Here’s the audio I recorded from the city council candidates’ portion of Saturday’s meet-the-candidates event at the American Fork Hospital. But first, some disclaimers and housekeeping.

The audio isn’t professional. You get what you get from my little Sony voice recorder. I used Audacity for dynamic range compression, noise suppression, and enhancing the audio of candidates who spoke much more softly into the microphone than others. The photos aren’t professional either.

I’ve split the audio into sections, by question, etc., and I haven’t deleted any part of any candidate response. Obviously, there’s no fact-checking built into any of this.

If you want my notes, commentary, and analysis, they’re in a separate post, so readers who wish to avoid them can do so easily

Attendance was about 50, not including candidates. The moderator was State Auditor John Dougall. Questions came from the audience.

Audio from the mayoral candidates‘ portion of the event is in a separate blog post, and the American Fork Chamber of Commerce, which hosted the event, has posted a video recording on YouTube. Here also is the Daily Herald‘s report of the event. (Apologies for the unpleasant ad experience there.)

Six of eight candidates who filed were present. In seating order:

  • Barbara Christiansen
  • Staci Carroll
  • Kyle Barratt
  • Doug Richards
  • Jeff Shorter (incumbent)
  • Ernie John

Two candidates were missing. Bill Houlin is reported dropping out of the race, and Aaron Clegg had a commitment out of state. No explanation was offered at the event for either absence, and neither candidate sent an opening or closing statement to be read in his absence.

Comments on this are welcome but are moderated — which won’t be a problem, so long as they are readable, civil, and germane.

Here are the candidates and the moderator:

city council candidates

City Council Candidates (as seated, left to right): Barbara Christiansen, Staci Carroll, Kyle Barratt, Doug Richards, Jeff Shorter, and Ernie John (standing)

John Dougall

Moderator John Dougall

 

Opening Statements

Introduction (moderator John Dougall)

Opening Statements (Christiansen – Carroll – Barratt – Richards – Shorter – John)

Barbara Christiansen

Barbara Christiansen

Questions and Answers

Note that each question was asked of four of the six candidates, not all six, to fit more questions into the allotted time.

Question 1: Do you have a plan to address increasing panhandling and the safety concerns related to panhandling? (Carroll – Barratt – Richards – Shorter)

Staci Carroll

Staci Carroll

Question 2: With the expected growth in American Fork in the next few years, how are you going to prepare yourself and the City to deal with that growth. We’re not the first city to quickly double in size. (John – Christiansen – Carroll – Barratt)

Ernie John

Ernie John

Question 3: The city council is a diverse group. What strategies and/or experience do you have in gaining consensus, or at least getting a working plan going? (Richards – Shorter – John – Christiansen)

Doug Richards

Doug Richards

Question 4: In the spirit of cooperation and collaboration, who are you supporting for mayor, and why? (Barratt – Richards – Shorter – John)

Kyle Barratt

Kyle Barratt

Question 5: Speak to us on quality of life issues. What are your feelings and beliefs? (Christiansen – Carroll – Barratt – Richards)

Question 6: What has the current council done especially well, and where do you see the greatest room for improvement? (Shorter – John – Christiansen – Carroll)

Jeff Shorter

Jeff Shorter

Question 7: Are there specific programs or budget line items you’d like to cut or eliminate to pay for roads? (Barratt – Richards – Shorter – John)

Question 8: How do you plan to communicate with the citizens of American Fork? (Christiansen – Carroll – Barratt – Richards)

Question 9: My neighbor who has owned several water shares now waters her back yard, about a quarter-acre, constantly from when the water is turned on in the spring until it’s turned off in October. It waters weeds, and it’s such a waste. What can the council / police / inspectors / others do about this? (Shorter – John – Christiansen – Carroll)

Closing Statements (John – Shorter – Richards – Barratt – Carroll – Christiansen)

Aftermath (John Dougall and Chamber of Commerce President Josh Walker)

 

Finally . . .

Just to prove it wasn’t all as serious as the photos make it appear . . .

Staci Carroll

Staci Carroll