Tag: public debt

meet the candidates — (L to R) Moderator John Dougall with 2015 candidates: Councilman Brad Frost, Councilman Robert Shelton, Kevin Barnes, Allen Simpson

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

10/28/2015 / David Rodeback

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.

Kevin Barnes

No one in the area has more credibility in the moderator’s role than John Dougall. And the free breakfast was good too. About 40 people attended, not counting the candidates and the moderator. The audience was noticeably older than Wednesday evening’s.

The format was a bit different from Wednesday evening, and some of the questions seemed a bit redundant, but there was more discussion of some key issues, as well as some treatment of issues which didn’t arise on Wednesday evening.

All four candidates were there: incumbents Brad Frost and Rob Shelton, and challengers Allen Simpson and Kevin Barnes.

My audio recording of this event is not of professional quality (that’s no surprise), and there’s a fair amount of background noise. But it’s easy to follow. I’ve broken it up into four segments of about 20 minutes each. For each segment, I’ll list the topics and the order in which the candidates responded.

First Segment

Audio link: 2015_Saturday_1

Councilman Brad Frost

Opening Statements (3 minutes each; Frost – Shelton – Simpson – Barnes)

Brad Frost: “Let me see the facts, and I will make a decision.”
Robert Shelton: “We were able to find over the last three years $1.8 million in budget cuts. . . . We were able to do more with less.”
Allen Simpson: “I’ve been successful at leading teams of people who were not used to following.”
Kevin Barnes: “I’m not mad at anybody. I’m not after anybody’s throat. I just want to serve.”

Questions (one-minute responses):

water rates (Shelton – Simpson – Barnes – Frost)
experience (Simpson – Barnes – Frost – Shelton)
more experience (Barnes – Frost – Shelton – Simpson)

Second Segment

Audio link: 2015_Saturday_2

Questions:

property and sales taxes, tax cuts (Frost – Shelton – Simpson – Barnes)
developers vs. residents (Shelton – Simpson – Barnes – Frost)
why running, what do you what to accomplish (Simpson – Barnes – Frost – Shelton)
top two priorities for City’s limited resources (Barnes – Frost – Shelton – Simpson)

Third Segment

Allen Simpson

Audio link: 2015_Saturday_3

Questions:

police questioning of people who haven’t broken the law (Frost – Shelton – Simpson – Barnes)
the study saying American Fork is the 4th or 5th most-taxes city in Utah (Shelton – Simpson – Barnes – Frost)
areas of City government that need changes (Simpson – Barnes – Frost – Shelton)
roads (Barnes – Frost – Shelton – Simpson)

Fourth Segment

Councilman Rob Shelton

Audio link: 2015_Saturday_4

Questions:

building department (Frost – Shelton – Simpson – Barnes)
what to cut in the budget (Shelton – Simpson – Barnes – Frost)
off-street parking and snow removal (Simpson – Barnes – Frost – Shelton)

Closing Statements (two minutes each; Barnes – Frost – Shelton – Simpson)

You may also enjoy notes and audio from the Wednesday evening candidates event.

Meet the American Fork City Council Candidates (Part 6)

10/28/2015 / David Rodeback

Link

Here’s a link to audio of a few questions and candidate responses at last Wednesday evening’s meet-the-candidate event at American Fork Library: These questions were submitted by residents attending the event.

2015_Wednesday_6

Questions in this Segment

What level of debt is healthy for our city? Are we there? If not, how do we get there? (Order: Frost – Simpson – Barnes – Shelton.)
Why does the City not have a justice court? We give all the money it would generate to the state circuit court. (Order: Simpson – Barnes – Shelton – Frost.)

Notes

Each candidate had one minute for each response. Note the response order above with each question, because candidates aren’t named before every response.

Highlights

Candidate Allen Simpson after the October 21, 2015, meet-the-candidates event at American Fork High School.

Brad Frost says the proper debt level is up to the residents, but having no debt is unrealistic, and it’s illegal to save so much money that we don’t have to bond for anything. A justice court is premature. But “the last thing you ever want your citizens to think is that you’re making money off their speeding tickets.” He thinks an American Fork justice court is three to five years away.

Allen Simpson said the proper level of debt is up to the citizens. He didn’t have an answer about a justice court.

Kevin Barnes said out debt ratio is not out of line. We’re not upside down. He explained the difference between revenue debt (paid for when services are delivered) and general debt (paid for from general funds). He didn’t have an answer about a justice court.

Rob Shelton said Orem is looking at a 101% water rate increase. Pleasant Grove is also looking at an increase, and Lehi had a water crisis two years ago. We shouldn’t use debt the way the federal government does, but debt has its uses, and the residents need to decide the big stuff. He explained that we get about 6 percent of the revenue from a traffic ticket, without a justice court. Finding a venue is difficult; in 2018 some space will be available, so that would be a good time to institute one.

Here’s a link to the next segment.