Tag: 2017 election (Page 2 of 3)

John’s Interviews with American Fork City Council Candidates

08/04/2017 / John Mulholland

It is often hard to get information about city council candidates, so in an effort to help people become more informed about pressing issues, I have spent the time interviewing the candidates for you. Please still feel free to reach out to them if you have additional questions.

Staci Carroll

Staci Carroll has a background in family science and has studied how groups work together. She has worked for several different companies, from a small tech startup to being a marketing manager at NuSkin. She has also served on the PARC tax advisory board and has seen many positive things already come from the PARC tax.

Staci feels that she brings a different voice to the city, as a young mother with kids in the fray. With a father who served as a state senator, Staci feels that she understands how to effectively work with others. She said that so-called back room deals are really just people building consensus ahead of a public meeting, so better solutions are developed. Continue reading

Now Available: July 29 Candidate Audio and David’s Commentary

07/31/2017 / David Rodeback

Audio

I’ve just published four posts here which may interest American Fork voters. Two (one for each race) have audio from the July 29 meet-the-candidates event, divided by question or statement, with a bit of discussion but no opinion from me. Some folks like it that way, and that’s okay. The audio isn’t professional, but I hope you’ll find it adequate.

While we’re at it, here’s a link to the American Fork Chamber of Commerce’s video recording of the event, just posted today.

Opinion

The other two posts contain my summaries of candidate responses, my recommendations, and — especially in the case of the mayoral debate — my candid commentary about what we heard. One of the mayoral candidates consistently fares poorly in that analysis. If that sort of thing bugs you, you’ll understand why I put my opinions in separate posts — so you can avoid them. For what it’s worth, my thoughts on the city council race are much happier. It’s a very strong field.

So read these if you wish, but you’ve been warned:

Here are two final thoughts, lifted from my city council notes.

Whatever you may think of Washington, DC, these days, we’re a long way from there. We have every opportunity to be well-governed in American Fork. I’m not sure that choice was even on our ballot last November.

We owe all our candidates and their families a debt of gratitude for the effort and sacrifice required to run for office, let alone serve if elected. One way to show that gratitude would be to vote in larger numbers than usually turn out for a local primary — especially if we have learned before we vote.

Thanks for reading. Comments are always welcome, within the usual bounds of civility and readability.

David’s Notes on the June 29 City Council Debate

07/31/2017 / David Rodeback

As before, this is not an attempt to give a complete play-by-play report of everything each candidate said. It’s one guy’s notes and opinions, and I’ll be candid. That said, if you read my thoughts on the mayoral debate, you’ll notice that these take a different tone. There’s a good reason for that. The six candidates who showed up are a strong field.

There’s another good reason for that, now that I think of it. I set the bar higher for mayor.

Before we proceed, a warning: If you’re at this site just for information, not opinion and analysis, hit the back button now. This post is opinionated, though it takes a gentler, happier tone than my similar post on the mayoral debate — for good reason, as I suppose.

I came away from the event thinking that the six good candidates I heard divide themselves into two tiers. There have been races in the past where I’d have rejoiced to have any or all of the three second-tier candidates on my ballot. They seem sensible, they have some awareness of city government and its issues, and they have experiences and education which could make them an asset on the city council. I could vote for any of them, if it weren’t for the three candidates in the first tier.

The first-tier candidates distinguish themselves by their experience, mostly within and around city government, and their command of details. I wish I had three votes, and I’m going to spend some time deciding which particularly good candidate doesn’t get my vote, even as I hope for all three to survive the primary.

At the end I’ll tell which candidates I place in which tier.

As before, you don’t need me to tell you what they said. If you want to hear the candidates themselves, audio is available in a separate post. And I won’t always quote the questions here, though I do in the post with the audio. You may not need me to tell you what it all means — but I’m about to try, for anyone who’s interested.
Continue reading

David’s Very Candid Notes on the June 29 Mayoral Debate

07/31/2017 / David Rodeback

This is not an attempt to give a complete play-by-play report of everything each candidate said, though I will summarize the responses to a degree. It’s one guy’s notes and opinions, and you are duly warned: I’m not pulling punches here. Well, not very many. You may not like what you read, and you’re certainly entitled to your own views and your own vote.

I will do us both the favor of being candid.

You don’t need me to tell you everything they said. If you want to hear the candidates themselves, audio is available in a separate post. And I won’t always quote the questions here, though I do that in the post with the audio. And you may not need me to tell you what it means — but I’m about to try, for anyone who’s interested.

American Fork – Primary – City Council Candidates Audio

07/31/2017 / David Rodeback

Here’s the audio I recorded from the city council candidates’ portion of Saturday’s meet-the-candidates event at the American Fork Hospital. But first, some disclaimers and housekeeping.

The audio isn’t professional. You get what you get from my little Sony voice recorder. I used Audacity for dynamic range compression, noise suppression, and enhancing the audio of candidates who spoke much more softly into the microphone than others. The photos aren’t professional either.

I’ve split the audio into sections, by question, etc., and I haven’t deleted any part of any candidate response. Obviously, there’s no fact-checking built into any of this.

If you want my notes, commentary, and analysis, they’re in a separate post, so readers who wish to avoid them can do so easily

Attendance was about 50, not including candidates. The moderator was State Auditor John Dougall. Questions came from the audience.

Audio from the mayoral candidates‘ portion of the event is in a separate blog post, and the American Fork Chamber of Commerce, which hosted the event, has posted a video recording on YouTube. Here also is the Daily Herald‘s report of the event. (Apologies for the unpleasant ad experience there.)

