Since it is an odd numbered year, it means that municipal elections are to be held this year in Utah. In Woods Cross, we will have two council member seats up for re-election as well as the mayor's seat. The two council members who are up for re-election this year are Jon Hadlow and Tamra Dayley.
I haven't heard yet if any of the incumbents have decided to run for re-election. It should be a very interesting election season. Our fees have gone up significantly over the last two years. It will be interesting to see if any challenging candidates decide to capitalize on this.
Fortunately, we won't have to worry about campaigns to start up until much later this year.
Showing posts with label city council. Show all posts
Showing posts with label city council. Show all posts
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Tuesday, May 06, 2008
Governmental Budgets
It appears to me that our governmental entities here in Utah budget just as well as Utah families. That, unfortunately, is not a good thing. I believe many families in Utah don't budget well. In fact, many studies show that American families in general don't budget well. Many American families subscribe to the buy now, pay later mantra. We see this as well in government. Many governments are willing to place bonds and then increase fees paid by the citizens to pay off the debt. Wouldn't it be better to plan ahead and save some extra money to pay for the improvements before they occur?
In Woods Cross, we will see our water fees increase by a significant amount in the near future. This is to pay for a bond that will be used to build a new water storage tank and to drill a new well. This will mean that both our garbage and water fees will have been increased significantly in the space of one year. I would suspect that if you were to look back on the last 14 years of Woods Cross government, you would see that taxes and fees collected by Woods Cross City have increased at a much higher rate than inflation. Is this being a responsible government?
In Woods Cross, we will see our water fees increase by a significant amount in the near future. This is to pay for a bond that will be used to build a new water storage tank and to drill a new well. This will mean that both our garbage and water fees will have been increased significantly in the space of one year. I would suspect that if you were to look back on the last 14 years of Woods Cross government, you would see that taxes and fees collected by Woods Cross City have increased at a much higher rate than inflation. Is this being a responsible government?
Monday, March 17, 2008
It only took three months...
I wrote in a previous post (see here) about my fears of Jill Hadley Evans being able to make unbiased decisions when it comes to issues about the Woods Cross City parks. It looks like it only took three months for my fears to apparently come true.
Councilmember Jill Evans has had two items placed on tomorrow's City Council Agenda (see here) that deal with Woods Cross City parks. Normally I wouldn't have a problem with her placing items that deal with the Parks Department on the agenda, however, on at least one of these agenda items, my sources say that her husband Marc has decided not to tell his direct supervisor about his proposal. Common courtesy and common sense say that you should at least let your direct supervisor know what your intentions are. In many companies, doing the equivalent is labeled as insubordination. At the very least, in my four years on the City Council, I learned that you typically wouldn't get things passed if you didn't gauge the interest of the other council members prior to having something put on the agenda. I guess Jill and her husband Marc, have some things to learn still.
I'd like to offer my feelings on the two agenda items.
First item - Discussion on Closing Athletic Field for Organized Youth Team Usage
The parks are paid for by property taxes and sales taxes collected for Woods Cross City. By far the biggest influx to the City's budget comes from sales tax monies. The organized youth teams that use our parks are typically from the South Davis area. That means the parents of these youth quite likely live in Woods Cross and pay property taxes to Woods Cross or at least have purchased things in Woods Cross and have paid sales taxes on those items. The largest percentage of sales tax income to Woods Cross comes from the car dealerships located here. It's not uncommon for a Bountiful, West Bountiful, or North Salt Lake resident to purchase a Chevrolet or Toyota at one of our Woods Cross dealerships. I think it's about time that the parks employees realize who pays for the parks and for their salaries. The parks are paid for by the public and are to be used by the public. Let's not do things to diminish the use of our parks by the public.
Second item - Discussion on Park Fees
Again as I said in regards to the previous item, the parks are paid for by the public and are to be used by the public. To charge a park fee is equal to double taxation. Some people may say that we should charge a fee for those who are not Woods Cross residents. As I mentioned above, the biggest influx of money into the General Fund budget comes from sales tax. I don't see how charging a park use fee helps our Woods Cross residents. The members of the organized youth sports teams come from the South Davis area. Let's not resort to double taxation of our residents.
