Central Committee Minutes 9 June 2012

Before I share the minutes I want to say that this was a great meeting; the best one I’ve attended yet.

Brent Cook and I attended along with about 200 other people. After the meeting opening the chair asked for new Precinct Chairs and Vice-Chairs to stand.  It looked to me as if as if half the audience stood up.

Here are my brief notes:

• On Saturday October 20th the county will hold a breakfast and literature pick-up event. Each precinct is expected to send representative to pick up campaign literature for the Republicans running to be distributed within the precinct. We will be asking for volunteers. Please consider that this can be a family event/service project. I have good memories of handing out literature with my father as a young boy.
• We approached an initial budget of $2,600 for a scholarship program for youth. The county will be sponsoring a video and speech contest on the topic of “the party platform” and/or why it is good to be a Republican. A number of ideas were mentioned such as rather than using age use year in school. Breaking into to groups; high school and fresh/sophomores in college (this was Brent’s). A committee will work out the details but everyone was excited about the idea.
• Creating a county Teenage Republicans (TARS) club was also discussed. A long-term goal would be to have clubs in the high schools.
• On Saturday Feb 2, 2013 will be holding its Lincoln Day dinner fund raiser. The county is looking for volunteers to help organize and promote this event. This years Lincoln day dinner cost $37K and cost $10K to put on.
• County Finances: We have about $50K in the bank, most of which will be allocated to support our candidates (local candidates only—state leg and senate, county commissioners  …) in the general election.
• About 45 minutes we devoted to training and reviewing how the party operates. Something that we previously never had time to do.
• We also heard from some of the Republican candidates for this falls general election (those that did not have a primary) including Mia Love who will be running against Jim Matheson in the nearly created 4th district. Although, we are in the 2nd I would encourage all to consider supporting her in some way.

Primary 2012 Information

Important Dates

• Voter Registration Forms must be to the elections office by May 29^th. Click here to get Registration form.
• Absentee Ballots must be requested no later than June 22^nd for domestic and June 6^th for overseas. Click here to get Absentee ballot form.
• Primary date Tuesday June 26th @ Lone Peak High School.

Candidates

US Senate:

• Orrin Hatch: http://www.orrinhatch.com/
• Dan Liljenquist: http://www.danforutah.com/home/ 

State Attorney General

• Sean Reyes: http://www.seanreyes.com/about-sean/ 
• John Swallow: http://www.johnswallow.com/home/ 

State Auditor

• John Dougal: http://jdougall.com/ 
• Auston Johnson: http://www.austonjohnsoncpa.info/

State House District 27

• Mike Kennedy: http://kennedyhousecalls.com/
• Sarah Nitta: http://www.sarahforutah.com/index.html

County Commissioner Seat C

• Larry Ellertson: www.larryellertson.com
• Lorne Grierson: http://www.votegrierson.org/

Make Your Voice Heard and Your Opinion Count at Public Hearing Tuesday April 17 Highland City Hall City Council Chambers

The following email was sent my Larry Mendenhall in response to the unsigned letter entitled “Open Letter to Highland Residents”. That was distributed last week. It is well work a read.

From: Larry Mendenhall <larrym30@msn.com>

Date: April 15, 2012 9:33:10 PM MDT

Subject: Make Your Voice Heard and Your Opinion Count at Public Hearing Tuesday April 17 Highland City Hall City Council Chambers

There will be a public hearing held Tuesday, April 17, 2012, at 7:00 p.m. at the City Hall, regarding SUNDAY Business Opening and other related municipal code modifications.

Please attend and make your voice heard. 

I was the Chairman of the Planning Commission when the Highland Market Place development (the NE corner of SR92 & SR74) was approved.  At the time of approval the developer fully understood and acknowledged that Sunday Closing was a requirement by code as well as a Community Standard. Now, in the name of jump starting development and making Highland a less 'difficult place to do business', forces are gathering to change the development and municipal code to allow businesses to be open on Sunday.

Highland has a well established Community Standard prohibiting and limiting Sunday Opening.  This Community Standard, I believe, is a standard shared by the majority of the residents of Highland regardless of religious affiliation.

The residents of Highland all received the "Open Letter to the Citizens of Highland".   This letter is very cleverly written.   I have been asked if this letter came from Highland City. It absolutely did not.  Mayor Lynn Ritchie has the integrity and courage to sign any information letter sent from the City of Highland in communication with the residents.

This "Open Letter to the Residents of Highland" was not signed.  There is no indication in the heading of the letter or in the body of the identity of the sender(s).  Only a coward or someone who has an urgent need to promote Sunday Opening and wishes to maintain anonymity sends a letter of this nature unsigned. 

Further.....This a letter couples the urgent need for road funds with the premise that sales taxes generated by new businesses in the commercial areas
of Highland City will reduce or eliminate the need for property tax.  There has been no formal analysis or a pro-forma produced by a reliable source which projects the increase in sales tax revenue if Sunday Opening were allowed nor has any projected property tax increase been made available.

The open letter is a "scare" letter.   No hard accurate numbers have been made available to back up claims made in the letter.  Let's get the facts ahead of the legislative action.

If you take the opportunity to speak in the Public Hearing on Tuesday please urge the City Council  to continue the item until such time as accurate bona fide information is available so that an informed decision can be made.

