the current city attorney. My general assumption about city hiring is that it should be what you know, not who you know, that gets you the job. As long as that happened in this employee’s hiring process, I’m fine with that.
What is of concern is that the city recently decided to hire a full-time prosecutor. Supposedly it costs less to hire one as a city employee full-time than to pay a local attorney by the hour under contract (many other small cities in Utah have not found that to be the case). The problem with this decision is: to a hammer, everything looks like a nail. Having a full-time prosecutor will create even more pressure to keep the city justice court a revenue generating operation rather than a court of law in which due process prevails. Municipal justice courts shouldn’t be merely a railroad to the cash register, and I question whether a full-time prosecutor will have enough to do unless the city increases speed traps and similar forms of law enforcement activity that don’t do much to protect us from violent crime, property crime, and public order offenses. We need to be very clear on whether it is actually necessary to expand the city justice court in order to get its core job done, or whether doing so is just a fund-raising effort. If it’s the latter then the court will inevitably be characterized by a presumption of guilt, and by resolution of cases through ex parte communications (one-sided, and therefore grossly unethical, private conversations between the prosecutor and the judge). Citizens do not like going into a justice system that exists in order to make money for the government, and that’s not the sort of America that my ancestors fought and died for. This is something that will merit close supervision.
What happened to Airswitch’s infrastructure, and why isn’t Springville wired?
I don’t know what happened after Springville bought what Airswitch left behind; I’ve never gotten a straight answer when I’ve asked that question. But I’m going to find out when I get on the inside of city government. Something seems odd about that situation. As far as Springville being wired, I don’t believe that Internet access is inherently a municipal service that cities should assume they would provide. Being wired would have obvious benefits, but benefits must be weighed against costs. I suspect that until the buildings issue is resolved, there won’t be much impetus within city government to move forward with wiring the city. As I’ve gone door to door to visit voters, the Utopia question has kept coming up, particularly in the northeast and in the south parts of town. When elected, I will open lines of communication with the Utopia people to see what is possible. If most of Springville’s residents want something like Spanish Fork’s system, or the Utopia system, the city should get onboard.
Why do you think city government is unresponsive?
Consider the following examples:
Several years ago the city was floating a redevelopment scheme for Main Street. I was suspicious of that, since redevelopment agencies are often formed in order to declare land “blighted” that really isn’t, to let some rich developer take it over and make money from what should have remained the original owner’s private property. So I went to a public meeting to see what was going on. The mayor at the time was running the meeting, and throughout the public comments he interrupted citizens and chewed them out when he didn’t like what he was hearing. One speaker asked for a copy of the redevelopment plan that many other people in town had already been given, and the city attorney of that time refused to simply provide it as he should have done, but instead hid behind a records access law and told the citizen to submit a written request and someday the city might respond. That was disgusting. And, it turns out, typical of how the city treats citizens. City leaders are happy when people agree with them, but considerably thin skinned when people do not, and frequently only provide the information they want us to have, not the information we need to make our own decisions.
A few years ago when the city was discussing an earlier version of a building plan, I went to a city open house and asked a city councilman what they would do if the voters didn’t approve their plan. He said they would build anyway. I asked him if they had any way to do that without raising taxes. He said no. I pointed out that he had effectively just admitted that the city would raise taxes to build its new offices, something he had been saying the city would not do. He then denied he said what he had just said. It is hard to trust city hall with things like that happening.
Awhile back the city painted bike routes here and there around town, including down streets recently paved with gravel (gotta love that ride!). In the Hunter Valley area the streets are quiet and gently winding, with very little traffic, and there were no stripes on the pavement, and no stop signs. Suddenly there were six stripes of paint running up River Bottom Road, street signs all over, and it looked like the short, one mile long street had been converted into an interstate highway. It was ugly. It was unnecessary, since there was a much safer off-street trail paralleling that street just two blocks to one side, and another going in near the creek just three blocks to the other side (and since people had been managing to ride their bikes just fine without city help). Worst of all, it was dangerous to children, because unlike in many other areas where the city just painted one line to separate traffic from the rest of the side of the street, on River Bottom the city painted a narrow bike lane right next to the traffic flow and thereby forced children out well away from the curb and to within inches of the traffic. It is astounding that anyone would do anything so abjectly stupid. That sort of paint scheme makes sense in a crowded city, and on places like Main Street, but is completely unnecessary and dangerous in this area. Apparently, though, it made more money for the contractor. People in the neighborhood showed up at a city council meeting to protest. The city council made promises to look into it, but did nothing, apart from berating a speaker—me—for having the temerity to question the council, and apart from making up excuses for why it might not be possible to do anything (but it was possible to sandblast off striping near an intersection in another area, so it seems clear this debacle was a mistake that officials of good will could have corrected). At that meeting, River Bottom area residents also protested that the city was thinking about compounding this problem by actually raising the speed limit through the curves, one of which is a blind curve due to a sight-obscuring fence, and that happens to be the exact spot with highest foot traffic across the street due to the nearby location of a church building. One wonders why city officials think they know more about an area’s needs than the people who actually live in the area. Area residents have continued to protest. The city’s response? It sprayed more paint.
At the public meetings this year about the new building plan I asked city officials about the possibility of a recreation center on the east side in the pasture land near the pool. They said that couldn’t be done due to not owning the land. Then they said they had a plan to build a sports park on the west side. Did they own that land? No. By what they just said, didn’t that mean they couldn’t do anything there either? No, suddenly it was possible to buy that west side land. Apparently it is possible to do something when it is the city’s idea, just not when the idea comes from residents. I then asked why the sports park plans they were showing were largely for baseball diamonds, when many more kids play soccer than baseball. They flip flopped all over with their answers. Ultimately it appeared that it doesn’t matter what our kids do, it matters what the city fathers did when they were kids. Welcome back to the 20th Century. Next I asked when they were going to finish the partly completed trail along Hobble Creek in the east part of town. I’d been told earlier by the city that it had an easement to do so. They said they couldn’t finish the trail because of a new law that had just passed the legislature. As a government attorney I keep a pretty close eye on new laws, and I’m not aware of one that extinguished existing easements. So I asked about that. They couldn’t cite the mysterious law, they couldn’t explain why they weren’t carrying out an existing plan, and it appeared they had simply caved in to pressure from some particular interest that didn’t like the trail. That’s no way to run a city. Given the constant run around and flip flopping when city officials were probed about the details of the various plans presented, the entire public open house came off looking like a gigantic snow job meant to make city government appear interested in citizen input, while actually paying attention to none of it.
My mother has been concerned about a handicapped neighbor who can’t safely cross the street to go to church, because there’s no wheelchair slope down the curb at the northwest corner of the 400 East and Center Street intersection, one of the city’s major intersections. There is a curb slope on one end of the crosswalk, but not on the other. The lady has to go down the block and through a driveway, which isn’t especially safe. The city has said for years they would fix it, and the mayor himself said it would be fixed last spring (and it’s an easy problem to fix). Still no fix. Citizens deserve a yes or a no, not a yes that means no. Update: In late October, the city finally started fixing that curb.
What is striking about these examples is that they are representative of the times that I, my neighbors, and my relatives have had contact with the mayor and the city council. In each instance our public servants were at best unresponsive (and that’s just my list—most people who have talked to me about the city council have their own such list). My conclusion: it’s time for a change. If you are looking for a change, may I suggest you look for a candidate who has spent many hours going door to door throughout Springville to get your input, and who has tried to thoroughly answer your questions in writing rather than just providing quick one-liners? If that’s what you’re looking for, you’ve just found it.
Your web site has been harsh to the mayor and city council. Will you be able to work with those people productively?
I have indeed pointed out problems that need to be corrected. However, I do not want to be a lone voice crying in the wilderness. No one hears you out there, even if you are in the right. It isn’t enough just to be right, one must be right and effective. Being effective requires listening intently to other people, and then quietly sharing your own views. That is the beginning of consensus. Sometimes one must draw a line and take a stand, but that can be done without angry argument or posturing. I can certainly get along with them. Whether I can accomplish a change depends a lot on who else is elected. There are three seats up for grabs this year, and those are enough to control the council, and thereby control the mayor and the city departments. Significant change can only come if all three seats go to individuals committed to a new direction. Vote wisely. The incumbents—Niel Strong and Phil Bird—have been here for a long time, and their families and friends will turn out at the polls. The retired city official, Dean Olsen, seems allied with them. If you and your neighbors do not show up to vote and do not remove and replace the incumbents, then business as usual will continue. And if you think I’ve been harsh, you should watch how the current city council responds to voters and even children who have the temerity to challenge their ideas.
Some developers who have built near Hobble Creek can’t sell houses that have a trail behind them. What will you do about that?
I’ll suggest that if the developers lower their prices to a level that families can afford, the houses will sell quickly.
Neighborhood kids enjoy playing in the part of Hobble Creek accessed by the existing trail east of 1700 East. Families enjoy bicycling through the trees along what little trail the city has built on its trail easement. I believe the trail should be finished. It is intended to stretch eastward all the way to the new park that will be built in the last open area in the flood plain, and it should then connect over to the canyon trail. I know my position won’t be popular with some of the people who live by where the trail still needs to go, but that’s where I stand. Such a trail would be a considerable boon to most area residents, and it has been planned for some time (it should have been put in when the subdivisions went in). That said, it seems that a little innovation might lead to a win-win solution for everyone with regard to the section of creek behind Town and Country Road. The Mapleton side of the creek near those homes is undeveloped, and does not appear ripe for development. It seems that if Springville and Mapleton could cooperate, buy a strip of land along the creek on the Mapleton side, and put footbridges across the creek above and below Town and Country Road (and possibly along a longer section of creek), that would not only solve the problem but also let our neighbors across the border enjoy the creek if Mapleton drops a connector trail down the hill. That should be an incentive for Mapleton to help Springville reduce the cost of building the trail. I suggested this to the city awhile back, but it wasn’t the staff’s plan and they weren’t interested. It is something I would immediately follow up on if elected. Update: I’m told that just recently the city council began discussing doing this very idea with the trail. What a coincidence!
Do you support the Senior Center?
Yes. I do believe the city should continue to support it because it is a good resource for a large part of our population. From working with the Foster Grandparents and Senior Companions programs at the county level I have developed an appreciation for the way government can assist seniors in independent and productive living. Certainly I am grateful that my mother is still with us and able to share her wisdom with my children. This is a population that deserves both our support and our respect and gratitude.
What about a Hardy/Petersen/Wake combination?
I spoke with candidates Darren Hardy and Stacey Petersen after a meet the candidates lunch at the Senior Center. They both seemed like good people with good ideas, and I was honored to be considered in their company. However, I have not had a chance to talk to Michele Dugdale much yet, and so at present am hesitant to say who I think the best three candidates are (you will be able to vote for three candidates). Update: Unfortunately, Mr. Hardy was eliminated during the primary election.
Do you go to my church?
Possibly. I find it distasteful to see some politicians bearing testimony about themselves and their colleagues in language full of familiar religious overtones, apparently in the hope of sanctifying a candidacy by cloaking it in the familiar and warm rhetoric of the chapel. One of the things working as a prosecutor has taught me is to be suspicious of people who try to make their sacred credentials serve their secular agenda. Therefore, please forgive me if I keep the details of my church service between me and who I serve, and make this political campaign about issues.
How will you help people in the west fields?
