Thank You! (and some American Fork results)

Results Preliminary voting results for American Fork City Council (from the Daily Herald, because the county doesn’t have them up yet) are these: Brad Frost (incumbent): 2,198 Kevin Barnes: 2,057 Robert Shelton (incumbent): 2,028 Allen Simpson: 1,080 So Frost, Barnes, and Shelton take the three available seats. This is the result … Read More …

David’s Handy Little Election Guide, 2015 Edition

Unless I’ve missed something, there are two things on my ballot tomorrow in American Fork: the local city council race and Proposition 1, with funding for streets and transportation (including UTA, in counties where UTA exists). Here’s how I’m voting and a brief account of the reasons why. More discussion … Read More …

That Pesky Third Vote

We’ve documented here — in part — local PAC AFCitizens’ casual relationship with the truth and their well-established tendency to get the numbers wrong. It seems reasonable to wonder, why would I ever vote for a candidate they endorse? (Bad numbers seem like an odd problem from a group which … Read More …

Water Rates, Debt, and That Cash Reserve

Debt One of the numbers AFCitizens gets right in its campaign to take down city council incumbents is American Fork’s debt. The number is inherently a moving target, but according to the 2016 American Fork City budget (page 68), the City’s total debt as of July 1, 2015 (the beginning … Read More …

Did American Fork Road Cut Its Road Budget by $450,000 This Year?

There is widespread agreement that American Fork’s roads are crumbling, and that rebuilding them should be a high priority in the City budget. Beyond this the rhetoric diverges. Facts For most of the campaign, one candidate and the local PAC which supports him – and whose flier he’s been distributing … Read More …

American Fork Property Tax Rates Have Decreased 3 Years in a Row

This infographic very nearly speaks for itself. But a few notes, if you please. One candidate is out there saying that our property tax rates just keep going up, year after year. This is not the case. It’s true that someone’s property taxes can go up even if the City’s … Read More …

They Want You to Think American Fork Has the Highest Property Tax Rate

What Utah Football Has to Do with It Suppose you’re a University of Utah football fan (as I am, when they aren’t playing BYU, and I’m sad about the USC thing last week). But your grandfather is a died-in-the wool Cougar. You know the type. In his mind, it is … Read More …

Meet the American Fork City Council Candidates (Parts 9-12)

On Saturday morning State Auditor John Dougall moderated a meet-the-candidates event at American Fork Hospital. It was part of their Pancakes and Politics series, which is sponsored by the American Fork Chamber of Commerce. No one in the area has more credibility in the moderator’s role than John Dougall. And … Read More …

Meet the American Fork City Council Candidates (Part 8)

Link Here’s a link to audio of candidates’ one-minute closing statements at last Wednesday evening’s meet-the-candidate event at American Fork Library: 2015_Wednesday_8 Closing Statements (in summary) Kevin Barnes: We’ve talked about a lot of things tonight, and talked a lot about money. When you go to vote, look at the … Read More …