Learn BEFORE you vote. (Not an official website of American Fork City.)

Tag: Staci Carroll (Page 1 of 4)

AF City Council Interviews: Miscellaneous Concerns, What They’re Proud Of, and Favorite Restaurants

In my one-on-one interviews I asked members of the American Fork City Council what concerns they hear from residents. Interviews take different directions, but I also asked most of them, “If your term ended tomorrow, what have you done or accomplished of which you’re proudest?” In some cases, they disclaimed any personal credit and described things around the city which particularly please them — and that’s good too.

Just for fun, I asked most of them their favorite old and new restaurants in American Fork.

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AF City Council Interviews: Good Candidates and the Workload

I asked members of the American Fork City Council what they look for in city council candidates. I thought their view from the inside might be instructive. I also asked them about the work load, because conscientious prospective candidates want to know what it will take to do the job right.

Three of five city council seats are up for election in 2023, but only one incumbent, Clark Taylor, told me he’s running. The other two, Rob Shelton and Kevin Barnes, have publicly announced their intention not to run — Councilman Shelton after three terms in office and Councilman Barnes after two terms.

(Of course, until June 1, there are no candidates, and we’ll only know for sure who’s in and who’s out after June 7, the end of the filing period.)

What to Look for in a Candidate

All five city council members sounded common themes. Where their own votes in a city council election are concerned, they’re looking for:

  • men and women who work well with others, and who can disagree without being disagreeable;
  • people who already have a resume of civic engagement — not necessarily at the City, but if it is at the City, service on at least one committee or coaching in the recreation programs, working in the arts, etc.;
  • candidates who know about City government and don’t just assume that all the stereotypes and talking points from national and state government apply;
  • overlapping with the last two, candidates who are energized by more than a single issue, who won’t check out once they’ve accomplished — or failed to accomplish — the thing that motivated them; and
  • the words good and honest came up almost as often as work.
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AF City Council Interviews: City Finances and Inflation

I asked members of the American Fork City Council for their thoughts about the City’s financial condition. I had a particularly detailed conversation with Councilman Shelton, who has professional expertise in financial matters, about the effects of inflation on City finances.

City Finances and the Fund Balance

State law requires municipalities to keep a minimum cash reserve of 5% of the current fiscal year’s budgeted revenue. Until 2021 the maximum allowed reserve was 25%; now it’s 35%. (See Utah Code 10-6-116.)

One significant point of pride among all five council members is that, over the past several years, the City has built its reserve from below 10% to the maximum allowed by law, 35% — and the intention is to keep it there.

This is not just a rainy day fund, Councilwoman Staci Carroll explained. It has allowed the City to be opportunistic — for example, in acquiring a large piece of land for a planned regional park south of the freeway.

Councilman Ryan Hunter said, “We’re as strong as we’ve ever been, financially.”

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AF City Council Interviews: Water and Fiber

This post addresses three topics from my interviews this month with the American Fork City Council: short-term concerns about the overabundance of water, long-term concerns about having enough water for current needs and to sustain growth, and the effort to bring fiber optic connectivity to the entire city, including homes and businesses the major telecom providers have declined to serve.

(Insert your own joke about [water-]soluble dietary fiber here. We’re not talking about that kind of fiber.)

Water, Water Everywhere!

I asked each member of the council what’s going on in the city just now, and they all mentioned water. The water is hard to miss, to be sure, especially if you’ve wandered down toward the harbor lately.

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American Fork City Council Interviews: Introduction

Each member of the American Fork City Council sat down with me this month, one on one, for half an hour or more, at my request, to discuss how things are going in the city. I thought their perspectives might be useful background for the municipal election season which starts June 1, with the opening of the one-week candidate filing period.

Two of these interviews happened in my living room. Two were at the City Administration Building. One was on a council member’s back porch on a pleasant weekday evening. I thank each of them for willingly making time for me in their busy schedules.

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2021 American Fork Election Results

It will be a couple of weeks before the numbers are official — the key word is canvass — but even last-minute mail-in ballots won’t change the election results in American Fork’s 2021 municipal election.

Mayor Brad Frost won a second term, defeating challenger Tim Holley with about 79% of the vote (based on Thursday’s updated count).

The three-way race for two city council seats saw incumbents Staci Valentine and Ryan Hunter win with about 44% of the vote each, while challenger Carissa George finished with about 13%. (Numbers are rounded.) Valentine won a second term; Hunter won his first full term, after his appointment earlier this year to finish the remaining months of the late Barbara Christiansen’s term.

The PARC tax renewal passed with about 75% of the vote. By law, it will be up for a vote again in about ten years.

Congratulations to the winners. Heartfelt thanks to all who ran — and to all the voters who make the effort to cast informed votes. I don’t have turnout data yet, but at least 4,900 voters’ votes have been counted so far.

[Later note: Turnout in American Fork was 37.9 percent, according to county results (a CSV file). That’s excellent for a local election — and even more so when you consider that a significant percentage of voter registration records are for people who no longer live in American Fork. Well done, voters! That’s up from 34.6 percent in 2019 (CSV) and 31.7 percent in 2017 (PDF) — a happy trend.]

Thanks also to the thousands of people who spent some time at afelection.info during this election season. We hope it helped. As we like to say, always #learnBEFOREyouvote.

Here’s a link to the latest unofficial results from Utah County (PDF). We’ll add turnout information here when it’s available.

A final note: American Fork’s races weren’t close, but we don’t have to look far for one that is. In Highland’s city council race, where four candidates vie for two seats, the difference between winning and losing so far is a mere 20 votes. The result could easily change as last-minute votes are counted. For now, Scott Smith is in second place, narrowly leading Jerry Abbott.

David’s 2021 American Fork Election Guide

This week I received my mail-in ballot for the 2021 American Fork municipal election. Today, more swiftly than usual, I offer my handy, unapologetically opinionated guide for local voters.

On the ballot are a mayoral race, a city council race, and one proposition. (I have no idea why they call it Proposition #5.)

Before we start with the proposition, then move to the candidates, here’s some information:

Mail-in ballots may be mailed in, of course. You won’t need a stamp. They must be postmarked no later than Monday, November 1, 2021, the day before Election Day.

However, if you prefer to use a ballot drop box and save the City some postage, there’s one in American Fork at the public library, clearly marked, adjacent to the outdoor library return boxes. Official ballot drop boxes around the county will work too, even for this American Fork municipal election. Boxes will be available until 8:00 p.m. on Election Day, Tuesday, November 2.

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American Fork Candidate Interviews (2021)

It is time again for municipal elections in American Fork, and although we didn’t have a primary, both the mayoral and city candidate races are contested. The three top issues, according to residents, are growth, taxes, and code enforcement.

For mayor we have two candidates, Tim Holley and current mayor Brad Frost. We also have three city council candidates, incumbents Staci Carroll and Ryan Hunter, along with challenger Carissa George. Candidates appear here in the order they were interviewed.

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