That’s an interesting question. It is important to me to take the needs of that area into account, especially since it has a lot of the new faces that I want to represent. However, the question also sounds like something one would ask in Salt Lake, where the city is large enough to be divided into geographical enclaves. I hope Springville doesn’t rapidly lose its small town feel. That said, the most important thing I will do is to support the existing effort to get 400 South widened as quickly as possible, and the railroad bridged. Given the very high density of housing in parts of the west fields, improving traffic flow is crucial. Second, the city has talked about putting a sports park in the west fields. I fully support not just the idea of building a sports park, but building it immediately. Something along the lines of what Mapleton has with its cluster of soccer fields would be nice. A side benefit of a sports park is that it would lower the population density in the west fields. Third, the city’s Westfields plan has potential, but it doesn’t seem like many people know about it. I will work to develop additional discussion with the public about the direction of further development in that area. My impression is that many people in the west fields would like the area to go back to lower density zoning, and some believe the city snuck through the newer high density plan by providing the bare amount of technically required notice of the proposed change, but no real heads up to people in the area. We need to reevaluate zoning in that area.
I recently banged on the doors of most of the voters in the west fields to see what you want from your city government. A lot of you weren’t home when I stopped by, but I left fliers with contact information. If you want to get back to me with specific ideas, I am happy to hear from you.
The incumbents and the former city official got more votes than you in the primary election. Can you win the general election?
Yes, but it is an uphill climb. Here’s my perception of the way elections work in Springville: The same small group of people vote in each election, no matter how major or minor the election seems. That is commendable. They are mostly older people who grew up here, and they vote for the people they grew up with—names they know, people who don’t make many changes. Sometimes other people turn out to vote as well, but voter turnout is usually quite low for municipal elections (which are held on odd numbered years, not even numbered years like state and national elections). Voter turnout was pitifully low for the recent primary election. That wasn’t because voters weren’t told there was an election: every house in town got a city newsletter a few days before the primary election reminding them of it, and I know I leafleted 1,500 homes with notice of the primary election, and had people at major intersections on election day during rush hour with signs. Voter turnout was low because of voter apathy. That low turnout let a small number of voters determine the primary election outcome. In addition, only a small fraction of those who voted had made any effort to familiarize themselves with each candidate’s positions (I know that by counting hits on my campaign web site, the address of which was provided both in the newspaper and on the city web site, and also by noting how many visitors clicked on through from my main page to read this page). As usual much of the vote was based on name recognition, so the highest vote getters had an old Springville name, or spent a lot of money on lawn signs to get name recognition, or both. I am part of new Springville, so I rely more on appealing to voters based on issues than on getting votes from a large local family tree or from people who are led to believe that they must vote for men they had sustained as religious leaders at some point. Moreover, I don’t like trying to win an election by spending money on signs so that homeowners can mow around my name for a few months while “Wake” sinks into the consciousness of people driving by. Elections should be about issues, not about name recognition. It seems that’s too idealistic, though.
In the general election on November 6, 2007 there will be a Utah school voucher issue on the ballot. That will greatly raise voter turnout (given the city’s interesting decision to give the city council election the least possible amount of publicity in the city’s November newsletter, I’m glad for the voucher debate). I believe that most of that additional turnout will be from Springville’s newer families. If those same people want the city to go in a new direction, then they can easily outvote the 800 or so people who supported and will continue to support the status quo. It all depends on whether Springville residents want a change. If they do then they will look into who stands for what, and they will get out and vote, and I will win in the general election. If the people want something else, that’s fine too. I am here to offer a positive alternative, and I will respect the people’s choice, which I hope will be to let me serve you.
Some city positions have been filled by people from outside the city. Would you promote from within, to reward the loyalty of long-term city workers?
Good question. I will seek to get the best available person for the job, and I will be careful not to hire someone just because they are a friend or supporter of some city official. Hiring the most qualified applicant might require picking someone from out of town. That said, a familiarity with Springville and a demonstrated history of concern for the community would definitely count favorably toward establishing whether an applicant is best for any particular city position.
