Page 2 of 14

taxes - woman studying sheets of numbers

Straight Talk About Taxes

11/09/2023 / David Rodeback

If you were at the October 16 American Fork City Council candidate debate or listened to the audio or watched the video, you might have wished for some detailed background about how property taxes work. Here I’ll give you that background as concisely as I can, then say a few words about the candidates with respect to these issues.

(My other responses to what I heard at that debate are in the previous post. It’s about twice as long as this one.)

This post is heavy on information, for those of who seek only that here, but the closer we get to the end, the more you’ll get my opinions.

debate thoughts - American Fork election 2023 - thinking man in blue shirt

Thoughts on the October 16 Debate

11/08/2023 / David Rodeback

When I posted audio, one file per topic, from the October 16 American Fork City Council candidate debate, I promised to return with my own thoughts. It’s taken longer than I hoped, but Election Day is still almost two weeks away, and this is that post. (The American Fork Chamber of Commerce posted video of the event at its YouTube channel. See also frequent contributor John Mulholland’s TL;DR.)

If you want to know what every candidate said on every topic, please listen to the audio. Getting it straight from the candidates is best. Here I’m choosing the things I want to discuss, not trying to report or even summarize everything.

I’ll tell you what I think and why. if you’re here just for information, not opinion and analysis, exit after the next section, and thanks for reading.

Straight Talk About Fiber

10/28/2023 / David Rodeback

It’s past time for a fresh batch of straight talk here about citywide fiber optic broadband in American Fork. There’s a lot of information about the City’s project at the City website, and it’s well worth reading. But here we’ll do something the City can’t. We’ll look at the project in the context of the current city council election.

If you’re one of those readers (thank you for reading!) who seeks only information here and prefers to avoid analysis, commentary, and opinion, proceed with caution. There’s information here, but it’s arrayed against incomplete and inaccurate information spread by two of the five American Fork City Council candidates, and there’s some analysis, commentary, and opinion in the mix. But I’ll meet you halfway, sort of. I’ll only name those two candidates at the very end, in case that helps you focus on the information.

I’m firmly in favor of the project, but there are legitimate reasons why well-informed voters might oppose it. As in many other realms of our political discourse, I wish people would argue for or against a thing (or candidate) for legitimate reasons, without thinking they have to abandon truth and context in favor of spin, selective information, and untruth.

I’ve said that before. Call me naive — or perhaps spoiled, lately — but I expect better in American Fork than we sometimes get from other levels of our politics.

five men at a table facing the audience - debate TL;DR

City Council Debate Audio

10/23/2023 / David Rodeback

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.

Harry Reid - pencil and watercolor portrait - dirty trick

The Anatomy of the Dirty Trick

10/21/2023 / David Rodeback

We don’t always see a dirty trick in our American Fork political campaigns, but we see them occasionally. There’s cause to suspect we’ll see at least one in this general election cycle, aimed at taking down at least one leading candidate. Before that happens (if it does), let’s talk about campaign dirty tricks in general.

We’ll look at what they are and aren’t, their typical attributes, and how we voters can respond intelligently and responsibly when they appear. I’ll give examples, local and otherwise. Some will be historical, some hypothetical, and I’ll be clear about which is which.

The Happiest American Fork News I’ve Heard in a While

10/18/2023 / David Rodeback

I’ve been concerned for years that there is too little significant journalism dedicated to American Fork anymore, since the demise of the printed American Fork Citizen several years ago. Sure, there’s coverage of high school sports scores and anything striking or scandalous that news editors somewhere think will interest a broader audience, but that’s about it.

This isn’t good for good government (the local version), and it’s a missed opportunity to build a sense of community in a rapidly growing and diversifying city.

My friend and neighbor Danny Crivello did well to keep reporting some news at AFCitizen.com for years after the (Provo) Daily Herald swallowed our local newspaper, but one guy in a different, demanding career can only do so much for so long. (What he did, he did well, and the community owes him thanks.)