A note in closing......This matter came before the Planning Commission labeled "by request of the City Council".   There was no action by the City Council as a body to ask the
Planning Commission to review the Sunday Closing ordinance.  The request came from two City Council members who, to my understanding, suggested that the request be
labeled a "request by the City Council".   I am concerned with the lack of openness and transparency in the initial request to bring the matter before the Planning Commission,
in the "Open Letter to the Citizens of Highland", in the description in the City Council Agenda "Amending the Highland City Municipal Code Section 5.04.170 Hours of Operation
removing the restriction regarding days of operation.  While the language does, in fact, state the purpose of the change it would have been much more open and transparent if the language made reference to Sunday Opening.

Please forward this e-mail to all who have an interest in being part of the governing process and urge them to attend the Tuesday City Council Meeting/Public hearing.

Thanks,
Larry Mendenhall, Highland Resident
larrym30@msn.com
801-372-5544

2012 Delegate Duties and Responsibilities:

ALL DELEGATES

• Be a registered, affiliated Republican, having on file your name, telephone number, mailing address, and email address.
• Be a resident of the Utah County voting precinct or legislative district you are elected to represent.
• Be at least 18 years old by the November 6, 2012, General Election.
• After being elected, attend legislative district training meetings for further instruction.
• Willingly receive and act upon communications from the UTGOP, elected officials and GOP candidates.
• Help distribute campaign literature and post signs.
• Educate yourself about all the candidates. Expect to receive from them mailings, emails, phone calls, invitations, etc. during their campaigns. Study the material they send.
• Attend “Meet the Candidate” events and take other opportunities to listen to and become acquainted with them, in preparation for the yearly conventions.
• Serve the precinct you represent for two years.
• As part of the precinct leadership, work to advance the work of the precinct.
• Enjoy your service to your fellow citizens and the new friends you will make in the process!

STATE DELEGATES

• Attend and participate in the 2012 Utah Republican Party State Convention on Saturday, April 21, 2012, at South Towne Expo Center in Sandy.
• Be prepared to cast an informed vote for the Party's nominees for the following elected offices: Governor/Lt. Governor, Attorney General, State Auditor, State Treasurer, United States Senate, U.S. House of Representatives, National Committeeman and Committeewoman, National Delegates, Presidential Electors, Alternate National and Presidential Electors.
• You may also be voting in multi-county State Legislative races.
• At the convention you may also debate and vote on changes to the State Party Constitution, Bylaws, Platform, Rules of the Convention and Resolutions.
• Attend the 2013 State Organizing Convention where the State Party Officers will be selected by the State Delegates.

COUNTY DELEGATES

• Attend and vote at the 2012 County Nominating Convention at Timpview High School, 3570 N 650 E in Provo, and the 2013 County Organizing Convention.
• Be prepared to cast informed votes for the Party's nominees for the following elected offices: Utah House of Representatives, Utah County Commissioner Seat C and some State Senate races--those where the Senate District falls entirely within the County boundaries and the seat is up for election this cycle.
• Attend the 2013 County Organizing Convention where County Party Officers will be selected by County Delegates. Those officers include: Utah County GOP Chair, Vice Chair, Secretary, Treasurer and State Central Committee members. At the Organizing Convention you may also ratify or reject decisions of Central Committee and vote on resolutions.

Questions for Candidates

Election season is fast approaching and as we begin to decide who to support for various offices I’d like to share some of my thoughts on that topic.

When we elect someone to public office we are entrusting them to make decisions on our behalf using information to which we often don’t have access. That being the case I’m more interested in the quality of their character than a specific policy position that may change as an office holder gets access to additional information.

Here are 5 questions that will not be asked of candidates in public debate, but which I seek answers to when evaluating candidates. Some of these are best answered (e.g. #2) by people who know the candidate rather than the candidate:

Central Committee Meeting 23 Sept 2011

The Central Committee (precinct chairs & vice chairs) met today in what for me was one of the most productive meetings I have attended. Members were elected of two committee (audit and by-laws/constitution). There were the same number of candidates as positions for the audit committee so all were elected by acclimation. For the constitution and by-laws committee however there were several more candidates than positions so each candidate was given 90 seconds to introduce themselves and then we voted. The following people were elected to serve on this committee (in order of votes -- highest to lowest):

• Diane Christensen
• Kristen Chevrier (former member)
• Lisa Shepherd (former County Secretary)
• Kirby Glad (former member and chair)
• Dan Forward
• Paul Baltes
• Norman Jackson

In a close vote (88 to 85) we adopted a policy of selecting members of the state central committee by apportioning a number of positions (5 to 10 per district depending on size) to each senate district and then when at the country organizing convention when we divide into senate districts voting on them. The current process is to select on 20 members in on shot. There are typically 50 to 70 candidates who simply parade in front of the convention attendees and then we vote. By dividing into senate districts to select state committee members the thinking is that we will have more time to review a fewer number of candidates and can thus make more a more informed decision. I emphatically support this change.

We voted to allow on the precinct chairs to appoint replacements to state and county delegates within  their precincts. Previously, leg district chairs were allowed to make the replacements as well in contradiction to the State GOP Constitution.

We also voted to allow a proposals to be discharged from the by-laws and constitution committee if a petition to do so is signed by 50 committee members. Previously proposals could only reach the Central Committee after review and approval by the Constitution and By-laws committee and the Executive Committee

The previous two proposal were approved by wide margins in voice votes.