On a related note, I observe that it is common for local governments in Utah to do salary surveys of nearby communities to see if city employees are being paid comparably. The idea is to make sure that the city can attract highly capable new staff rather than minimally competent workers who couldn’t get a better job elsewhere, and to make sure that the best city employees are not leaving to work in nearby cities for more pay. I support using such salary surveys as the starting point from which to establish appropriate pay for city employees. Let me be clear: we cannot afford a Cadillac government, and that is not what I am advocating. However, we also cannot afford to treat city staff as if they are only entry-level workers. My take on employees is: attract and retain the best through fair pay, nurture them through effective training, and make sure they are doing their best work. Better employees mean fewer things going wrong.
I’m concerned about people who live in mobile homes. What about our future?
I understand why you are concerned. When a mobile home park owner decides to sell his or her land to a developer, there isn’t anywhere else in the area that mobile home owners can take their mobile homes. That leaves people in a terrible lurch. It happened recently to an Orem mobile home park. Hopefully you will not have that happen to you, but it must make you nervous to worry about the possibility.
A few years ago when a developer built a mobile home park on an old city dump in a nearby city, and trash began surfacing, that city stepped in and helped those residents move their homes to another site within the city. That shows that city governments can help when they want to. As a council member I will work with the city planning staff to see what we can do to promote more affordable housing, to minimize the chance that anyone in your situation could be displaced with nowhere to go. Another thing the city should consider is whether to regulate absentee landlords. Some cities have required out-of-area landlords to have a local property management company. That makes it easier for tenants and city officials to make sure that rental properties and mobile home parks are kept clean and in good repair, since everyone knows who to go to locally if there’s a problem. Frankly, the Orem mobile home park I mentioned had become run down and was a center for criminal activity. We do not want Springville mobile home parks to go the same way. Requiring mobile home park owners to keep up the parks could go far toward maintaining your quality of life, and an ordinance regulating absentee landlords might be a good way to encourage responsible management.
Do you know how much of Plat A doesn’t have curb and gutter?
Well, no, not until you told me. I knew that several parts of Springville’s historic area, the central part of the city, lack curb and gutter. So does part of north Main. But it was surprising to realize how unfinished some parts of the city are. We really shouldn’t let older parts of the city languish while focusing on new development. The city is developing a plan to keep new construction and reconstruction in this area architecturally consistent with the existing homes. If the city is concerned about citizens having a proper aesthetic sense, the city should set the example by showing one also. The city should keep the public parts of this area looking nice, and that will require fixing up some of the sides of the streets.
What can you do about our high electric rates?
Hopefully something. I’ve met with city electrical staff and am working on getting a handle on this issue. What we hear from the city is that when you consider all of your utilities together, the total cost is pretty much average. That’s no answer. If our electric bills were lower, our total utility costs would be lower than average, and that would be even better. The city isn’t trying to keep our rates high, but there has to be a way to get them lower, and when elected I will work hard to find it. Being on the inside instead of the outside will make that easier. One thing we need to focus on, as Springville’s population doubles over the next several years, is making sure the new housing is as energy efficient as possible. For example, requiring compact flouresents in new buildings instead of incandescent bulbs would dramatically lower energy demand, which would make it easier to supply our electrical needs.
Can we get lower water costs with a secondary irrigation system? Can we get some water pressure in our subdivision?
Theoretically it costs more to use culinary water for both inside use and for watering the lawn, as we now do, than if we used culinary water inside and untreated water outside. However, it also costs a lot to retrofit existing construction with secondary irrigation systems. Secondary irrigation is an issue Springville needs to look at, though, since if such a system can be put in cost effectively, we should start doing it. Especially in the new construction we need to look at this issue sooner rather than later.
Regarding water pressure, I’m told the city is working on it, and it is something I will keep an eye on when elected.
What will you do to help our schools?
This question came from a fifth grader at an in-school campaign event that Michele Dugdale, Dean Olsen, Stacey Petersen, and I attended. Here’s a photo of Stacey, me, Michele, and Dean with some of the students (I’ve blurred student faces for privacy). I’ll answer this question below; the other questions the kids asked are mostly covered elsewhere on this web page.
