County Delegates prepare for Convention this Saturday

The HI02 Precinct County Delegates have been very busy attending meetings with candidates. Utah County has arranged "Meet the Candidates" events with the candidates in various locations making it possible for delegates to meet nearly all the candidates in one location. Others Candidates have had individual meetings so that Delegates could ask questions and hear their opinions on specific issues.

All of HI02 Delegates were invited to meet together last evening. In attendance were Rodd Mann (Precinct Chair), Wendy Hart (Vice Chair), Ken Bushman, Rey Johnson, and Carin Hadley (Secretary/Treasurer & County Delegate). (As Howard Seigel was unable to attend the convention, Carin Hadley has been appointed as his replacement). Jess Adamson reportedly could not attend.

The following information comes from the discussion at this meeting.

Here is a summary of the discussion about each position that is up for election:

LD 27 Representative:

John Dougall http://www.jdougall.com/ is running for re-election. Mr. Dougall is running unopposed in the party. You can also join John on Facebook where he often posts his thoughts and opinions for his constituents.

Count Commissioner Seat A:

Gary Anderson (www.ElectGaryAnderson.com): currently is a Commissioner. He states that the Commission has keep costs low and brought in economic development (and does show cost comparisons between Utah County and Salt Lake County). He did vote for the Convention Center. He also is in favor of keeping the current County Commission form of Government. Several Delegates were unhappy with the significant increase in wages for the Commissioners during his recent term, one of which was slated to be in place when he began serving. Also, he has served multiple terms, the feeling of many Delegates is that he has made this his career and many Delegates were not in favor of career County Politicians.

Joel Wright (http://www.electwright.com/) is also running for Seat A. He promotes himself as a fiscal conservative and reports how he has helped manage Cedar Hills and even helped resolve the Golf Course issue. He is in favor of changing the County Commission to a County Council with a County Mayor. He states that he would follow the pattern set in Cache County with only part-time council members and one full-time Mayor. He reports that this will be a less expensive form of government and is more in keeping with the Constitution. The Mayor would not have a vote. The current Commission sets policy and allocates funding. Mr. Wright also states he will not run for a 3rd term. Mr. Wright was reportedly involved in a heated discussion with a delegate during one of the "Meet and Mingle" events and was uninvited by Ms. Housekeeper (see below) to attend any of these future eventshttp://www.deseretnews.com/article/700026491/Utah-County-Commission-candidates-look-to-Facebook.html. She reportedly sponsors these meetings.

Also, James Vein is running. None of the Delegates had met or received any information from Mr. Vein.

All the Delegates had met Mr. Anderson and Mr Wright. This is a fiercely contested race. Mr. Anderson has the endorsement of several Mayors and area leaders. Mr. Wright has had experience in working with Cedar Hills City.

County Commissioner Seat B:

Steve White (http://www.not1redcent.com/): Current Commissioner. States that he works hard not to increase county property taxes. He reported several ways he has eliminated waste in county government and has reportedly never voted to give himself a raise. He states that the only infrastructure that Utah County needs in this downturn are road projects. He demonstrated how many of the current projects were planned years ago and also demonstrated the need for more roads in specific areas to meet the growth as in Sarasota Springs, etc. He stated that he often was the no vote when it came to increasing spending in the past. He has served 2 terms.

Linda Housekeeper and Doug Whitney.

Linda Housekeeper http://linda4liberty.com/ has served as a County Delegate and on the Central Committee, and Legislative District 60 Chair. She states she is for ethical government, fiscal discipline and private property rights. She reportedly has sponsored the "Meet and Mingle" events and has posted her 'side' of the situation with Mr. Wright on her website. When I met her, she was standing by Mr. Whitney. She stated that she wished for us to vote for her or Mr. Whitney, but was not in favor of voting for Mr. White.

Doug Whitney (http://www.dougwitney.com/) is a veteran and a former law officer who states that he feels so strongly about this position that he would come out of retirement to fulfill this position. He is not in favor of a County Council and Mayor system. In his view, there is already a form of a "Council". He states that the Commissioners, assessor, Recorder, Surveyor, and Sheriff are essentially the Council and that no form of government change is needed. He promises to reduce his salary back down to where it was before this current term began. He also stated he wished delegates to vote for him or Ms. Housekeeper, but not Mr. White.

The Delegates felt that these last two candidate's "heart" was not really in this process, and that they were just wishing to unseat Mr. White.

Mr. Leon Frazier http://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=1600367541&v=wall&ref=ts states that he is a "Libertarian Republican". The delegates stated that they felt he could not get elected as a Libertarian, so he is running as a Republican. He states Ron Paul's example as a Libertarian in the Republican Party. He states that the Utah County Government is grown too big and has employed socialistic ideas to solve problems.

County Assessor:

Steve Hemingway http://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=100000918079368&v=wall&ref=search lists that he is employed at the County Assessor's office on his facebook page. His platform is to reduce waste, enhance public trust and satisfaction. To improve employee morale and discontinuing outsourcing work of this office.

