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AF City Council Interviews: City Finances and Inflation

05/31/2023 / David Rodeback

I asked members of the American Fork City Council for their thoughts about the City’s financial condition. I had a particularly detailed conversation with Councilman Shelton, who has professional expertise in financial matters, about the effects of inflation on City finances.

City Finances and the Fund Balance

State law requires municipalities to keep a minimum cash reserve of 5% of the current fiscal year’s budgeted revenue. Until 2021 the maximum allowed reserve was 25%; now it’s 35%. (See Utah Code 10-6-116.)

One significant point of pride among all five council members is that, over the past several years, the City has built its reserve from below 10% to the maximum allowed by law, 35% — and the intention is to keep it there.

This is not just a rainy day fund, Councilwoman Staci Carroll explained. It has allowed the City to be opportunistic — for example, in acquiring a large piece of land for a planned regional park south of the freeway.

Councilman Ryan Hunter said, “We’re as strong as we’ve ever been, financially.”

American Fork River near flood stage next to Harbor Road

AF City Council Interviews: Water and Fiber

05/31/2023 / David Rodeback

This post addresses three topics from my interviews this month with the American Fork City Council: short-term concerns about the overabundance of water, long-term concerns about having enough water for current needs and to sustain growth, and the effort to bring fiber optic connectivity to the entire city, including homes and businesses the major telecom providers have declined to serve.

(Insert your own joke about [water-]soluble dietary fiber here. We’re not talking about that kind of fiber.)

Water, Water Everywhere!

I asked each member of the council what’s going on in the city just now, and they all mentioned water. The water is hard to miss, to be sure, especially if you’ve wandered down toward the harbor lately.

Mount Timpanogos - May 2023 - city council interviews

American Fork City Council Interviews: Introduction

05/31/2023 / David Rodeback

Each member of the American Fork City Council sat down with me this month, one on one, for half an hour or more, at my request, to discuss how things are going in the city. I thought their perspectives might be useful background for the municipal election season which starts June 1, with the opening of the one-week candidate filing period.

Two of these interviews happened in my living room. Two were at the City Administration Building. One was on a council member’s back porch on a pleasant weekday evening. I thank each of them for willingly making time for me in their busy schedules.

2023 Candidates for Utah State GOP Offices

04/20/2023 / John Mulholland

Like county parties, state parties have their organizating conventions in off years, when they’re not nominating candidates. Some of the most important business is is electing party officers. The Utah State Republican Party 2023 Organizating Convention is this Saturday, April 22nd, at UVU’s UCCU Center in Orem. Here’s my report on my interviews with most of the candidates for state GOP party office.

For further information about the candidates and the convention, go to utgop.org.

Utah County GOP - Utah County Republican Party

Candidates at the 2023 Utah County GOP Organizing Convention

04/10/2023 / John Mulholland

The annual Utah County Republican Party Convention gets a lot more attention in even-numbered years, because it selects candidates for county offices and any state offices which are partisan and don’t cross county lines. In the odd-numbered years it’s an “organizing convention” which selects the county party chair and other party officers. This year’s Utah County GOP Organization Convention is April 15. I’m interviewing candidates and reporting on those interviews in posts here. A future post will report on candidates for state GOP offices.

Most the races have one candidate running unopposed, but I am writing about them anyway, so people can better know those who will serve in the various party positions. More information is available at the Utah County Republican Party website.

Where to Find David’s 2022 Election Guides

11/04/2022 / David Rodeback

This blog is primarily dedicated to American Fork issues. My 2022 election ballot has races for nation, state, county, and local offices, as well as a proposed Alpine School District bond issue and a proposed amendment to the Utah Constitution. I’ve posted two guides at my site for a broader audience, The Freedom Habit.

One post offers information and lots of my opinion, mostly separated, on the US Senate race pitting Mike Lee against Evan McMullin and others, and the US House of Representatives race between John Curtis and Glenn Wright (and some others). I got pretty candid, but then that’s the deal here. I tell you what I think.

The other addresses all the other races on my ballot, with info one each race and my own thoughts, such as they are, on each contested race. Overall, this post is less aggressive, I suppose, but it’s still what I think.

Thanks for checking in!

Photo by Sora Shimazaki at Pexels.com.

Alpine School Board District 4 Primary (nonpartisan)

06/15/2022 / John Mulholland

Three candidates are on the June 28 primary ballot for Alpine School Board District 4. Because this is a non-partisan race, the function of the primary is to reduce the field of three to two, for the November general election.

Because of redistricting, two candidates in this race, Sarah Beeson and Amber Bonner, are incumbents, each seeking a second term on the board. They are joined on the ballot by Lana Nelson.

Alpine School Board District 4 includes Highland, Alpine, Cedar Hills, and roughly the northern half of American Fork.

An Interview with the Interviewer

04/08/2022 / John Mulholland

If you’ve been reading my reports of interviews with Republican candidates in Utah County, you may want to know what’s behind them. So here I am, John Mulholland, interviewing John Mulholland.

Q: Please describe your process.

A: It goes like this:

2022 Utah County Attorney Candidates (Republican)

04/07/2022 / John Mulholland

Two candidates are are on the June 28 Republican primary ballot, vying for the 2022 Republican nomination for Utah County Attorney: incumbent David Leavitt and challenger Jeff Gray. Adam Pomeroy has withdrawn.

(Page updated 4 June 2022.)

2022 Utah County Commission Seat A Candidates (Republican)

04/07/2022 / John Mulholland

Two candidates, Amelia Gardner and Renee Tribe, will be on the June 28 Republican primary ballot, vying for the Republican nomination to Utah County Commission Seat A.

The Utah County Commission consists of three commissioners who are elected by the entire county to staggered four-year terms. Seats A and B are up for election in 2022. Seat C will be up for election in 2024.

(Page revised 4 June 2022.)