We were also asked to fill out a detailed survey indicating our thoughts what if any positions should be eligible for ex-officio delegate state (e.g. precinct chairs are automatically state and county delegates). This is a contentious and the By-laws and Constitution Committee is trying to put an amendment together that best represents the position of those opposed to some ex-officio delegates. I am perfectly OK with the current policy as I believe that it provides an incentive for those who serve on county committees or hold leg district positions (elected and appointed) to take time out of their lives to fill these roles.

An editorial note here is that my feeling is that those who oppose ex-officio delegates will continue to adamantly fight against them even if we vote (as has been done previously) to maintain them. And this will continue to be a contentious and time-wasting issue. I hope I am wrong.

Becky Lockhart (Speaker of the House) and Kurt Bramble (State Senator) also spoke to us and let us know where redistricting stands. Here is a summary of their messages:

• Utah county will most likely have 5 Senate Districts (a couple of them will include portions of other counties
• Our leg district boundaries will be changed. Most likely it will consist of Highland and Alpine plus Cedar Hills.

County Organizing Convention 2011

Your County Delegates all attended the County Organizing Convention. This event is to designed to elect the officers and individuals to 'organize' the County party for the next 2 years. In particular, this year is very critical. These individuals will be in place for the 2012 election cycle.

I personally was impressed with the significant number of citizens in our county who were willing to run for these volunteer offices. They are individuals like you, who have families and jobs that make their lives busy. Yet, they all felt a need to step-up and serve as they are as concerned as many of you about the course and direction our country is headed into.

There were several things that the delegates experienced yesterday.

Our Senate Caucus (SD 11) hear from several speakers. We first heard from our House Representative, John Dougall (pictured here with Senator Valentine). His main topic was HB 116 and immigration at large. The delegates asked questions and made comments expressing their views on this topic.

Representative Ken Sumsion then spoke on the topic of Redistricting. (There is a meeting at the capital When » May 4, 9 a.m. in Room 30, House Building (west office building behind the Capitol) for public input). In the next few weeks, there will be an online application that will allow citizens to try to draw redistricting lines and bring their feedback to the committee in charge.

The delegates then heard from Representative Jason Chaffetz and Senator Mike Lee. Both had concerns about the mounting debt and they shared reasons why they voted against the recent $38 billion compromise. Senator Lee commits to voting against raising the debt ceiling. He states that the gloomy forecast just isn't reality. He stated that the Fed will continue to make our debt payments with or without raising the debt ceiling. He stated that concern would only arise if the Fed stopped making payments.

There are many solutions to our debt situation that are being considered with one requiring Congress to prioritize what gets paid first (Debt, Military, Entitlements, then other programming).

Governor Herbert was also present. He addressed the audience twice. Once in defense of HB 116 and the 2nd time highlighting what is right in Utah. He alluded to the suit Utah filed against the Federal Government in regard to the Wild Lands issue. He also stated that Utah's financial standing is the best in the nation and the Utah leads the way in so many areas.

Senator Orrin Hatch and State Senator Howard Stephensen were there in spirit. Reportedly, Senator Hatch was en route by plane but was not able to arrive in time. Senator Stephenson's mother passed away and the funeral was Saturday Morning.

There were several resolutions that were voted on. The most controversial was the resolutions against HB116. Before the vote, each side of the issue was shared by representatives from the state. The vote was close 443-365 in favor or asking legislators to repel this bill. For more information, please see this article in the Salt Lake Tribune.

To see all the resolutions presented please go to this link.

Final results for Utah County Leadership are (after the 2nd vote):

Chair
David Acheson 505 62.89%
Dave Duncan 298 37.11%

Vice Chair
Adrielle Herring 470 53.23%
Lisa Shepherd 413 46.77%

Secretary
Jeremy Roberts 404 51.20%
Kristen Chevrier 385 48.80%

Treasurer
Scott Bell 451 51.08%
Lisa Jensen 246 27.86%
Steven Reid 168 19.03%
Don Larsen 18 2.04%

To see the results of the elected members of the State Central Committee, please go here. (Each delegate could vote for up to 20 individuals out of a field of 68)

Your delegates served you well. Thank you for the opportunity you have giving us to represent you. Considering running as a delegate in the 2012 Caucus', its an experience everyone really should have!

County Convention is April 30th

The 2011 Utah County Republican Party Convention will be held on April 30th at Maple Mountain High School in Spanish Fork. Many individuals are contacting your County Delegates to plea for their votes. As constituents, you may want to know what the topics and who the individuals are who are running for office. Please, please write you comments below or send them to hi02precinctsecretary@gmail.com and I will forward them on to the delegates. Your input is critical and we would appreciate hearing what you have to say!

See this link for more information on who is running and the issues at hand. Please make your voice known!

http://utahcountygop.org/

How much is $100 Million?

If you took the opportunity to hear the State of the Union Address by President Obama recently, he stated that we need to reduce spending and the deficit. He essentially stated that he and his staff were going to find $100 Million Dollars to cut from the budget. How much is that really? See the video below.....visual aides really do help in this situation.

Round Table Freshman Caucus with Congressman Jason Chaffetz

Dear Constituents, we recently received this information and wanted to share it with you. All are welcome. HI02 Secretary

Round Table Freshman Caucus

with Congressman Jason Chaffetz

Question: If you had the opportunity to meet extensively with some newly-elected Freshman Congressmen before they headed off to Washington, is there anything you would want to tell them?

