City Council Candidates Debate

Unofficial transcript for the American Fork City Council and Mayoral Candidates Debate - City Council Candidates Debate

Prepared by Jared Dalton

October 14, 2009

NOTE: This transcript has been posted online in an effort to encourage the younger voter population in American Fork to vote. It is not a complete report of every question that was asked (I wasn’t there the whole time and I didn’t catch everything), but it is a solid report on how the various candidates feel about many of our current issues.

Candidates:

Heidi Rodeback

Dale Gunther

Marc Ellison

Jess Green

What are we doing to maintain a small town feel?

Green – Neighborhood projects.

Gunther – Trails. Downtown revitalization is important.

Rodeback – Arts, parks, etc. to maintain feel. Councilmembers get feedback from citizens.

Ellison – Feedback from citizens.

Would you support eminent domain for downtown parking?

Gunther, Rodeback, Ellison, Green – No.

Where are citizens supposed to park in downtown American Fork?

Green – Unwilling to utilize eminent domain. We should work with UDOT.

Gunther – Mentioned the current MAG study, and how it will address that. Public/private partnership?

Rodeback – Signage pointing to parking. Respect needs of small businesses for parking.

Plans for revitalizing all of American Fork, not just downtown –

Gunther – Public Works department has to do with this. We need to have road maintenance.

Rodeback – Continue working on sidewalks. Nuisance properties (dugs houses, etc.) work to get rid of those.

Ellison – Mentioned the city of Sandy and their spring cleaning where the city picks up the trash that residents set on the curb.

Green – You are responsible for your own property.

Should we make sure that all taxpayers are able to use all city services?

Rodeback – All residents have utilities. Library, arts, etc. good for all.

(Here, I leave to get my laptop so I can quickly type instead of slowly write.)

Concerns about 100 east and 300 north –

Rodeback – The state has jurisdiction over 100 East, they’re talking about giving control back to American Fork. 300 North is a major artery. The 30 mph speed is appropriate. Continue to make sure it’s safe.

Ellison – Wants to find out what the state wants to do with 100 East. Both roads are important arteries.

Green – 300 North will be difficult to expand going westward, because it stops at the 300 West subdivision. We should come up with a way to route that traffic effectively.

Gunther – UDOT wants to give it to us, he wants to have them keep it and continue to pay for its maintenance. We should maintain the route on 300 West as best as we can.

Police department –

Ellison – No pay raises needed.

Green- Police Department is responsible for many services that citizens don’t normally see. There’s a pay bracket that makes us competitive to keep cops here without turnover.

Gunther- Chief has been here for 4 years. It’s very efficient. We raised the wages for cops; other cities are paying more though. We want to be competitive.

Rodeback – We were losing cops to other cities 4 years ago, but we’re starting to lose cops to other cities again. It needs to be a priority, but long term road planning is the priority right now though. We owe our sense of well-being and safety to our Police force.

With FrontRunner expanding into AF, what will you do to effectively manage the additional traffic?

Greene – 300 West traffic light at Main Street. Not sure about all the issues that will be raised by FrontRunner. There will be expansion with it though. The problems will likely exceed what we can plan on.

Gunther – That area will be impacted quite dramatically. Developers will solve many of these problems.

Rodeback – FrontRunner will transform AF in ways that we can’t foresee. Already there are developers lobbying to get that land down there. We should plan before it happens. Quality transorient(?) development and planning down there. Once this recession lifts, we will see huge changes there.

Ellison – Need to make sure that there is management down there. Works in SLC, it would be nice to be able to commute up there without having to drive.

What are the highest priorities for the next 3 years?

Gunther – Long range planning, systems for future City Councils to work with.

Rodeback – Urgent road maintenance. Long term planning: economic development. Short term planning: arts, recreation, library, parks.

Ellison – Making sure there the city departments are accountable to City Council. Improving the standard of living. Much of our manufacturing is going overseas. The stock market goes up here and there, but overall, we’re still in bad shape. We need to get it to where it needs to be.

Green- Stop increasing the debt. Pay off the interest that’s accruing on our bonds. We need to be more frugal with the projects we take on. Work toward essentials and not playthings.

What do you feel you can bring to the council?

Rodeback – It’s not an entry-level position. She ran after extensive volunteering with the city system. It takes a lot of work to get things done. She will continue to represent the people, answer emails, answer phone calls, etc. Admit when she’s wrong and right her mistakes.

Ellison – No special interest ties. Here to serve citizens.

Green – No nonsense person. Does what’s necessary, and that’s all.

Gunther – Debt the city has is here because things have been put off in infrastructure. We borrowed money to get these improvements done. Meadows Target bond, broadband bond, people didn’t vote on. Citizens should vote on any future bonds.

How will the city be held fiscally responsible?

Ellison – Establish whose idea projects are. It’s really important to know who suggests it and who benefits.

Green – The City Council’s first priority is to be responsible. Serve with integrity. Make sure that the entire council is accountable to the people with open government.

Gunther – If we put in place long range planning, we can be prepared with what we need. It doesn’t matter whose plan it is, as long as the plan gets done. Also we need to make sure that it’s hard for City Council to ignore putting things off.

Rodeback – Publically accountable, long range planning. This is important because if we do not plan, we will spend on impulse, not where it’s needed. We need leaders who have proven in their own lives how to manage money.

(I didn’t catch the whole question; it doesn’t make sense) Are finished bonds recycled to higher interest?

Green – It’s hard to get long term bonds paid off in the foreseeable future. The city will find a way to spend money when it’s there.

Gunther – Problems: $6 million for broadband – it was losing $1.5 million a year. They brought it back up. The Meadows Target bond will be paid off in 2011. These are two examples to get it paid off.

Rodeback – In the real world, there’s no such thing as a temporary tax increase. When the bonds are paid off, City Council should tell citizens that they’re paid off and that money is now free. We pay $4 million a year to bonds.

Ellison – Money that is freed up from bonds should go to paying off our debts.

- Only 17 questions completed (including the ones I missed) -

Closing remarks –

Rodeback – Thanks for being here. Wasn’t able to say everything. Go to website for full details. Promises: prioritize our city’s pressing needs, which are road, public safety, and economic development. She has to pay taxes too. She’ll listen to you. She’ll be available to you.

Gunther – Would like to continue being on the City Council. Feels bad that we don’t have more time. Call him or email him with questions. He’ll listen to you. Thanks for coming.

Green – Thanks for being here. He wasn’t expecting to be running for City Council, but he’ll make the city better. There will be a different road with him.

Ellison – Thanks for coming. Great to see active citizens. Increase with water rates and other fees. If promises are not kept, then citizen’s votes are frauds. People are most endangered when the citizens do not keep those in power accountable. He can answer to the question, “Why did you make that decision?” Honesty in government, he’ll do it.