Councilmember Jill Evans has had two items placed on tomorrow's City Council Agenda (see here) that deal with Woods Cross City parks. Normally I wouldn't have a problem with her placing items that deal with the Parks Department on the agenda, however, on at least one of these agenda items, my sources say that her husband Marc has decided not to tell his direct supervisor about his proposal. Common courtesy and common sense say that you should at least let your direct supervisor know what your intentions are. In many companies, doing the equivalent is labeled as insubordination. At the very least, in my four years on the City Council, I learned that you typically wouldn't get things passed if you didn't gauge the interest of the other council members prior to having something put on the agenda. I guess Jill and her husband Marc, have some things to learn still.
I'd like to offer my feelings on the two agenda items.
First item - Discussion on Closing Athletic Field for Organized Youth Team Usage
The parks are paid for by property taxes and sales taxes collected for Woods Cross City. By far the biggest influx to the City's budget comes from sales tax monies. The organized youth teams that use our parks are typically from the South Davis area. That means the parents of these youth quite likely live in Woods Cross and pay property taxes to Woods Cross or at least have purchased things in Woods Cross and have paid sales taxes on those items. The largest percentage of sales tax income to Woods Cross comes from the car dealerships located here. It's not uncommon for a Bountiful, West Bountiful, or North Salt Lake resident to purchase a Chevrolet or Toyota at one of our Woods Cross dealerships. I think it's about time that the parks employees realize who pays for the parks and for their salaries. The parks are paid for by the public and are to be used by the public. Let's not do things to diminish the use of our parks by the public.
Second item - Discussion on Park Fees
Again as I said in regards to the previous item, the parks are paid for by the public and are to be used by the public. To charge a park fee is equal to double taxation. Some people may say that we should charge a fee for those who are not Woods Cross residents. As I mentioned above, the biggest influx of money into the General Fund budget comes from sales tax. I don't see how charging a park use fee helps our Woods Cross residents. The members of the organized youth sports teams come from the South Davis area. Let's not resort to double taxation of our residents.
Friday, January 25, 2008
What is a City Council Seat worth?
Woods Cross had three seats on the City Council up for election last November. I decided to see how much the candidates thought they should spend to get elected to the City Council. I put in a GRAMA request for the Campaign Finance Reports for all City Council Candidates for November's Municipal election. Utah State Code says, "A governmental entity may fulfill a record request without charge and is encouraged to do so when it determines that releasing the record primarily benefits the public rather than a person." (see 63-2-203 here) I guess Woods Cross City believes that releasing this record doesn't benefit the public since they charged me 90 cents for this information. I was happy to pay this amount so that I could bring this information to the public. I will highlight some of the most fascinating parts of the reports.
I will list them in order of amount spent.
I will list them in order of amount spent.
- Jill Hadley Evans spent the most at $2,074.79. The single largest expense she encountered was $1,028.95 spent at "Shades of Gray Communication" in Salt Lake City. According to her report, she spent only $133.20 of her own money. She listed her parents, Jay and Jan Hadley, as contributing $1,691.59 to her campaign. She also received a $250.00 contribution from Menlove Toyota. Result? She was elected to a four-year term.
- Gary Sharp was next in line spending $1,428.97. His single largest expense was $732.19 to "Designs and Signs" located here in Woods Cross. He also listed expenses for his campaign website. Gary received an in kind contribution from I4 Solutions also in Woods Cross. Other contributions listed in his report are $250.00 from Greene's Inc. and $50.00 each from Glen Jenkins of Woods Cross and Marva Thomas of St. George. Result? Was not elected to the city council.
- Rick Earnshaw had the least detailed financial report of all the candidates. He listed spending $800.00 on his campaign with all of it being given to the Woods Cross High School Swim Team, which his wife is the coach of. He only listed one contribution for the amount of $500.00 from Menlove Toyota. Result? Re-elected to a four-year term.
- David Hill reported spending $587.16 on his successful campaign. The single biggest expense listed on his report was to the US Postal Service for $325.00. He also reported spending $105.07 at "Sign Makers" in Salt Lake City. He listed two contributions of $50.00 each from Glen Jenkins of Woods Cross and Former Mayor Jerry Larrabee. Result? Elected to a four-year term.
- Ryan Westergard reported spending $155.24 on his campaign with $141.36 of that going to "Print Xpress" in Salt Lake City. He reported receiving no contributions to his campaign. Result? He was not elected to the City Council.
- Cory Green makes me wonder if Woods Cross City didn't provide me with all of the campaign finance reports. His report shows that he only spent $87.45 on his campaign with all of it going to "Focus Services" of Roy. This expense would be for a recorded message that he had sent to phones just prior to the election. His report shows no expenses for signs although he had many throughout the city. This is what makes me wonder if Woods Cross City didn't provide me with all of the campaign finance reports as my GRAMA request asked for. Result? Cory was also not elected to the City Council.
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
And they're off...
The Utah State Legislature is in session now. This causes me to reflect on a few things. I've posted previously about the Legislature's reluctance to pass bills that concern their ethics. (see here, here, and here.) It looks like this year will be no different in that regard.
Another thing that I've been thinking about has to do with UTOPIA in particular, but, in the way the Legislature acts in general. Our state legislators constantly complain when the Federal Government forces them to do things in a certain way. They don't seem to have a problem, however, doing the same thing to local City Councils. This is just as frustrating for the City Councils as it is for the State Legislature when they get it from the Federal Government. Two bills that currently strike me as acting this way are HB75 (here) and HB76 (here). It will be interesting to watch not only these two bills, but, also other bills that limit the control that our State Legislators allow local elected officials to have.
Another thing that I've been thinking about has to do with UTOPIA in particular, but, in the way the Legislature acts in general. Our state legislators constantly complain when the Federal Government forces them to do things in a certain way. They don't seem to have a problem, however, doing the same thing to local City Councils. This is just as frustrating for the City Councils as it is for the State Legislature when they get it from the Federal Government. Two bills that currently strike me as acting this way are HB75 (here) and HB76 (here). It will be interesting to watch not only these two bills, but, also other bills that limit the control that our State Legislators allow local elected officials to have.
Thursday, January 03, 2008
Best way to teach about government?
I've been thinking quite a bit this week about a topic that came up in my church meetings on Sunday. One of the men in the class mentioned that in his home growing up they were taught by example not to criticize political leaders. This got me thinking about how to teach our children about their right, even their obligation, to influence politics without teaching them to be critical of authority figures?
I've found that my kids have learned a great deal about the political process in place in this country by watching me be involved in it. Is it wrong for them to know that I'm against my City Council limiting my free agency by forcing me to pay for recycling? If they were to never hear me criticize decisions made by my political leaders, how would they know how the process is supposed to work? I want my children to be involved in politics. I want them to make their positions known to their elected officials. I want them to know that it's good to question decisions made by our elected officials. That's the way a representative government works.
I've found that my kids have learned a great deal about the political process in place in this country by watching me be involved in it. Is it wrong for them to know that I'm against my City Council limiting my free agency by forcing me to pay for recycling? If they were to never hear me criticize decisions made by my political leaders, how would they know how the process is supposed to work? I want my children to be involved in politics. I want them to make their positions known to their elected officials. I want them to know that it's good to question decisions made by our elected officials. That's the way a representative government works.
Friday, December 28, 2007
What to expect for 2008?
What things can we expect as citizens of Woods Cross during 2008? Some of the things that will happen as well as my comments about how they will impact us are listed below.
1) More homes built west of Redwood Road. There are several subdivisions that are being built now that will continue to grow throughout 2008. With more residents means more needs for water, and fire and police protection. This will put an increased demand on the city budget.
2) Menlove Toyota moving temporarily to Bountiful City. The car dealerships in Woods Cross provide a large sales tax base for the city budget. Larry Miller's Bountiful dealership moved to their new location by I-15 in West Bountiful this week. Wes Johnson (owner of Menlove) is going to be remodeling the Menlove dealership that exists in Woods Cross on Highway 89. In order to facilitate this remodel, the Toyota dealership will be moving to the old Larry Miller dealership building on Highway 89 in Bountiful. What does this mean for Woods Cross residents? Our city coffers will take a big hit during the time Menlove Toyota is located outside of Woods Cross, as the municipal portion of the sales tax collected by Menlove during that time will go to Bountiful City.
3) Completion of Front Runner. The commuter rail is scheduled to be up and running in the spring of 2008. This could bring an increase of traffic to the 500 South area. Many Woods Cross residents already avoid 500 South since CostCo opened. Adding traffic to this already congested area can't be good for our city.
4) Completion of Legacy Parkway. The Legacy Parkway is scheduled for completion in the fall of 2008. When this opens, it could help with the traffic congestion on 500 South. During the commuting hours, several people use 500 South to drive between Redwood Road and I-15. If those living north of Woods Cross have an alternate route, they may not use 500 South as much. The other plus for Woods Cross could come in that the vacant land that exists North of 500 South and East of Redwood Road could turn into a viable commercial area. Woods Cross could use the additional sales tax money that could come from such a commercial development.
All in all, it will be interesting to watch how our City Council deals with these many changes that will be coming to our city. All of these changes will continue to impact each of us who call Woods Cross home.
1) More homes built west of Redwood Road. There are several subdivisions that are being built now that will continue to grow throughout 2008. With more residents means more needs for water, and fire and police protection. This will put an increased demand on the city budget.
2) Menlove Toyota moving temporarily to Bountiful City. The car dealerships in Woods Cross provide a large sales tax base for the city budget. Larry Miller's Bountiful dealership moved to their new location by I-15 in West Bountiful this week. Wes Johnson (owner of Menlove) is going to be remodeling the Menlove dealership that exists in Woods Cross on Highway 89. In order to facilitate this remodel, the Toyota dealership will be moving to the old Larry Miller dealership building on Highway 89 in Bountiful. What does this mean for Woods Cross residents? Our city coffers will take a big hit during the time Menlove Toyota is located outside of Woods Cross, as the municipal portion of the sales tax collected by Menlove during that time will go to Bountiful City.
3) Completion of Front Runner. The commuter rail is scheduled to be up and running in the spring of 2008. This could bring an increase of traffic to the 500 South area. Many Woods Cross residents already avoid 500 South since CostCo opened. Adding traffic to this already congested area can't be good for our city.
4) Completion of Legacy Parkway. The Legacy Parkway is scheduled for completion in the fall of 2008. When this opens, it could help with the traffic congestion on 500 South. During the commuting hours, several people use 500 South to drive between Redwood Road and I-15. If those living north of Woods Cross have an alternate route, they may not use 500 South as much. The other plus for Woods Cross could come in that the vacant land that exists North of 500 South and East of Redwood Road could turn into a viable commercial area. Woods Cross could use the additional sales tax money that could come from such a commercial development.
All in all, it will be interesting to watch how our City Council deals with these many changes that will be coming to our city. All of these changes will continue to impact each of us who call Woods Cross home.
Tuesday, December 04, 2007
Here comes an increase
I had a moment of inspiration during my lunch break today. I decided to write a song. These lyrics should be sung to the tune of "Here comes Santa Claus."
Here comes an increase, here comes an increase,
To our garbage fees
Decker and Earnshaw and even Mayor
Want us recycling
Yuppies are singin', seniors moanin'
Jennie is happy and bright
Pay your fees and say your prayers
'Cause fees're increasing tonight!
Here comes an increase, here comes an increase,
To our garbage fees
Decker and Earnshaw and even Mayor
Want us recycling
Yuppies are singin', seniors moanin'
Jennie is happy and bright
Pay your fees and say your prayers
'Cause fees're increasing tonight!
Does curbside recycling make sense?