Answer: I'll bet you would! On Saturday December 18th, iCaucus is hosting a “Round Table Freshman Caucus” for several of the 2010 freshman-elect Congressmen and Senators to meet with Congressman Jason Chaffetz, as well as several guest experts; and with grassroots activists and citizens such as yourself.

We are especially pleased that one of our SPECIAL guest experts will be Anita Moncrief, the ACORN whistle blower who courageously exposed ACORN's massive voter fraud while working at ACORN.

Please Reserve your spot as early as possible: This is only one day and an opportunity you do not want to miss. Your early RSVP allows us to adequately prepare the logistical details for this Round Table!

Where: Challenger School in Lehi (behind Cabela's) 3920 N Traverse Mountain Boulevard Lehi UT 84043

When: Saturday, December 18th, 2010 Begins at 9:00am and runs through 4:30pm, with a Town Hall lunch.

The iCaucus Freshmen Round Table will consist of 3 elements, as outlined below:

1st element: KEYNOTE CAUCUS SESSION:

Congressman Jason Chaffetz (UT-3) will be our keynote "guest speaker". Congressmen Chaffetz is excited to meet and connect with grassroots activists and the Freshman Congressmen to take a unified message to Washington DC … instead of the other way around. I put "guest speaker" in quotes because Congressmen Chaffetz won't be giving us a speech, instead the format of Chaffetz’ time with you will be a combination of a townhall format with a "let’s roll up our sleeves and talk around the table" type of meeting.

2nd element: ROUND TABLE DISCUSSION SERIES:

In addition to meeting with Congressman Chaffetz, you will also attend a series of Round Table discussions with expert resources that have agreed to come and meet with you and the freshmen Congressmen.

Session 1 – Solutions for Effectively Reaching Minority Voters: Presented by Anita Moncrief, American Majority, ACORN Whistle blower, Washington DC

http://www.examiner.com/conservative-in-washington-dc/anita-moncrief

Session 2 – Solutions for our Federal Deficit and Debt Reduction:

The Media and the status quo in Washington have framed our budget problems as a series of false choices: Either we must raise taxes, (they say), or enact draconian budget cuts, or default on our obligations, or raise the debt ceiling. The founders of The Independence Caucus categorically reject these 4 false options, and this session will present a real choice: A comprehensive and sequential strategy for eliminating deficits and debt by reversing and eliminating the systemic problems that were built into the Federal Budgeting Process in 1974.

Session 3 – Solutions for Reigning In the Unauthorized Expansion of the Federal Government:

Presented by the founders of the Patrick Henry Caucus. http://www.thepatrickhenrycaucus.org/

Session 4 – Solutions to Intrusive Government Interference in Education:

Presented by Bruno Behrend, Director of the Center for School Reform, The Heartland Institute, Chicago, ILhttp://www.heartland.org/about/profileresults.html?profile=9B1D98727001E6461A5F2A122FC9B19D&directory=0490F571009CFDBBCAA4E62B8A3EBAE2

Session 5 – Solutions for the Unintended Effects of Government Regulations on Foreign Policy:

Presented by Frank Anderson Sr., President and CEO of the Middle East Policy Council, Retired CIA Bureau Chief, Washington, D.C. http://www.mepc.org/media-resources

Session 6 - Recognizing a True Education When You See It:

Presented by Hugh Gorgeon, Regional Director of Challenger Schools, Salt Lake City, Utahhttp://www.challengerschool.com/

3rd element: “TOWN HALL” LUNCH:

The freshman Congressmen will be the guests of honor at a Town Hall Lunch where you will mingle and dine with the Freshman themselves, plus the expert speakers, and your fellow grassroots activists. This lunch will also feature a special presentation to iCaucus endorsed representatives.

Why December 18th?

While Dec. 18th is pretty close to Christmas, it's the earliest date that Chaffetz could commit to meet with the freshman, and the last opportunity for grassroots activists to meet with the freshmen-elect before they get bombarded by special interest groups in Washington.

Cost of the event:

Because this is so close to Christmas, we have worked hard to keep the cost absolutely as low as possible:

________________________

Option 1, Full day plus lunch: $25.00

Includes attendance pass to the Chaffetz Keynote Caucus, plus all six Round Table sessions, plus the Townhall Lunch with the Congressmen...in short, everything is included.

To reserve your spot and purchase Option 1, click the link below: https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=66ZFM6AF9XRSY

_____________________________­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­

Option 2, Full day but skip the lunch: $15.00

Includes attendance pass to the Chaffetz Keynote Caucus, plus all six Round Table sessions, but no lunch To reserve your spot and purchase Option 2, click the link below: https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=EY2EJR8T2DEKU

Thank you! Frank Anderson - frank@icaucus.orgCo-founder,

Independence Caucus

Join Independence Caucus and make a difference.

(385) 204-1796 ~ www.icaucus.org

Central Committee Meeting Notes, Nov 2010

Below you’ll find the agenda and my associated notes from the most recent Central Committee Meeting (Utah County Republican Precinct Chairs, Vice-Chairs, Leg Officers, and County Officers are members). I posted my reflections on this meeting and the others I’ve attended on my personal blog.

Agenda and Brief Notes

1. Welcome – Dave Hansen, Chair Pro Tem
   There were motions to have other officials act as chair as both our County Chair and Vice Chair were out of town), these were rebuffed and Dave was nominated and approved as chair
   - Recognition of Elected Officials and VIP Guest
   - Prayer
   - Pledge
   - Adoption of Agenda – adopted
2. Consideration of Caucus envelop complaint
   It was moved and seconded that the complaint be dismissed as the executive committee has put in place measures that will ensure that this does not happen again. The motion passed overwhelmingly after a little discussion.
3. Elections Committee Report – nothing significant
4. Finance Committee Report – the county has a little more money than was budgeted. There was some discussion on whether or not it was legitimate to use party funds to pay an attorney to help with the articles of incorporation. The Steering committee, as per the constitution has the right to move money from one line item to another in the budget but not to spend more money in total than was budgeted. Some people wanted to argue the opposite.
5. Approval of appointments – there were a number of chairs, vice chairs and other officers appointed to fill vacancies.  There was contention regarding one appointment in LD60 so the others were approved and then the LD60 vice chair appointment was discussed. It was motioned that LD60 meet and come with a recommendation before the matter is considered by the full committee. This motion was rejected and a bitter discussion ensued with no resolution (time ran out) and no plan to address it until the next committee meeting. The party secretary reviewed the circumstances around the appointment and showed all applicable items from the by-laws and constitution. The 30 second version is that the chair of LD60, Linda Housekeeper, took a leave of absence to run for county office last year prior to the caucuses. After the caucuses the vice chair resigned and the county chair appointed a vice-chair so that the LD would not lose a vote at county and state conventions. I believe the root of the problem was that the county chair appointed a vice-chair that Linda did not want and so the contention began.
6. Audit Committee Report – the audit committee was asked to look into the envelop issue and make a finding. There finding was that errors were made but nothing rising to the level of misfeasance, malfeasance, … . The committee chastised the group involved but did not find anything worthy of removal from office or criminal. The committee chair, John Booth, noted that someone had leaked the audit report, which he felt was a violation of civil laws, and that he had been under significant pressure to release the info prior to the meeting. His last item of business was to submit his resignation.
7. Constitutional & Bylaws Committee Report – nothing significant
8. Report from elected county officials.
   This was the most interesting part of the meeting. The County Assessor and Clerk each mentioned how lean their departments were and each expressed a willingness to personally answer questions from county residents on issues like property valuations.
   The sheriff pointed out that for a county of our size we have 1/4 of the prison population as would be expected.

As an end note I would like to thank Dave Hansen for taking the time to chair our meeting. He was an effective chair in spite of dozens of people who were also trying to run the meeting.

Thank You!

Now that the elections are over I want to thank all those who participated in the process for there efforts in helping us exercise our rights and obligation as citizens in selecting our leaders. Congratulations also to Wendy Hart who is now our school board representation. She has already started to make a difference in terms of transparency.

At the risk of leaving someone out thanks to:

• Wendy Hart, who was both a candidate and active vice-chair. Wow what an example
• Carin Hadley, our secretary who did a great job keeping us informed via her blog posts and Facebook updates.
• Rey Johnson, Ken Bushman, Jesse Adamson, Carin Hadley and Wendy Hart who spent time as county delegates meeting the candidates. Mike Bready and Terry Melendez who did the same for us as state delegates. All the delegates invested a lot of time on our behalf and made an effort to share their views and solicit our input. Thanks to Howard Siegel as well who was elected as a county delegate but, because of an unavoidable calendar conflict could not attend convention, bowed out and let Carin take his place as a delegate.
• Rey Johnson, Vern May, Carin Hadley, Karin Kinghorn, Sandy Williams, Devirl Barfuss, Becky Rainer, Ray Ellison, Rod Lisonbee, Gary Nixon, Janice Hymas and Kurt Holmestead who helped survey our precinct to ensure that the state voter info was correct and handed out registration forms.
• Ed Ludaescher who distributed literature to a lot of homes and donated his yard for campaign signs for an extended period of time. And Dorothy for putting up with it :)
• Jennifer Bengzten, Karin Hadley, and Suzanne Mann who helped organize our precinct garage sale Morgan Philpot.
• Mike and Lisa Olson for letting us use their garage and yard for the sale.
• Caitlin Bengtzen, Devon and Jason Kinghorn also helped with garage sale.
• The Bengtzens for being willing to host a campaign advisor from out of state for Morgan on very very short notice late one Friday night.
• Michael O'Halloren Teague Bengtzen, Caitlin Bengtzen and Vern May who helped with poll watching.
• Diane Kingston, Lon & Kaye Nally, Suzanne Mann, and Karen Kinghorn who helped with election day calls
• Mike Bready who sponsored the best primary debate between Tim Bridgewater and Mike Lee at Novell. 
• Ken Bushman, Rey Johnson, Jesse Adamson, Teague Bengtzen, Wendy Hart, Carin Hadley, and Vern May who helped staff the debate.
• Mike Olson who was a district captain for Morgan Philpot's campaign
• All those who let us use their fence or yards for large campaign signs: the Bengztens, Garrets, Thurmans, Hyatts, Johnsons (Rey and Carolyn), Olsons (Mike and Lisa), Herrons, Thelma Smith ... 
• Scott Hart gets a big thanks for editing the video of Morgan's visit to our precinct and creating 13 clips for us to put on YouTube. This was no small task and it was excellently done.
• Tim Aalders who had Morgan Philpot on his radio show multiple times and ran Morgan ads his show as well.
• Plus all of you who encouraged people to vote and shared your thoughts and opinions with your neighbors.

You all made a difference this year. I'm inspired by your involvement. Now we have to hold those elected accountable. "The price of freedom is eternal vigilance" as Jefferson said.