Kris Poulson (http://www.krispoulson.com/) (pictured here with our beloved Vice Chair) is running for a 3rd term. He states that he has twice been selected of "Assessor of the Year" by other county Assessors. He states that Utah County new Construction workload has been the same as SLC. However, this office operates with half the staff and is more efficient.

County Clerk/Auditor:

Bryan E Thompson http://www.bryanethompson.com/ is running unopposed in our party. Please see his website for more information. He is running for re-election.

County Recorder:

Rod Campbell: http://www.rod4recorder.com/ is the current incumbent. He is endorsed by his predecessor. This office reportedly has reportedly become digitized. This is not only true for current records, but most of the records since this office came into being. Ken Bushman stated that property's can become recorded in ~5 minutes after closing where SL County takes up to a day. This office reportedly has been run very efficiently. He has served 32 year in the Recorders office, 13 as Assistant Recorder. (It is important to note that the Recorder and the Surveyors office were combined until recently when it was felt that the statutory responsibilities of the two offices were too different).

Jeff Smith is also running for Recorder. http://vote-jeffsmith.com/. He states that he has worked in the office for 19 years and that he has assisted in digitizing the office. He also states by doing this, it is streamlined the need for additional personnel and that it has kept costs low. The same information stated above by Ken B applies to this candidate as well.

The Delegates unanimously felt that either one of these candidates would serve the county well.

County Surveyor

Gary Ratcliffe (http://www.surveyorgary.com/). This gentleman has been the Deputy County Surveyor for Utah County for 25 years. He is showing 3 different "monuments" that have been used in the state since surveying began. The rock is from pioneer times. He is a careful steward of these current monuments (see the small circular item on the table). He is currently the Deputy County Surveyor for Utah counted . He points out that the Surveyor works at the County legislators in issues regarding Eminent Domain and does not make policy or enforce this issue. He is a big proponent of private property rights. He also points out that Zoning laws and ordinances have their basis in state or local ordinances and that the Surveyor has not input or control in these issues

Scott Peterson He reportedly is trained and endorsed by Francis D Eickbush who is the retired U.S. Surveyor General. He reports that he has been actively endorsed by local City Surveyors and private Surveyors. He has been involved in the Utah Council of Land Surveyors and is currently serving on the Board of Directors

The Delegates unanimously felt that either one of these candidates would serve the county well.

Utah County Sheriff:

This is another hotly contested race.

James O. Tracy (http://www.sherifftracy.com/) is the current Sheriff in Utah County. When asked what the biggest challenge is for the Sheriff, he stated Drug Trafficking and the associated crime that follows it. He states that he would like to serve for one more term and then be "done". He stated that if you come to our jail "you owe us $40.00" to take care of the expenses associated with that individual. (I am not certain if this applies to one day etc). He has several work-related (income producing) projects that he states the inmates perform to keep the cost of housing them down. They reportedly grow a large vegetable garden behind the prison to help feed the prisoners and the inmates work it. The inmates reportedly mow the lawns on city properties to help keep the costs of the County down. He has a program called "Volunteers in Police Service (VIPS). These individuals are trained and then drive around in a colored marked car to help be the eyes and ears for the Sheriff's office. He states that this helps the employed staff be more efficient with their time as they "cannot be everywhere" all the time.


Robin Wall (http://www.robinwall4sheriff.com/) is also running for Sheriff. He reportedly has 17 years of law enforcement experience an has served as a Captain in the Army. Mr. Wall stated that he feels the Sheriff's office is missing opportunities for income and that the office needs to be more fiscally responsible. He had instituted a program to bring Youth, who were beginning to experience trouble with the law, to the jail and let them hear from inmates etc. He stated that this program was discontinued and he was concerned that not enough of these types of deterrents were in place. He also has concerns that the Sheriff's office, that is also reportedly responsible for Emergency Preparedness in the County, is not participating with the Emergency Relief agency activities in Utah. He also states that he would cut the budget.

Dan Burton (http://www.dan4sheriff.com/) is also running for Sheriff. He has a military background and served in the Military Police Corps. He stated that there are programs that could bring additional income into the Sheriff's office and reduce costs. He is very concerned with child's safety and has piloted a program called "My Child Protection Program". He states that he would increase community programs like DARE, would increase volunteerism in our area, would increase protections for elderly and other other vulnerable individuals in our area. He additionally states he will donate $30,000.00 of his salary to help this new programming get started.

The Delegates all felt that those running against Sheriff Tracy were a bit disgruntled employees.

County Attorney:

Jeff Buhman (http://www.campaignsitebuilder.com/templates/displayfiles/tmpl26.asp?SiteID=965&PageID=14638&Trial=false) is the current County Attorney. He also states that Drug trafficking is also a large concern in our county. He helped implement a program to help called Supervised Treatment on Probation or STOP for first-time drug offenders to help give these individuals an opportunity to become successful members of the community. He also is focusing hard on decreasing Recidivism rates in our county. He is running unopposed in the party.

The Convention is this Saturday, April 24th.