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ISSUES AND NEWS
Election Dates and Procedure
The general election occurs on November 2nd. For the general election, an individual can vote for up to two city council candidates. The top two vote recipients will be your new City Council members.
Davis County votes by mail. As such, every registered voter will receive a ballot in the mail for both elections. Ballots will be mailed to the general public approximately three weeks before the election. The ballots arrive in Salt Lake for processing on October 11th for the general election. Military ballots go out 45 days before each election: September 17th for general election.
Step #1 - Be sure you are registered to vote and encourage all Centerville residents to do the same. A simple email or generic post on Facebook or Instagram will do. Something like, "Be sure you are registered to vote".
Step #2 - Be sure to vote and encourage your friends and neighbors to vote in both the primary and the general election. You get two votes for City Council in both the primary and the general election.
Financial Responsibility and Transparency
As a City we must ensure tax revenues are allocated and spent conservatively and wisely.
The draft 2022 City Budget estimates approximately $19.7M in revenues and expenditures. I look forward to being an active member of the Council to prudently utilize our resources. In addition, I strongly believe in planning and preparing for our collective future as a community and as individuals. We must never procrastinate financial expenditures for the sake of election probabilities or politics. The future should not be burdened by City government not being brave enough to make tough decisions today. I believe that supporting the maintenance and enhancement of our infrastructure is key responsibility of a City Council. If you would like to review the Fiscal Year 2021 Adopted Budget, a link is here
As part of my career, I am a team executive and lead in managing large budgets. On a personal level, since the very earliest days of our marriage, we have created an annual budget and then tracked income and expenditures (we keep every receipt so that we can record and categorize transactions correctly). I believe that my experience in managing both business and home budgets prepare me to be a valuable, contributing member of the Council in making sound financials decisions.
Safety and Protection
Approximately 40% of Centerville City General Fund expenditures are spent on police and fire (see the budget link above). Our collective protection and security are foundational needs that provide essential physical and emotional quality of life. I look forward to working with our police and fire agencies as a primary priority to ensure the safety and comfort of Centerville residents.
Families, Households, Growth and Density
I hear many questions about growth and density. In some cases the word 'growth' goes hand-in-hand with the word 'density' as available land in Centerville diminishes.
For context on my position, I believe in families; parents, children, siblings, grandchildren, aunts, uncles, cousins, adopted friends and loved ones, etc. With family and added relationships, naturally comes population growth. I believe that when we believe in, support, and encourage families, we are inherently supporters of growth as its logical extension.
My position is NOT a promotion of excess growth. I believe in families and therefore I believe in family-centered, community-centered growth. I believe we would love our children, our grandchildren and future generations to live in a great community like Centerville. If we share those beliefs, the question and challenge that we must then address is how to manage that growth and create available housing, public services and a sense of community for our future generation(s).
I believe we manage our family-centered growth by at least, but not limited to, 1) acknowledging that family and household creation are impossible to separate from growth and future density, 2) considering existing neighborhoods and uses in the City, 3) soliciting extensive community input, 4) engaging professional consultation, 5) recognizing we are a collective community seeking to find ways solutions for that growth, and 6) focusing on a long-term objective of continuing to improve and enhance Centerville City.
Accepting and managing that growth comes in many forms as we consider land use planning and zoning (uses, density, buffering, setbacks, heights, etc.), infrastructure maintenance/improvements/enhancements, safety and law enforcement, traffic management, parks and recreation accessibility and more.
My Professional Development Background
I have worked for a real estate development company (The Boyer Company) for twenty-three years with a focus on healthcare real estate development (medical offices, surgery centers, skilled nursing facilities, etc).
Over 90% of my work has been repeat business. I and my firm have earned the trust of clients across the country, who have used our services for nearly four decades and value my expertise, professionalism and integrity. As part of my most recent project development approvals in September 2021, the local city unanimously approved the project and stated, "Development is a two-way street and we appreciate developers who reach out to us proactively and are willing to accept our feedback from staff. Thank you.”
I also completed a project bordering the South Temple Historic District in Salt Lake City where we held community outreach meetings and collaborated the building design with the neighborhood committee head. I not only received their approval for the project, but they endorsed it and attended the groundbreaking.
As a company we have been awarded several projects in collaboration with many cities who recognize our ability to understand their needs and deliver on our promises including the City of Ogden, Boise, Tempe, Phoenix and more.
I believe my experience and skill sets in finance, budgeting, and understanding of community land use and building development, combined with effective communication and interpersonal interaction, uniquely qualify me as a candidate for Centerville City Council.
Community Input
As a member of the Planning Commission I have seen firsthand the value of input and public comment from community members. In addition, I have seen excellent examples from current Planning Commission members and appreciate their mentorship in engaging, soliciting and valuing public input. Your feedback is vital in formulating decisions and recommendations for the future of the City. I encourage and hope that we will continue to receive community input as we make decisions and plan for our future.
Community Civility, Respect, Compassion, Empathy and Understanding
Centerville is too good of a place to be marred and degraded by the 'I win, you lose' mentality of today's political climate. One of my greatest hopes is that we can seek collective common ground, listen to all viewpoints and be better because we have tried to 'walk in someone else's shoes'. Though there may be disagreements on a policy decision, I would hope we can all recognize that we are trying to do our best to make Centerville a better place.
UDOT - UTA - Transportation
With respect to UTA’s current bus rapid transit proposal, though we as a City would love to prescribe exactly what happens on Main Street, the primary context of any discussion related to BRT is that UDOT owns the road (or right of way) and is legislatively mandated to support and improve transit. I believe that Centerville residents understand, respect, and believe in property rights regardless of the owner. It is a vital component of our collective freedoms. The current UTA proposal does not exceed the boundary of UDOT property. This right of way ownership is a vital fact to frame our collective interaction with UTA related to current and future bus service through Centerville.
At this point, it is not a matter of whether an individual is opposed to, ambivalent to or supportive of UTA’s current bus service or proposed bus rapid transit. UTA does not need our permission or approval to change their service. They have repeatedly stated there are no plans to widen Main Street in Centerville. There are no plans for dedicated lanes. The busses are the same length, and the speed limit is the same. The remaining matter, then, is how we approach UTA with our needs and concerns for Main Street.
My greatest concern is an approach that, 1) does not acknowledge UDOT and UTA’s property rights, mission, and vision and/or 2) is an adversarial or ‘no’ approach. My twenty-three years of direct experience working with city, county, state and federal agencies has taught me that fighting with these agencies does not yield results or benefits we may want, but results in entrenchment. One of the results I desire is a sizable improvement to crossings. My experience is that building and fostering relationships yields the best outcomes. Being disengaged or antagonistic will only put us as a City in a position of disadvantage.
Nearly every government agency I have worked with, truly wants to work and partner with all stakeholders whose property is affected by their improvements, rights of way, and services. However, they will not be deterred in their mission and will not be bullied. UDOT’s core mission is to “Keep Utah Moving”. UTA’s vision is to “provide an integrated system of innovative, accessible and efficient public transportation”. If our requests align with those goals, we will have an opportunity for success in some measure.
As such, I have been clear that my position is we can work to build and foster relationships with UTA and UDOT, working to achieve our needs and some wants that are practical. Instead of avoiding, ignoring or being combative, we can be approachable, we can be problem-solvers, and we can be rational.
Conflict of Interest
Conflicts of interest are a serious matter for public officials. As a current member of the Planning Commission, I provide an annual conflict of interest disclosure. Where there is a City matter, discussion and decision related to a conflict of interest, a commissioner or council member is to recuse themselves.
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