Tag: Kyle Barratt (Page 2 of 3)

Meet American Fork City Council Candidates

10/06/2017 / David Rodeback

Our best opportunity to meet and grill American Fork’s four city council candidates is tomorrow morning, Saturday, October 6, at 9:30 a.m. It’s provided by the American Fork Chamber of Commerce (thanks!), and hosted by American Fork Hospital (thanks!) in their comfortable Education Room.

Neither mayoral candidate is able to attend but — forgive me, if you feel the need — the city council race is the interesting one anyway.

The easiest access is the emergency entrance at the front of the hospital. Once inside, I suggest you decline any proffered medical care — they charge for that — and find the Education Room back a bit and to your right. If you don’t arrive especially early, there should be signs to guide you. If there aren’t, just poke your head into rooms until you see something that looks political, or the staff becomes so distressed that they offer to escort you to your destination.

At 9:30 a..m. we get to chat with candidates informally. At 10:00 a.m. the formal question-and-answer period will begin. I’d anticipate it lasting 60 to 90 minutes.

You’re welcome to e-mail your questions in advance to chamber@afcity.net or submit them in writing at the event itself.

Also, I’m expecting a cookie — but I remember when it was pancakes.

In case you’re just arriving at the party, the four city council candidates on your November ballot in American Fork will be (in alphabetical order by surname, not necessarily my preference): Kyle Barratt, Barbara Christiansen, Staci Carroll, and incumbent Jeff Shorter. We voters each get to vote for two, and the two winners fill the available seats.

You’ve been wanting to get involved, and this is a great place to start. Even if you don’t know what to ask or what the issues are, come and observe and learn. The hot seat is for the candidates. The audience can relax, listen, and nibble the aforementioned cookie.

We plan to post audio here after the event, as we’ve done before, for those who can’t make it. For the rest of you . . . see you there! Bring the kids! Especially the teenagers! But don’t let them run laps around the room while everyone else tries to listen to the candidates and avoid unkind thoughts about their — ahem, the children’s — parentage. This isn’t a church dinner.

American Fork Election Results (updated)

08/18/2017 / David Rodeback

Here’s an updated report of primary election results, based on updated counts released this afternoon. There will be further updates — by state law, on Tuesdays and Fridays — before the official canvass on Tuesday, August 29, but the votes added in subsequent updates will likely be far fewer.

The big news for American Fork voters is that the outcome of the city council race changed. Incumbent city councilor Jeff Shorter moved into fourth place ahead of Ernie John by 27 votes, pushing the latter out of the general election, if the result holds. This isn’t a big surprise; in Tuesday’s results the margin was a mere nine votes.

American Fork Election Results (Tentative)

08/17/2017 / David Rodeback

I’ve been waiting to post local election results, hoping for numbers more recent than 10:09 p.m. on election night — given that most of the ballots were mailed, and a lot of them presumably didn’t arrive in time to be counted on Tuesday evening.

I finally called the county clerk’s office, where I learned that state law requires them to publish updated numbers on Fridays and Tuesdays, until the final canvass two weeks after election day. They said they might publish an update sooner, but so far they haven’t.

So without waiting further, let’s see what we know. Continue reading

American Fork Candidates Q&A – Part 5 – Debt, Decisions, and More

08/12/2017 / David Rodeback

As before, I sent all the candidates the same questions. This time, more of them responded, and I’m still expecting another response or two, which I’ll happily post upon receipt.

Thanks to all the candidates who’ve participated in our little pre-primary Q&A.

Voters, don’t forget that your ballot, if mailed, must be postmarked no later than Monday, August 14, 2017. There are some in-person options on Tuesday. Further information is here.

Mayoral candidates Brad Frost and Carlton Bowen are on the November general election ballot in American Fork. Kyle Barratt, Barbara Christiansen, Staci Carroll, and Jeffrey Shorter are running for two available city council seats.

Note: Responses may be slightly edited for grammar, punctuation, and format. Responses by candidates who were defeated in the primary are still available below, behind the buttons.

Published: 25 July 2017
Updated: 31 October 2017

American Fork Candidates Q&A, Part 4 – The City and Developers

08/08/2017 / David Rodeback

In this post, candidates respond to one question:

For years we’ve heard reports that developers find the City so difficult to work with that many of them won’t build at all in American Fork. To what extent are these reports true? Is it a good thing? What if anything should elected City officials do about it?

Carlton Bowen and Brad Frost are running for mayor. Kyle Barratt, Barbara Christiansen, Staci Carroll, and Jeffrey Shorter are running for two available city council seats.

Note: None of the candidates who were defeated in the primary responded to this set of questions, so this post, unlike previous similar posts, has no responses to hide behind buttons.

Published: 25 July 2017
Updated: 31 October 2017

American Fork Candidates Q&A: Part 3 – Quick Responses on Nine Issues

08/07/2017 / David Rodeback

I’m combining mayoral and city council candidates’ responses to this set of questions, because so far only one of the former and two of the latter have responded with answers. I’ll publish more if and when I receive them.

Perhaps I ask too much of candidates, sending them all these questions and asking them to respond. Life is busy enough, and campaigning makes it more so, for those who actually do it.

However, I keep thinking that it’s a decent test — not a perfect one — of candidates’ inclination and ability to communicate, even when they’re busy — which seems to be an important characteristic of their service, if we elect them.

But onward. In this set of questions, I asked the candidates to respond quickly — in seven words or less — to a list of issues. My exact instructions were (with examples omitted): Respond to the following issues in seven words or less. . . . Leave some of them blank, if you wish.

Those who responded caught the spirit of it. Please note that I don’t expect informed profundity on every issue; you probably shouldn’t either. But it’s good to see how they think. Continue reading

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

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: