Editor’s note:
American Fork’s five city council candidates debated various issues for an hour and a half Monday evening before an audience of about 70 at the American Fork Senior Center. Audio from the event will appear here later this week, and commentary and analysis should be posted here early next week. Watch for the event’s host and sponsor, the American Fork Chamber of Commerce, to post video. Meanwhile, frequent contributor John Mulholland has a different, quicker report.
Three four-year seats are available. Election Day is late this year, November 21.
Clark Taylor
I love American Fork
Pushing for fiber
Tax increase went 45% roads, 55% public safety
We finished Art Dye through the PARC tax
Incumbent
Ernie John
Water guy
I won’t kick the can down the road
Fiber is a utility now
Wells dropping a foot a year
The tax increase was needed
Tim Holley
Marine and in IT Sales
We are building a city
Some places with extreme weather have good roads
We need to have bike / pedestrian trails
Ken Sumsion
Accountant
Opposes fiber, it is a money pit
Opposes tax increases
Thinks the people should decide both on the ballot
Was in the state legislature
Jeff Shorter
Lawyer
Previously on City Council
Against taxes and fiber
Keep all single family zoning
Weather will always make roads bad
John Mulholland lives in American Fork, Utah. His reports on candidate interviews have appeared at AFelection.info since 2017. His writing on Utah politics has appeared at Utah Politico Hub.
Featured image credit: AI-generated, not a drawing of the candidates or the actual event. (DALL·E with prompt “pencil and watercolor drawing of five white men in suits sitting behind a rectangular folding table in a large room; the two men on the left are bald.”)
The chamber did post a video! I’m glad they did. Here’s the link to the debate: https://youtu.be/o4aI9MRoI_c?si=9j5JGKI1TVyL1ab2