Voting took place today!!!

Today is a monumental day...it is the long awaited Mid-Term election. Several Precinct members voted early and others chose to use the Absentee ballot. Then, there were the die-hard fans of the polling booth on Election Day. Several Precinct members were there bright and early as the polls opened.

The HI02 Precinct, along with HI05 scheduled Poll Watchers throughout the day. Here, Rod Mann, our faithful Precinct Chair, is taking the first watch.

We are grateful for those individuals who serve as Polling judges and ensure that those presenting themselves to vote are registered to do so in our area.




The new Voting system.....failed early!





So, a few of us got the good-old fashioned paper ballot!




Here, candidate John Dougall waits with the rest of us to cast his vote.

We hope you all took the opportunity to cast your sacred vote today. Our thanks to everyone for all their assistance in this election year. There were hours of hard work by many constituents in the HI02 Precinct.

Let's look forward to the final results!

New Morgan Philpot Video

The video below is one of the best and highlights what I feel is Morgan's strongest attribute with respect to being our congressman. He is humble and will strive to serve with honor.

Learning about Judges up for re-election

If you want to know more about the judges up for re-election in our area, please go to:

http://judgepedia.org/index.php/Utah_judicial_elections,_2010

Who actually represents you?

Who is the current Representative for us? Listen to him tell you who he is and who he supports. Decide for yourself if he represents you.

What Do Jason Chaffetz and Jim Matheson Have in Common?

Not much you say. Well hold on. Here are a few items:

• Chaffetz votes with his party 92% of the time, Matheson 93%.
• Chaffetz abstains 1% of the time, Matheson 2%
• Chaffetz has sponsored 26 bills and 1 was made into law, Matheson 19 and 2 were made into law

Now for the opposites (or at least wildly different):

• One of the two representatives Chaffetz most often votes with is Walter Minnick, one of the two representatives Matheson least often votes with is Walter Minnick
• One of the two representatives Chaffetz least often votes with is Parker Griffin, one of the two representatives Matheson most often votes with is Parker Griffin.
• In his current term Chaffetz had $0 in earmarks, in his current term Matheson had $71M
• Chaffetz received a 93% rating from the National Taxpayers Union in 2009 while Matheson received a 30% rating.

Most people consider Chaffetz to be one of the most conservative members of the US House. In fact the liberal group Americans for Democratic Action rated him a 0% liberal in 2009 (Matheson received a 55% rating for the same year a drop from his previous off-year rating of 75%). Matheson is an ever so slightly stronger supporter of his party than is Chaffetz of his. So how is Chaffetz is considered a strong conservative a while Matheson is a conservative Democrat. Just a question? I’m sure there is a plausible answer.

During his entire term of office Jim has sponsored fewer bills (19 v. 26) than Jason but passed twice as many (2 v. 1). So you could say that Jim works smarter than Jason. Of course Jim has had 10 years to build his resume while Jason has had only 2. Oh, and in case you were wondering; Jim co-sponsored 180 bills of which 14 were passed. Jason also had 14 of the bills he co-sponsored make it into law but he had to co-sponsor 370 (over twice as many as Jim). You could say Jim is more effective in using his time but of course he had 5X the time to get the same results. Net/Net Jason legislatively accomplished almost as much as Jim but in 1/5 the time.

Do we want someone more like Jim or Jason representing us? Well for me the choice is easy. Morgan Philpot is unquestionably more like Jason than Jim.

 

Sources: www.opencongress.org & www.opensecrets.org

Tell the Whole Truth....

We can all tell it is late in the political season as the very 'negative' ads are flooding the airways. However, negative and untruthful are not synonymous.

I just saw the most recent advertisement by our incumbent Representative. He infers that his opponent did several things that are questionable. Namely, resigning halfway through his term, not voting for over 200 votes, not paying taxes, moving out of state etc.

When I attended the cottage meeting this past weekend, Mr. Philpot reported that this ad was coming and gave the following information:

1. He made a 'life decision' to attend Law school, which prompted him to resign once he got accepted to the school.

2. He attended Law school in Michigan...thus the move and lack of votes after he resigned.

3. Because of his move, he received a tax notice late once it arrived in Michigan. He stated that the late penalty was in the $60.00 range, and he paid it.

Mr. Matheson is inferring that Mr. Philpot is unreliable, a tax evader, and that he 'left the state'. In my view, a half truth is a full untruth. Please take the opportunity to investigate not only these accusations in this race, but any other accusations you find sensational at this point in the season with any race. Find out for yourself what the truth is.....please don't rely on talking points that seem far afield.

If things were as bad as some candidates pose at this point, why wouldn't these points have been raised earlier in the campaign? In my view, stating them any earlier would have allowed you as the citizen to learn the actual truth. By doing it now, perhaps the candidates are counting on you to not have or take the time to learn what the facts truly are.

So the question really is, who is more reliable, and who is more transparent and accessible to the constituency. Again, find out for yourself....be informed.

What Do Jason Chaffetz and Jim Matheson Have in Common?

