City Council Debate Audio

On Monday evening, October 16, 2023, all five American Fork City Council candidates appeared at the American Fork Senior Center in a debate. Not including the candidates, attendance was about 70, which is unusually high for such an event.

The American Fork Chamber of Commerce hosted the event. They have posted video of the event at their YouTube channel.

Audio recordings of the candidates’ complete statements and answers are presented here unedited, except for some noise reduction and audio level adjustments, and without comment or analysis.

Format

Except for timed opening and closing statements, candidates each had one minute to respond to a question or topic. If any candidate requested a 30-second rebuttal, all were allow an additional 30 seconds.

Questions were submitted by voters attending the event and by members of the Chamber of Commerce in advance of the event.

Debate Audio

Each audio file is a collection of opening or closing statements or all the candidates’ answers on a single topic.

The order in which candidates spoke rotated; for each of identification I’ve listed the order in which they spoke in each case. The other voice, usually at the beginning and occasionally at the end, is moderator Josh Walker, Co-President of the American Fork Chamber of Commerce.

Opening statements

Tim Holley – Ernie John – Ken Sumsion – Jeff Shorter – Clark Taylor

Citywide Fiber Broadband

John – Sumsion – Shorter – Taylor – Holley

Recreation Center

Sumsion – Shorter – Taylor – Holley – John

Roads

Shorter – Taylor – Holley – John – Sumsion

On what will you never bend, etc.

Taylor – Holley – John – Sumsion – Shorter

Attendance at city council meetings and other preparation

Holley – John – Sumsion – Shorter – Taylor

Revitalizing downtown

John – Sumsion – Shorter – Taylor – Holley

2022 property tax increase

Sumsion – Shorter – Taylor – Holley – John

Housing and development

Shorter – Taylor – Holley – John – Sumsion

What do you look for when you’re voting?

Taylor – Holley – John – Sumsion – Shorter

Investing in the future, especially the next four years

Holley – John – Sumsion – Shorter – Taylor

Closing statements

John – Sumsion – Shorter – Taylor – Holley

Coming Soon

Commentary and analysis of the debate is coming soon, among other posts. We keep that separate here, for those in the audience who want only information, not opinion (except candidate opinion).

Thanks for listening.

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