The Woods Cross City Council will vote on implementing curbside recycling tonight. I have this nagging thought that I believe decisions to implement curbside recycling are more emotion based than science based. I decided to do a search on the Internet about the science of recycling and found a great blog post about it. You can find that blog post at http://sxxz.blogspot.com/2005/04/does-recycling-make-sense.html. One of the most fascinating quotes from that blog post is, "Face it, most government decisions are based on gut feel, ideology or political expediency, not on dispassionate technical or economic analysis." I found this to be overwhelmingly the case when I was on the council. How different would your decisions be if you based them on "dispassionate technical or economic analysis?" Our council must do a feasibility study before implementing UTOPIA, but, not before implementing recycling. Why the double standard?
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Woods Cross could learn a lot from West Valley City
I was recently looking at West Valley City's re-designed web site. I was quite impressed by it. You may look at the first page and think "That's not much better than what Woods Cross has." I thought the same thing when just looking at the front page, but, then I dug deeper. One place where their web site leaves Woods Cross City's in the dust is in their City Council Agendas and Minutes page. If you click on one of the dates at that page, it has a "Supporting Documents" area. This is great stuff! It gives the public more information than just an agenda item.
Another thing that is great about West Valley's web site that I've previously mentioned wanting to see Woods Cross do, is West Valley posts their budget online for the residents to see. Why doesn't Woods Cross post the budget for all to see? It makes you wonder if there is something they are wanting to hide. E-mail your mayor and city council members and let them know you want to see the budget posted on the web site.
These are two great things that West Valley has done with their web site. Woods Cross could serve our citizens much better by doing similar things with our web site.
Another thing that is great about West Valley's web site that I've previously mentioned wanting to see Woods Cross do, is West Valley posts their budget online for the residents to see. Why doesn't Woods Cross post the budget for all to see? It makes you wonder if there is something they are wanting to hide. E-mail your mayor and city council members and let them know you want to see the budget posted on the web site.
These are two great things that West Valley has done with their web site. Woods Cross could serve our citizens much better by doing similar things with our web site.
Thursday, November 08, 2007
Woods Cross Council must act on UTOPIA
I have become aware of a bill that will be discussed during the upcoming state legislative session. The bill is titled "MUNICIPAL ENTITIES AND CABLE OR TELECOMMUNICATION SERVICES." This bill in its current form would cause some major hurtles for any city that wanted to join UTOPIA. It was supposed to be discussed in the Government Competition and Privatization Subcommittee interim meeting yesterday. The committee decided to "have staff work on modifying this bill so that it is more acceptable to all parties involved." They also said that they will discuss it again during the legislative session.
The major issue that I see with this proposed bill as it's currently written is that it takes decision making powers away from our local elected officials. It says that a municipality must hold two public hearings, instead of the one currently required. It also says that the city must hold an election to let the voters decide on whether to join the entity. Currently, the law says that a council may hold an election.
The changes to the bill also place limits on cities joining a municipal entity such as UTOPIA. Any city that has not joined UTOPIA by May 5, 2008, will have to pay for the state auditor to issue an audit report of UTOPIA stating that UTOPIA has had a positive net operating income for at least one year, among other things.
I have two major questions about the changes to this bill.
1) How would our City Council members feel if similar restrictions had been placed on the formation of the South Davis Recreation District? (I've already mentioned in a previous post, that the South Davis Recreation Center competes with private industry.)
2) How would our State Legislature feel if our national government leaders placed similar restrictions on their actions?
The major issue that I see with this proposed bill as it's currently written is that it takes decision making powers away from our local elected officials. It says that a municipality must hold two public hearings, instead of the one currently required. It also says that the city must hold an election to let the voters decide on whether to join the entity. Currently, the law says that a council may hold an election.
The changes to the bill also place limits on cities joining a municipal entity such as UTOPIA. Any city that has not joined UTOPIA by May 5, 2008, will have to pay for the state auditor to issue an audit report of UTOPIA stating that UTOPIA has had a positive net operating income for at least one year, among other things.
I have two major questions about the changes to this bill.
1) How would our City Council members feel if similar restrictions had been placed on the formation of the South Davis Recreation District? (I've already mentioned in a previous post, that the South Davis Recreation Center competes with private industry.)
2) How would our State Legislature feel if our national government leaders placed similar restrictions on their actions?
Wednesday, November 07, 2007
The citizens have spoken!
If somebody felt like this blog actually influences things in Woods Cross, yesterday's election results should convince them otherwise. The results from the 2007 Woods Cross City Council election are listed below. The top three will be members of the City Council beginning 01 January 2008.
You'll notice that two of my bottom three choices made it in. Congratulations to all the winners. Keep doing those things that have made Woods Cross the great city that it is today. I'd also like to repeat something I said on this blog almost two years ago. The city of Woods Cross has some of the lowest taxes and fees in Davis County, however, they did not get this way without a lot of hard work. Previous city leaders made decisions that would keep these taxes and fees low. The taxes and fees will not stay low if the only thing the Council Members do is toot their own horn about how low they are! They must also work to keep them the lowest.
I also found it interesting that the RAP tax passed in Bountiful and Centerville, but, failed in Woods Cross and West Bountiful. What does this mean? It means you may want to buy your next new car in Woods Cross or West Bountiful. If you buy it at a Bountiful dealership, you'll pay more in taxes.
The county transportation tax failed to pass as did the state referendum on vouchers.
The county election results can be found here.
| Rick Earnshaw | 1029 |
| Jill Hadley Evans | 895 |
| David C Hill | 855 |
| Ryan Westergard | 840 |
| Gary A Sharp | 826 |
| Cory Green | 332 |
| Write-in Votes | 31 |
You'll notice that two of my bottom three choices made it in. Congratulations to all the winners. Keep doing those things that have made Woods Cross the great city that it is today. I'd also like to repeat something I said on this blog almost two years ago. The city of Woods Cross has some of the lowest taxes and fees in Davis County, however, they did not get this way without a lot of hard work. Previous city leaders made decisions that would keep these taxes and fees low. The taxes and fees will not stay low if the only thing the Council Members do is toot their own horn about how low they are! They must also work to keep them the lowest.
I also found it interesting that the RAP tax passed in Bountiful and Centerville, but, failed in Woods Cross and West Bountiful. What does this mean? It means you may want to buy your next new car in Woods Cross or West Bountiful. If you buy it at a Bountiful dealership, you'll pay more in taxes.
The county transportation tax failed to pass as did the state referendum on vouchers.
The county election results can be found here.
Thursday, October 18, 2007
UTOPIA in Woods Cross
The Woods Cross City council is currently looking into becoming a member of the Utah Telecommunication Open Infrastructure Agency (UTOPIA). As part of this process, a City Council work meeting was held on Tuesday. The council invited representatives from UTOPIA, Qwest, and Comcast to be in attendance. The city came up with a list of questions for each of the entities. Citizens in attendance were also allowed to ask questions. I'll give my point of view of what happened. There is also a blog at www.woodscrossutopia.com where you can get another resident's point of view.
The UTOPIA representatives first heard the questions at the meeting due to Gary Uresk e-mailing them to the wrong person. They answered as many of them as they could without proper research. I'll highlight a couple. They mentioned that the projected take rates (take rate is the percentage of people who do sign up for the service) from the feasibility studies were between 8% and 40%. Overall the projected take rate was about 17%. They have a overall take rate today of about 25%. UTOPIA has agreements with providers who actually provide the service to the end users. UTOPIA itself doesn't provide the service to the end user. I mention this because, there was a question asking What % of the time is your system fully functional to the end user? UTOPIA would not really be able to answer that question as they only provide the service to the providers. UTOPIA did mention that they have Service Level Agreements (SLA) with their providers for 99.999% uptime. They also mentioned that because they focus on being an "Open Infrastructure," Comcast and Qwest could run their services over UTOPIA. To date, they have chosen not to. UTOPIA representatives also mentioned that if pledge monies needed to be invoked (which they haven't been yet) it would be somewhere between $3 - $8 per household. I think it is important to remember that if there is a high enough take rate, the city would receive revenue from UTOPIA. Even if the take rate is as low as 25% overall, there would not be any public money used.
