(By Millicent Bahr, Bountiful Resident)
I moved to Bountiful from Washington DC. I worked in the US Senate on Capitol Hill, in the West Wing of the White House (for President George W. Bush), and ended my DC career at a non-profit. Disagreements were common, the political climate was always changing, and friends and I were always debating. I thought when I left DC, I’d be leaving my front row seat to divisive politics. I am sad to say I was wrong…
I have truly fallen in love with Bountiful. People are kind, the mountains are breathtaking and Main Street is charming. I sat on the sidelines during local elections because I never had much to say, until now. The last 18 months in Bountiful have been sad to watch. Our local government is incredibly accessible and yet, some of our citizens are looking to uninformed people for information about our city -- information that’s usually false and statements that are drafted purely to pander.
I don’t fault people for wanting to get involved in local government. In fact, I wish more people would do so! I do, however, take issue when people build campaigns based on lies. A few things for my fellow citizens to consider.
City Hall: I was asked multiple times to sign the “No New City Hall” petition. Each time I declined to sign, the usual talking point was, “Are you sure? You know your taxes will go up if a new city hall is built.” (I wanted to do my own research and find out what all the fuss was about.) When pressed on the question of raised taxes as a result of a new city hall, the Better Bountiful Group and Dean Collinwood, finally said via their FaceBook group, “I’m not aware of any study done on [whether] a tax increase would be required to build a new city hall.” This is because increased taxes were never a reality or even a possibility -- but that didn’t stop Collinwood from continually using the false phrase to get signatures for Better Bountiful’s petition.
RDA (Redevelopment Agency) funds: Mayor Lewis and the City Council worked very hard to secure $20 million in RDA funds. Why can’t we use the RDA funds to repair roads? This answer is simple. The RDA funds can NOT be used in approximately 96% of Bountiful. The RDA was awarded, from Davis County, to be used for a specific purpose: to revitalize Main Street with a new City Hall and plaza. The RDA can only be used in 4% (i.e. the area surrounding Main Street) of the city. RDA funds can’t be used to make repairs along Bountiful Boulevard, 2600 S, etc. and anyone who tells you differently, simply doesn’t know the facts.
Solar Power: Dean wants every home to have solar power, and is mad the solar power subsidy (aka: taxpayers paying for other people's solar power) was removed. Mayor Lewis and our current city council didn't think it was fair to ask Bountiful taxpayers to subsidize another person's power source. Solar power is great, but, let the solar company subsidize it, NOT taxpayers. And does it bother anyone else, when Dean casually says solar panels are, "less than the average new car", like that's a good thing? The average cost of a new car is about $20,000, that's a lot of money for this middle class family.
Stoker School: Collinwood has said over and over again, that Stoker would not have come down if he were mayor and that it was, “torn down on a whim.” However, he tends to speak and make promises before he knows the full story and all the facts – or real facts don’t matter to him. According to a third party engineering study, Stoker School was sadly beyond repair and conservative estimates were that it would cost $30-40 million to renovate. The city council didn’t think the investment was financially wise, and with declining enrollment, the U wasn’t interested in spending that kind of money to make the building safe. Gary Hill (city manager), Mayor Lewis and our city council tried to keep the U in Bountiful by offering other spaces. They even offered to compromise on rent as an incentive for the University’s extension classes to remain in Bountiful. Ironically enough, the U was interested in leasing three classrooms that were intended as part of the new City Hall complex up until the Better Bountiful group created such a controversy. However, when it looked like the community (i.e. Better Bountiful) would not support the project, the U made the decision to leave Bountiful.
Collinwood has blamed city leaders for the U’s departure, but he’s never owned up to the significant role he actually played in undermining the University’s continued presence here. On issue after issue, Collinwood puts opportunistic pandering above the public interest.
It’s not even a hard choice for me. Dean Collinwood falsely claimed in August that former mayoral candidate Jim Clark endorsed him. Jim and Linda Clark have publicly endorsed Mayor Randy Lewis for re-election. Jim Clark supports Mayor Lewis as do all of the mayors from the following cities: Layton, Woods Cross, West Bountiful, North Salt Lake, Centerville, Farmington, Fruit Heights, Kaysville, Clearfield, West Point and Sunset.
Mayor Randy Lewis is the best candidate to lead Bountiful into the future. Unlike Collinwood, Randy Lewis has earned my trust.
Millicent Bahr,
Bountiful Resident
I have truly fallen in love with Bountiful. People are kind, the mountains are breathtaking and Main Street is charming. I sat on the sidelines during local elections because I never had much to say, until now. The last 18 months in Bountiful have been sad to watch. Our local government is incredibly accessible and yet, some of our citizens are looking to uninformed people for information about our city -- information that’s usually false and statements that are drafted purely to pander.
I don’t fault people for wanting to get involved in local government. In fact, I wish more people would do so! I do, however, take issue when people build campaigns based on lies. A few things for my fellow citizens to consider.
City Hall: I was asked multiple times to sign the “No New City Hall” petition. Each time I declined to sign, the usual talking point was, “Are you sure? You know your taxes will go up if a new city hall is built.” (I wanted to do my own research and find out what all the fuss was about.) When pressed on the question of raised taxes as a result of a new city hall, the Better Bountiful Group and Dean Collinwood, finally said via their FaceBook group, “I’m not aware of any study done on [whether] a tax increase would be required to build a new city hall.” This is because increased taxes were never a reality or even a possibility -- but that didn’t stop Collinwood from continually using the false phrase to get signatures for Better Bountiful’s petition.
RDA (Redevelopment Agency) funds: Mayor Lewis and the City Council worked very hard to secure $20 million in RDA funds. Why can’t we use the RDA funds to repair roads? This answer is simple. The RDA funds can NOT be used in approximately 96% of Bountiful. The RDA was awarded, from Davis County, to be used for a specific purpose: to revitalize Main Street with a new City Hall and plaza. The RDA can only be used in 4% (i.e. the area surrounding Main Street) of the city. RDA funds can’t be used to make repairs along Bountiful Boulevard, 2600 S, etc. and anyone who tells you differently, simply doesn’t know the facts.
Solar Power: Dean wants every home to have solar power, and is mad the solar power subsidy (aka: taxpayers paying for other people's solar power) was removed. Mayor Lewis and our current city council didn't think it was fair to ask Bountiful taxpayers to subsidize another person's power source. Solar power is great, but, let the solar company subsidize it, NOT taxpayers. And does it bother anyone else, when Dean casually says solar panels are, "less than the average new car", like that's a good thing? The average cost of a new car is about $20,000, that's a lot of money for this middle class family.
Stoker School: Collinwood has said over and over again, that Stoker would not have come down if he were mayor and that it was, “torn down on a whim.” However, he tends to speak and make promises before he knows the full story and all the facts – or real facts don’t matter to him. According to a third party engineering study, Stoker School was sadly beyond repair and conservative estimates were that it would cost $30-40 million to renovate. The city council didn’t think the investment was financially wise, and with declining enrollment, the U wasn’t interested in spending that kind of money to make the building safe. Gary Hill (city manager), Mayor Lewis and our city council tried to keep the U in Bountiful by offering other spaces. They even offered to compromise on rent as an incentive for the University’s extension classes to remain in Bountiful. Ironically enough, the U was interested in leasing three classrooms that were intended as part of the new City Hall complex up until the Better Bountiful group created such a controversy. However, when it looked like the community (i.e. Better Bountiful) would not support the project, the U made the decision to leave Bountiful.
Collinwood has blamed city leaders for the U’s departure, but he’s never owned up to the significant role he actually played in undermining the University’s continued presence here. On issue after issue, Collinwood puts opportunistic pandering above the public interest.
It’s not even a hard choice for me. Dean Collinwood falsely claimed in August that former mayoral candidate Jim Clark endorsed him. Jim and Linda Clark have publicly endorsed Mayor Randy Lewis for re-election. Jim Clark supports Mayor Lewis as do all of the mayors from the following cities: Layton, Woods Cross, West Bountiful, North Salt Lake, Centerville, Farmington, Fruit Heights, Kaysville, Clearfield, West Point and Sunset.
Mayor Randy Lewis is the best candidate to lead Bountiful into the future. Unlike Collinwood, Randy Lewis has earned my trust.
Millicent Bahr,
Bountiful Resident
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