Not much you say. Well hold on. Here are a few items:

• Chaffetz votes with his party 92% of the time, Matheson 93%.
• Chaffetz abstains 1% of the time, Matheson 2%
• Chaffetz has sponsored 26 bills and 1 was made into law, Matheson 19 and 2 were made into law

Now for the opposites (or at least wildly different):

• One of the two representatives Chaffetz most often votes with is Walter Minnick, one of the two representatives Matheson least often votes with is Walter Minnick
• One of the two representatives Chaffetz least often votes with is Parker Griffin, one of the two representatives Matheson most often votes with is Parker Griffin.
• In his current term Chaffetz had $0 in earmarks, in his current term Matheson had $71M
• Chaffetz received a 93% rating from the National Taxpayers Union in 2009 while Matheson received a 30% rating.

Most people consider Chaffetz to be one of the most conservative members of the US House. In fact the liberal group Americans for Democratic Action rated him a 0% liberal in 2009 (Matheson received a 55% rating for the same year a drop from his previous off-year rating of 75%). Matheson is an ever so slightly stronger supporter of his party than is Chaffetz of his. So how is Chaffetz is considered a strong conservative a while Matheson is a conservative Democrat. Just a question? I’m sure there is a plausible answer.

During his entire term of office Jim has sponsored fewer bills (19 v. 26) than Jason but passed twice as many (2 v. 1). So you could say that Jim works smarter than Jason. Of course Jim has had 10 years to build his resume while Jason has had only 2. Oh, and in case you were wondering; Jim co-sponsored 180 bills of which 14 were passed. Jason also had 14 of the bills he co-sponsored make it into law but he had to co-sponsor 370 (almost twice as many as Jim). You could say Jim is more effective in using his time but of course he had 5X the time to get the same results. Net/Net Jason legislatively accomplished almost as much as Jim but in 1/5 the time.

Do we want someone more like Jim or Jason representing us? Well for me the choice is easy. Morgan Philpot is unquestionably more like Jason than Jim.

Sources: www.opencongress.org & www.opensecrets.org

Is Matheson In Step with Utahns?

I thought it would be interesting to look at how a liberal group rated our congressmen so I went to the website for Americans for Democratic Action (ADA) and looked at their annual rating for house members from 2001 to 2009. Over the course of that time period the average democrat was given an 86% by the ADA. Jim Matheson had an average rating of 66% so he was rated as more conservative than the average democrat. Contrast this with the ratings of the 1st (4%) and 3rd (2%) district representatives (Hansen/Bishop and Cannon/Chaffetz respectively) for that time period and you can see how out of step Matheson is with the our other congressman. I wonder which of the 3 our more closely aligned with the average Utahn. You can be the judge but it seems to me that Mr. Matheson is much more aligned with liberals than conservatives.

I also found it interesting that  in 2006 and 2008 Mr. Matheson’s liberal rating took quite a tumble. Let me see, were those election years?

I believe Morgan Philpot is more closely aligned with the largely conservative members of the 2nd Congressional District. Let’s make sure he is the one that represents us going forward.

Is Matheson In Step with Utahns?

I thought it would be interesting to look at how a liberal group rated our congressmen so I went to the website for Americans for Democratic Action (ADA) and looked at their annual rating for house members from 2001 to 2009. Over the course of that time period the average democrat was given an 86% by the ADA. Jim Matheson had an average rating of 66% so he was rated as more conservative than the average democrat. Contrast this with the ratings of the 1st (4%) and 3rd (2%) district representatives (Hansen/Bishop and Cannon/Chaffetz respectively) for that time period and you can see how out of step Matheson is with the our other congressman. I wonder which of the 3 our more closely aligned with the average Utahn. You can be the judge but it seems to me that Mr. Matheson is much more aligned with liberals than conservatives.

I also found it interesting that  in 2006 and 2008 Mr. Matheson’s liberal rating took quite a tumble. Let me see, were those election years?

I believe Morgan Philpot is more closely aligned with the largely conservative members of the 2nd Congressional District. Let’s make sure he is the one that represents us going forward.

Morgan Philpot Cottage Meeting on 10/23/10

Yesterday, the New York Times followed certain grassroot political organizations here in Utah. One of the candidates they followed was Morgan Philpot. I attended a cottage meeting in Alpine to hear from Mr. Philpot last night. Although the media did not attend, if Mr. Philpot did as well as he did last night for them, they certainly should have a positive view of the citizen's of Utah.

Here are a few talking points that I appreciated:

1. Negative campaigning: Morgan stated that they looked over the last few campaigns that have been waged against our current incumbent. He said that they all turned negative, and that became the advantage for Mr. Matheson. He and his campaign made a decision early on to not use negative campaigning, and have not done so. He states that he would rather use his opponents factual voting record instead, and has done so.

2. Suggestions from the 'crowd': Several attendees suggested that he call Mr. Matheson the "Democratic Candidate, Jim Matheson" because Matheson's advertisement does not identify him in this manner. Morgan stated that he did do this for a time, but then Mr Matheson came out with ads stated that Mr. Philpot was being "political". That got a laugh from everyone.

Another suggestion was to highlight Matheson's voting record on the stimulus and other spending bills he supported.

Still others asked why he didn't point out, what they felt, were the specific untruths Mr. Matheson was using against Mr. Philpot. Mr. Philpot again stated that he is using facts and that people don't be seem to be buying the innuendo from the opponents camp.

3. Advertising: The question was asked as to why the Philpot campaign isn't advertising on TV. Morgan reported that one weeks worth of TV advertising would cost over $170,000.00. When asked how the Matheson campaign is able to afford this, Morgan reported that over 80% of their funding is coming from sources and special interests outside of Utah. The Philpot campaign is being run on a 'shoestring', but seems to be effective. Even Rocky Anderson reportedly called up Morgan to give support. That is one for the books!