Comcast went next and mentioned several areas in the city where they do not provide services. This includes the Cahoon Meadows, Field Crest, and a majority of the Clover Dell subdivisions. They hope to get service in these areas "soon." I noted that soon to a corporate entity probably is not the same as soon to a resident who wants the service. I asked Comcast if they had a limit on their service as it relates to how much I could download or upload. They mentioned that there was a limit, but, would not state in gigabytes what that limit was. I knew this would be their answer as I saw them featured on a "Get Gephardt" segment a while ago. Their representative mentioned that if you were a heavy user, you could get a commercial account that runs about $100 per month. The regular "limited" account is about $35 per month. The only reason I mention this, is because Xmission, who provides service across UTOPIA does have a limit of 100 gigabytes that they clearly state on their website.
Qwest went next and dodged most of the questions by saying that the information was proprietary. They stated that they would not be comfortable telling which areas in the city didn't have DSL available when there were competitors in the room. I found this very interesting, since Comcast had just finished telling Qwest which areas Comcast doesn't offer service. I'm more than willing to tell all Qwest competitors that I can't get DSL at my house in the area of 1450 West 1900 South. I asked, "When I go to Qwest's website, it says that I qualify for DSL, however, when I actually try and get DSL I'm told that my line doesn't qualify. In the information that Qwest will give to the City Council, will my house show up as having DSL available?" The representative dodged this question better than anything I've witnessed before. I felt like this was a yes or no question. The Qwest representative said that some areas qualify for DSL, but there are technical limitations in some of the lines that mean those lines can't get DSL. My reason for asking this is that if Qwest provides the council with a list of areas that do have DSL available and my house is on that list, then that list is not accurate as I cannot get DSL at my house. Qwest would be over stating how much of the city is really covered.
I also found it interesting that Rick Earnshaw stated that he "has a real problem with spending public money to compete with private entities." I stood up in the open session that followed and commented that it is ironic to me that he has a problem with public money being spent to compete with private industry when this happens all the time. Rick Earnshaw voted for Woods Cross joining the South Davis Recreation District which competes with private gyms. In fact, Xcel Fitness claimed in a Davis County Clipper article that the taxpayer funded recreation center put them out of business in Bountiful.
The UTOPIA representatives first heard the questions at the meeting due to Gary Uresk e-mailing them to the wrong person. They answered as many of them as they could without proper research. I'll highlight a couple. They mentioned that the projected take rates (take rate is the percentage of people who do sign up for the service) from the feasibility studies were between 8% and 40%. Overall the projected take rate was about 17%. They have a overall take rate today of about 25%. UTOPIA has agreements with providers who actually provide the service to the end users. UTOPIA itself doesn't provide the service to the end user. I mention this because, there was a question asking What % of the time is your system fully functional to the end user? UTOPIA would not really be able to answer that question as they only provide the service to the providers. UTOPIA did mention that they have Service Level Agreements (SLA) with their providers for 99.999% uptime. They also mentioned that because they focus on being an "Open Infrastructure," Comcast and Qwest could run their services over UTOPIA. To date, they have chosen not to. UTOPIA representatives also mentioned that if pledge monies needed to be invoked (which they haven't been yet) it would be somewhere between $3 - $8 per household. I think it is important to remember that if there is a high enough take rate, the city would receive revenue from UTOPIA. Even if the take rate is as low as 25% overall, there would not be any public money used.
Comcast went next and mentioned several areas in the city where they do not provide services. This includes the Cahoon Meadows, Field Crest, and a majority of the Clover Dell subdivisions. They hope to get service in these areas "soon." I noted that soon to a corporate entity probably is not the same as soon to a resident who wants the service. I asked Comcast if they had a limit on their service as it relates to how much I could download or upload. They mentioned that there was a limit, but, would not state in gigabytes what that limit was. I knew this would be their answer as I saw them featured on a "Get Gephardt" segment a while ago. Their representative mentioned that if you were a heavy user, you could get a commercial account that runs about $100 per month. The regular "limited" account is about $35 per month. The only reason I mention this, is because Xmission, who provides service across UTOPIA does have a limit of 100 gigabytes that they clearly state on their website.