A few weeks ago, outgoing three-term American Fork City Councilor Rob Shelton, who has expressed similar concerns in the past, gave me a sneak, confidential peek at a new project he’s taking on to stay out of (in?) trouble when his city council term ends.

Rob Shelton - American Fork Citizen — Rob Shelton

It’s not confidential anymore, and I can finally say this: I am delighted. Thrilled. Practically ecstatic. And grateful, come to think of it.

He has acquired AFCitizen.com from Danny Crivello and is making it a going journalistic concern. He’s pulled in some experienced journalists (meet at least some of the team here), and the first new stories went live there last week, on Friday, October 13. (I gather he’s not superstitious.)

City Council Debate TL;DR

10/17/2023 / John Mulholland

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 2023 - American Fork City Council

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.”)

Weaponizing Democracy: Petition and Referendum

10/16/2023 / David Rodeback

A common complaint among candidates, when local elections roll around, is that the city council should send — or should have sent — the big questions to the voters, especially the big expenditures. We’ve adopted a Latin word for that vote: referendum.

The referendum process can be an important check by the people on misguided or dilatory local and state legislative bodies. There is no equivalent at the national level; some have advocated such a thing, but I never have. As firmly as I declare the people’s sovereignty in our governments, we’ve seen enough mischief achieved by referendum in states and municipalities that I have never warmed to the idea of a national referendum.

But back to earth. American Fork, to be precise. (Meanwhile, in Pleasant Grove, they’re collecting signatures through today to put a recent tax increase to a public vote.)

Cities are required by law to put certain bond issues to the voters. This happens when the bonds will have to be repaid from general funds, meaning tax revenues, which could mean a tax increase.

Most other actions, including bond issues to be repaid with other revenues, do not require the voters’ direct approval — but opponents can force a referendum by gathering enough signatures on a petition.

There’s a bit of a contradiction evident when someone running to be our elected representative wants to pull decisions away from our elected representatives and subject them to a popular vote. But I have a larger concern.

I’m sorry if this sounds cynical. If you’re tempted to believe that these referendum-touting candidates are animated by an abundance of democratic spirit and an overarching respect for the people’s collective wisdom, resist that. The motive is nearly always more political.

Here’s the short explanation. Well, short-ish.

city council debate - American Fork - 2023

Important Date: October 16 – City Council Debate

10/14/2023 / David Rodeback

Voters in American Fork who like to be informed will want to be at the American Fork Senior Center Monday evening, October 16, for a City Council Debate sponsored by the American Fork Chamber of Commerce.

As usual, the event has two parts: an informal meet-and-greet from 6:30 to 7:00 p.m., and a debate from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m.

What to Expect

In case you’ve never attended one of these events, I’ll give you an idea of what to expect. I haven’t consulted with the Chamber of Commerce about this specific event, but they tend to be very much alike.

AF Primary Election Turnout 2023

09/27/2023 / David Rodeback

Now that Utah County has posted detailed election results by precinct (a CSV file), we can see turnout for American Fork specifically.

County-wide turnout was 21.2%. (I’m rounding throughout.)

In American Fork we did slightly better: 22.5%

In my subjective view, that’s not bad for a primary election that was oddly, even awkwardly, timed and in which, to be frank, most candidates didn’t appear to do a lot to put their names and thoughts in front of the voters. The general election is oddly timed too, November 21, just before Thanksgiving, but I’m confident the voters will hear plenty from the remaining candidates by then.

Drilling down a little further, and excluding two odd little precincts with ten registered voters combined, turnout in the various precincts varied from to 11.1% to 29.3%. If you want to study the numbers and a precinct map, those are at the Utah County website.

(I think it’s all supposed to be available with numbers in a map here, but as of this writing, it isn’t working in my browser.)

If you’re not registered to vote at your current address but you’d like to be, here’s another link to the Utah County website for voter registration.

We’ll be back fairly regularly here with more information and analysis of candidates and the issues, between now and — good grief — the day before the day before Thanksgiving.