Schools are run by the Nebo Board of Education, and funded by the State of Utah, so Springville City does not have a direct role in public education. However, the city can and should help local schools indirectly. For example, Hobble Creek Elementary in Mapleton serves both Mapleton and Springville children. When that school was built, the street it was on had an open irrigation ditch on one side, and an area with no sidewalk on the other side. That’s obviously dangerous. Mapleton City quickly did the right thing and put in a sidewalk. However, Springville children in the Hunter Valley area who walk to either that school or to Mapleton Junior High have no sidewalk up their side of 1700 East, the dip between Springville and Mapleton. There is a sidewalk at the top of the hill in Mapleton, and a sidewalk on the far side of 1700 East. However, 1700 East is busy before and after school because people driving to those schools and to Springville High School use it, so it is not especially safe to cross twice at those times. Moreover, in the winter that fence-shaded far sidewalk drifts over with snow, which no one clears because no houses face the street there. Children from Hunter Valley have no safe way to walk up that hill. Fixing this problem by working with Mapleton to complete the sidewalk would be a good way to help schoolchildren. It is ironic that just up the north side of the dip, the city is spending a considerable amount of money pouring concrete and doing landscaping next to existing sidewalks. When I’m elected, I will push for the city to do the more important construction on the south side of the dip. If there are other things that school children think the city should work on, I would be happy to hear from you.
Two of us were interviewing for a job, and we overheard the interviewer tell someone they wouldn’t hire any female.
That wasn’t a question, but it was a statement I heard that deserves a response. When I am elected, anyone who engages in this sort of hiring practice will be fired. Nothing, and no one, will be able to save him. He’ll be gone.
How do you plan on addressing open space in Springville, and what should the city do about growth?
The city should plan for and manage growth, taking an active role in making sure we do not outrun our resources. The city should also demand energy efficiency in new construction, and push harder for water conservation. Former candidate Darren Hardy suggested that the city provide an example of energy conservation in its own new construction, and he was right: the city too should build green, and should look to LEED standards for ideas. It would be a shame to lose all of our agricultural areas, but those that are developed need to include adequate open space. In some instances the city may need to use impact fees to buy more land. In all instances developers should be required to build liveable communities. They’re making lots of money, and by leaving behind parks and trails amidst their developments they can give back to the community.
I noticed with some pride that in a half page newspaper ad run just before the election, the Utah Valley Home Builders Association endorsed the good old boys, and thereby told voters not to vote for Ms. Dugdale, Ms. Petersen, or me. UVHBA effectively stated their golden boys are the only candidates who have family values and common sense. Of course, UVHBA couldn’t very well come out and tell the truth, which is that their endorsement has nothing to do with family values, it has to do with who they think they have in their pocket and how that will translate into cents. The one thing they got right is that the developers don’t have any of the challengers in their pocket.
Do you like living in Springville?
Of course. Here’s why:
Couples walking hand in hand down a safe and quiet street, greeting neighbors. Maple Mountain in fall foliage, or in spring green with a cap of late spring snow. A little boy figuring out how to smack the ball straight off a T-ball stand. Lunch with my wife at a local restaurant. A librarian pointing out a good new book, while Mr. Dewey squawks approval (I note that Mr. Dewey recently passed on). Monday night with the family at the pool. Girls coming together as a team and passing the soccer ball back and forth up the field. Riding bikes down the Hobble Creek trail. Youth celebrating our pioneer heritage. CERT volunteers helping during wildfires. Local musicians getting together to share their songs. Recitals in the art museum. Seeing the children’s teachers around town. Knowing the person at the post office counter or the store cash register. Teenagers hauling computers around for LAN parties. Living in a town small enough so the dispatcher knows where you are when trouble strikes your family, and cares enough to call before the ambulance leaves. A friendly bookstore (well, we lost that). People helping clear snow from neighbors’ walks. Picnics in parks. Kids in trees. Things like that.
To go back to my main campaign web page, go to www.xmission.com/~wake/vote.html.