Qwest went next and dodged most of the questions by saying that the information was proprietary. They stated that they would not be comfortable telling which areas in the city didn't have DSL available when there were competitors in the room. I found this very interesting, since Comcast had just finished telling Qwest which areas Comcast doesn't offer service. I'm more than willing to tell all Qwest competitors that I can't get DSL at my house in the area of 1450 West 1900 South. I asked, "When I go to Qwest's website, it says that I qualify for DSL, however, when I actually try and get DSL I'm told that my line doesn't qualify. In the information that Qwest will give to the City Council, will my house show up as having DSL available?" The representative dodged this question better than anything I've witnessed before. I felt like this was a yes or no question. The Qwest representative said that some areas qualify for DSL, but there are technical limitations in some of the lines that mean those lines can't get DSL. My reason for asking this is that if Qwest provides the council with a list of areas that do have DSL available and my house is on that list, then that list is not accurate as I cannot get DSL at my house. Qwest would be over stating how much of the city is really covered.
I also found it interesting that Rick Earnshaw stated that he "has a real problem with spending public money to compete with private entities." I stood up in the open session that followed and commented that it is ironic to me that he has a problem with public money being spent to compete with private industry when this happens all the time. Rick Earnshaw voted for Woods Cross joining the South Davis Recreation District which competes with private gyms. In fact, Xcel Fitness claimed in a Davis County Clipper article that the taxpayer funded recreation center put them out of business in Bountiful.
Friday, April 20, 2007
If it Quacks like a Duck...
So the Woods Cross City Council has made yet another bad decision. Three members of the City Council, Don Moore, Rick Earnshaw, and Jon Hadlow, all voted to amend the general plan to allow Sinclair to add storage tanks to their facility. These storage tanks would hold jet fuel. This goes completely against what previous members of the City Council have tried to do. That is, move Woods Cross away from being a heavy industrial arm pit of the county. I'm shocked that they would make such a move, especially in an election year. In an article in the Davis County Clipper, Don Moore is quoted as saying, "it looks like we’re doing something wrong if we remove the whole paragraph.”
If you're making wording changes just so it doesn't look like you're doing something wrong, maybe you need to take a step back and see if you really should be making the changes at all.
Avoiding the appearance of evil only works if you are avoiding the evil as well.
Kudos to Tamy Dayley and Jennifer Decker for voting against this bad change.
If you're making wording changes just so it doesn't look like you're doing something wrong, maybe you need to take a step back and see if you really should be making the changes at all.
Avoiding the appearance of evil only works if you are avoiding the evil as well.
Kudos to Tamy Dayley and Jennifer Decker for voting against this bad change.
Friday, March 09, 2007
Are they crazy?
This is the year when Woods Cross will elect three council members. So what on earth would make somebody want to run for City Council? As a city council member, here are some things you must be willing to endure.
First, I think most people who do it don't realize the amount of hate that can exist in a small community, and how that hate can be turned against them.
Second, I think some people who run for a city council position firmly believe that they can do some good in their small community.
Third, I think there are more people than we like to believe who do it because they like the ego trip. In my opinion, these are the people who are the least qualified to run a city.
So how do you know what a candidate's motivation is? Talk to the candidate. Call them on the phone. Preferably not late at night.
- Phone calls late at night from some citizen who is upset because... fill in the blank here with any/all of the following:
- Their garbage can didn't get emptied on time.
- They are opposed to the new swimming pool being built, or being open on Sundays.
- The air in their neighborhood stinks.
- The trains / airplanes are too loud.
- The school is cancelling the after-school program.
- The city increased their fees again.
- Having people upset at you because you voted a certain way on an issue.
- People you thought were friends say things that aren't true about you to other people.
- Anonymous e-mails calling you very nasty names.
- Anonymous phone calls from people calling you nasty names.
First, I think most people who do it don't realize the amount of hate that can exist in a small community, and how that hate can be turned against them.
Second, I think some people who run for a city council position firmly believe that they can do some good in their small community.
Third, I think there are more people than we like to believe who do it because they like the ego trip. In my opinion, these are the people who are the least qualified to run a city.
So how do you know what a candidate's motivation is? Talk to the candidate. Call them on the phone. Preferably not late at night.
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