American Fork Politics

Mayoral Candidates Debate

2009-10-15T13:28:00.001-06:00

Unofficial transcript for the American Fork City Council and Mayoral Candidates Debate - Mayoral 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 candidates feel about many of our current issues.

Candidates:

J.H. Hadfield

Heber Thompson

Opening comments –

Hadfield – Youth council is awesome for putting this together. “Are you really wanting to go tell citizens what’s wrong with AF?” Today’s rainbow was the answer. AF is the hallmark in music programs in Utah. Why is he running? Strong leadership. We should plan ahead, not having to react to everything that happens in the future.

Thompson – So proud to be a citizen of AF. Marching band accident was an example of how close and strong we are. The High School kids spontaneously started singing primary songs while waiting for more information at AFHS Saturday night.

How did we get here where our roads are in such bad shape?

Thompson – Road funds and maintenance were not adequately planned. We are putting together $1 million to get the roads set.

Hadfield – In Utah, the roads have problems over winter freezing and thawing. The roads weren’t designed to last so long.

This year, should snow removal focus on a few roads as usual, or should every road have equal priority?

Hadfield – Cul-de-sacs don’t get it as fast as school roads. Higher volumes of traffic get priority.

Thompson – Priority of the roads are established in order of the busiest roads. There are now 2 smaller plows to focus on the cul-de-sacs.

Do you favor increased taxes to fund new projects?

Thompson – Projects that are the highest priority need funding. There are no trivial decisions that come out of the council. We have property taxes and sales taxes. We have impact fees for new construction.

Hadfield – With property taxes, the schools take the biggest slice. The county then takes money, and finally, the city. We can drop what is our share, but the school district or the county may add more tax, so we don’t have a lot of control over property taxes.

(I didn’t catch this question) Something about a law –

Hadfield – We follow the law.

Thompson – It is a state law. We review (this) law every year.

Would you change anything from last year’s ballot?

Thompson – The City Council and citizens had suggested those programs. With a do-over, some could have been left out, considering the economy.

Hadfield – All of the bonds were good, we could have had at least 2 bonds passed. Not enough publicity.

Do you support having a profession manager operate the daily management of the city’s personnel?

Hadfield – Go for it.

Thompson – Works full-time, he can do it himself. With the growth of the city, you may need a professional administrator, but we’re small enough that we don’t need one. We can plan for one eventually though.

Do you support open discussion of city issues? How should they be facilitated? Are there any issues that should not be publically discussed?

Thomspon – We should definitely talk about everything in public. The only ones that we shouldn’t have public are issues dealing with specific private information concerning individuals.

Hadfield – I agree.

What is the most important aspect of city government?

Hadfield – Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Everything has an equal share.

Thompson – Quality of life is the most important thing. We have lots of programs.

There is very little information concerning city affairs- What do we do?

Thompson – We haven’t done a very good job. We should bring back the publicity position that was cut because of the budget. We’re going to do more this next year.

Hadfield – Barbara Christensen was great for communicating to citizens, now there’s no local newspaper. We need to get the word out.

Have you read the ethics disclosure for the city?

Hadfield – Yes.

Thompson – Yes.

How will you hold the city fiscally responsible?

Thompson – It’s our responsibility. We are lawfully required to have a 12% of cash in reserve. Former CEO of Bank of AF helps.

Hadfield – Cut out the fluff. It’s a big job to spend other people’s money. Citizens need to hold us accountable.

What is your plan for south AF?

Hadfield – The county manages most of the roads down there. It doesn’t carry heavy loads very well. We’re also going to have to widen and set the roads to city standards.

Thompson –We’ll follow the standards we’ve used, which are good. Some of the major roads will be funded by the state, with their high standards. As developers come in, they’ll be held to city standards.

Why are we painting the roads? It’s an unnecessary use of funds.

Thompson –It’s the state law, we have to. They’re good standards.

Hadfield – The double yellow line is for making sure you don’t go on the other side of the road.

Where are we supposed to park in downtown?

Hadfield – What’s the public’s opinion of where “downtown” is? Businesses owners don’t live in AF, they just care about getting people into their businesses.

Thompson –There is a study underway to give us suggestions for how we’re going to do this. It’s very unfortunate that many business owners neglect making their own parking. We should make property owners accountable for parking.

How will you make sure citizens have priority over special interests?

Thompson –We hear from city council and citizens talking to specific councilmembers. Not all citizens and special interests agree.

Hadfield – We need to be able to look people in the eye and tell some people “no”, because not everyone in the city agrees. You can’t please everyone, so you need to address what’s best for most.

What are your positions regarding 100 Eeast and 300 North?

Hadfield – The county hasn’t said when they’re going to give the road over to AF. 100 East is very important to us. 300 North has always been important.

Thompson – Taking over 100 East is only a proposal right now, it isn’t finalized. There’s not a lot of flexibility with what we can do with that intersection because of how 300 North is laid out.

How do you plan to revitalize downtown and build an arts center?

Thompson –We have to have a balance in AF and be able to do what’s best for the majority. When we get the results of the road study, we’ll have ideas for making it happen. It would be nice to have a performing arts center.

Hadfield – I concur. City Council is the center of the arts council is right now. We should support the arts council with everything they do, and there are other resources to not tax citizens.

To fund road construction, you’ll have to cut other areas. Where will you cut?

Hadfield – There are other ways to get funding besides cutting programs.

Thompson – We don’t want to cut programs to fund roads. What we need is extra funding, whether it’s stimulus, businesses, a turn around in the economy, or sales taxes. We need to come up with creative solutions to get it done.

Where should we cut back in order to get out of debt?

Thompson –We’re not in debt- we balance our budget. We can’t exceed our income for long before issues arise. We’re working to trim our purchases and tighten our belt.

Hadfield – When Smith’s came to American Fork, it was awesome. Now Smith’s is gone because Wal-Mart is there. Also Sears Grand brought in revenue. We’re losing money.

How should we fund the revitalization of downtown?

Hadfield – Use MAG (Mountainland Association of Governments, who serve Summit, Wasatch, and Utah counties).

Thompson –We have access to some Federal funds. We don’t have to go to any extreme funding sources to fund downtown.

Do you agree with “Grandma” in regards to privacy data?

Thompson –The intent of the law is that there should be open government, as documented by the law. It’s the right thing to do.

Hadfield – I concur.

Statistics – 21 questions, 4 redundant from the earlier City Council Candidates debate. 34 we didn’t get to.

Closing remarks–

Thompson –Respects Hadfield. One should keep his word. When he first ran, he said we’d improve on irrigation, and police. Believes in improvement and doing better. Skills are important. Service is at the heart of what we do. People are the most important thing.

Hadfield – Running because he wants to see that good things happen. He knows this city, and he wants to help. It’s the people that make this city great. November 3^rd is voting.

City Council Candidates Debate

2009-10-15T13:03:00.001-06:00

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

Prepared by Jared Dalton

October 14, 2009

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.