4. Volunteers: Many people asked how they could get specifics on his platform to be more knowledgeable when sharing with others. He gave this link to get this information.

He also spoke about many people who have taken on campaigning without being asked. He spoke of a gentleman in Wasatch County who has organized and lead a campaign there. For the first time in years, Wasatch County is leaning toward someone other than Mr. Matheson. He also mentioned that people were doing many things on their own to campaign and fund raise. He was very specific when he mentioned that a Garage Sale had been held to raise funds. I quickly spoke up stating that this was out precinct and the whole room erupted in applause.

If you want more information about Morgan Philpot's campaign, please go to http://www.philpotforcongress.net/icampaign/index.php.

Philpot v. Matheson Debate and the FairTax

After listening to the debate (if you haven't listened click here) I kept thinking about Matheson’s oft repeated refrain that Morgan wants to tax everything you buy at 23% and in reality that rate would likely be 30%. There is some truth to this statement but Matheson leaves a lot of information out as well.

What Morgan has said on a couple of occasions is that he could support a national sales tax such as the proposed Fair Tax Act of 2005 (HR 25 and S 25) which call for a 23% sales tax on all new goods and services. This proposal is explained in detail by the Americans for Fair Taxation on their website www.fairtax.org for those who want to learn more.

What Matheson left out was that the fair tax initiative would only be enacted if the 16th Amendment was repealed (this is the one that gives the federal government the right to tax our income) and it It abolishes all federal personal and corporate income taxes, gift, estate, capital gains, alternative minimum, Social Security, Medicare, and self-employment taxes.

The FairTax replaces the revenue collected by the taxes enumerated above with a national sales tax. It was designed to be revenue neutral. So if we are bothered by 23% (or in 30%) sales tax then our anger should be directed at those in government who are spending our money at a rate equivalent to that kind of a sales tax. As someone who has been in office for 10 years and voted for the stimulus bill, cash for clunkers and numerous other programs Matheson should be the last person who would want talk about issues related to the cost of government.

What I love about a sales tax versus an income tax is that it decreases the federal government's involvement in my life. No longer do they need to concern themselves with how much I make and my sources of income. Nor do I need go through an annual exercise in determining how much I owe the government. If I’m wrong and underpay I’m subject to varying degrees of penalties and interest charges. However, if I overpay the government then, oh well, the government has benefitted from my money but only pays me the principle back. The more I think about it the more I like the idea of a national sales tax (again, if and only if the 16th amendment is repealed).

Back to the debate, I have the mental picture of Matheson waving his finger at Morgan and touting how naive he would be to consider a tax program like the FairTax which could impact the economy in such as negative way.

Tell me again Mr. Matheson, how a program which takes the same amount of money from us but eliminates the IRS, means I don’t have to file income tax reports, and has the potential to generate income from people who currently don’t pay income taxes (criminals, workers paid on a cash basis …) is bad. That finger and the self-righteous attitude that goes with it should be more introspective.

I looked (see When is a Blue Dog only a Mirage?) and at no time in his last term in office did Matheson cast a deciding vote or was even one of several deciding votes on spending bills that were conservative in nature. Any votes against bills that I feel were terrible such as ObamaCare were cast only after the fix was in for these monstrosities.

I loved Morgan’s comment that he fully supports Milton Friedman’s stance that “I am in favor of cutting taxes under any circumstances and for any excuse, for any reason, whenever it's possible.” Additionally, I thought Morgan’s comment that he thought Matheson’s assertion that a 23% or higher sales tax was necessary simply reflected the typical Washington attitude that spending must increase not decrease.

We need people like Morgan in office who will seek to cut taxes and spending wherever and whenever possible.

Go Morgan!

By the way did you know that 9 states have no personal income tax and use a state sales tax  (Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Texas, Tennessee, Washington, Wyoming)? And how do they rank in a survey of the best and worst managed states in America (note, Utah was 6th).

• (14) Alaska
• (42) Florida
• (41) Nevada
• (8) New Hampshire
• (13) South Dakota
• (36) Texas
• (35) Tennessee
• (15) Washington
• (1) Wyoming

The average ranking was 22. So these states are in general better than average and don’t burden their citizens with annual income tax filing nor do they invade their privacy. So tell me again Mr. Matheson how terrible the FairTax concept is and why I shouldn’t vote for Morgan because he said he would consider such a proposal. Maybe I shouldn’t vote for you because you think it is such an awful idea. Good idea. I think I’ll do that :)

Go Morgan!

Philpot - Matheson Debate on Video

This past week, a debate was held in St. George between Morgan Philpot (R Candidate) and Jim Matheson (D Candidate). Please use the link below to view it. It helps differentiate where each candidate stands on various issues. It is a "must-see" view. Please inform you neighbors about it and please plan to vote on or before November 2nd. This is one of the most important elections of our time.

The link below shows the debate held in St. George, Utah between Philpot
and Matheson. The debate introductions don't start until around 15 minutes so
feel feel to skip forward at least that far.

http://vstream.dixie.edu/DSC/Viewer/?peid=cac4131afa2d4fd397fc9e08b7d0b12d

Matheson casts the deciding vote.....

The President of the Utah Taxpayer association recently spoke about the House of Representative's decision to not extend the Bush Tax Cuts. This speaker happens to be our own State Senator, Howard Stephenson. See who the swing vote in Washington DC was ....