Six of eight candidates who filed were present. In seating order:

Barbara Christiansen
Staci Carroll
Kyle Barratt
Doug Richards
Jeff Shorter (incumbent)
Ernie John

American Fork – Primary – Mayoral Candidates Audio

07/31/2017 / David Rodeback

Here’s the audio I recorded from the mayoral candidates’ portion of Saturday’s meet-the-candidates event at the American Fork Hospital. Purists might not call it a debate, I suppose, but it’s as close as we tend to get in our politics.

Here are a few disclaimers and some housekeeping.

The audio isn’t professional. You get what you get from my little Sony voice recorder, with a little help from Audacity for dynamic range compression and some noise suppression. The photos aren’t professional either.

I’ve split the audio into sections, by question or statement, and I haven’t deleted any part of any candidate response. Obviously, there’s no fact-checking built into any of this.

If you want my notes, commentary, and analysis, they’re in a separate post, so readers who wish to avoid them can do so easily.

Attendance was about 50, not including candidates. The moderator was State Auditor John Dougall. Questions came from the audience.

Audio from the city council candidates‘ portion of the event is in a separate blog post, and the American Fork Chamber of Commerce, which hosted the event, has posted a video recording of the event on YouTube. Here also is the Daily Herald‘s report of the event. (Apologies for the unpleasant ad experience there.)

Only mayoral candidates Brad Frost and Carlton Bowen were present at the event. The third candidate in the race, Daniel Copper, was absent. No explanation was offered, and no opening or closing statement was read for him in his absence. Continue reading

Meet the Candidates for Mayor and City Council

07/28/2017 / David Rodeback

Tomorrow — Saturday, July 29 — is an event you may not want to miss: a rare opportunity to meet the candidates for American Fork mayor and city council before the August primary election reduces the field.

(The photo is from a similar event in 2015.)

Who, Where, When

As it has before, the American Fork Chamber of Commerce is hosting the event at the American Fork Hospital, at 170 N 1100 E in American Fork. It will be in the new education room in the surgery and emergency building. I suggest allowing a few extra minutes to find it, if you haven’t been there before.

Here’s a link to the Facebook event.

State Auditor John Dougall will moderate the event. He’s an old, skilled hand at this and a familiar face.

What, How

From 9:30 to 10:00 a.m. there will be an informal opportunity to meet and speak with various candidates.

At 10:00 a.m. the mayoral candidates will answer questions in a debate format.

Beginning about 10:30 or 10:45 a.m., the city council candidates will do the same. Continue reading

Your Ballot Will Be in the Mail!

07/25/2017 / David Rodeback

American Fork City is scheduled to put primary election ballots in the mail for all registered voters today, July 25. We may see ballots in our mailboxes tomorrow.

If you think you might want to vote, don’t throw it away! This is how we vote in this election.

If you’re registered and you don’t get your ballot this week, I’d send up a flare early next week (see below). Also note that it’s not to late too register and get a ballot, even if you missed the initial mailing.

How to Use the Ballot

Here’s how it works, according to the official City website:

After you fill out your ballot, place it in the envelope and sign the affidavit on the envelope. Once that’s done, you have options:

- Mail it back to the City. You don’t need a stamp; the City pays return postage. Important: If you mail your ballot, it must be postmarked no later than August 14, the day before Election Day. (For the general election, it’s November 6.)
- Deliver your ballot to the City Recorder’s office (51 E. Main) during business hours, on or before Election Day.
- Deliver your ballot to the Utah County Elections Office (100 E Center, Suite 3100, Provo) during regular business hours, on or before Election Day.
- Deliver your ballot on Election Day, August 15, between 7:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m., to the Vote Service Center that will be set up at the American Fork Library (64 S 100 E). (November 7 for the general election.) If you have to vote at the service center on Election Day (instead of bringing in your ballot), it will be a provisional vote — meaning that your eligibility will be evaluated after you vote, but before your vote is counted.

An 1840s ballot box in Nauvoo, Illinois. This is not that.

Other Dates and Deadlines

The voter registration deadline for online or in-person registrations for the primary election is August 8. For the general election, it’s October 23.

Primary election results won’t be final until August 29 at the official canvass, but that’s not unusual. We’ll hear tentative results on August 15.

American Fork voters who are registered Republicans (this no longer includes me) will receive a ballot which looks approximately like this and includes the Republican congressional primary candidates. For the rest of us, here’s a sample ballot with City races only.

For my part, I’m not a big fan of the mail-in ballot. Not yet, anyway. I like the civic ritual of going to the polls. But it’s a cheaper way to run an election, so that’s good.

For more information (and eventually some analysis and endorsements) of American Fork candidates, read more here at afelection.info.

City Council Candidates Q&A – Part 2

07/25/2017 / David Rodeback

City council candidates Kyle Barratt, Staci Carroll, Barbara Christiansen, and Jeffrey Shorter will be on the November general election ballot in American Fork. Each voter may choose two, and the two who receive the most votes will win the available seats.

Here candidates answer questions about taxes, water rates, impact fees, and roads. (Last time, they answered questions about experience and qualifications, goals, and motivations for running.)

The following candidates were defeated in the primary. Their responses, if any, are still available here, but have moved behind the buttons below.

Aaron Clegg
Bill Houlin
Ernie John
Doug Richards

Note: The questions in the post were sent to all three candidates by e-mail on Tuesday, July 18. Candidate responses are ordered alphabetically by surname. Responses may be slightly edited for grammar, punctuation, and format. Continue reading