My Sierra Club Questions ...

1. [for other candidates] Please briefly describe your qualifications and why you are running for Ogden City Council. 1. Longtime resident of Ogden; 2. B.S. in Economics/Applied Math (WSU); 3. High interest in restoring citizen confidence and trust in city government; 4. High interest in restoring a proactive government-citizen relationship for the city; 5. Interested in addressing infrastructure issues and re-prioritizing on some items that the city needs

2. If you were to propose changes in Ogden's zoning ordinances to improve the quality of life and business in Ogden, what changes would you propose (if any), and why? First of all, I would need time to research all zoning requirements, distribution of particular zoning in regards to neighborhoods and business districts. Then I would probably need to work with or establish a solid line of communication with the Planning Commission(s) involved - and make informed decisions from there. As far as proposing zoning changes out of the blue, I don't believe that would fall on my shoulders, as I would be a contributing member of the Council as a team.

3. Ogden City, UTA, and other stakeholders are currently studying alternatives for a major transit investment in Ogden, to connect downtown with the WSU area. Do you support this project and if so, what are your views on the various alternatives being considered? Considering parking issues on campus, and rising cost of commuting, I would support public transportation as it stands (so long as it is sufficient for the needs of the students). As far as alternative MAJOR transit investment, I personally don't see an advantage of a totally new system, possibly adding and changing a couple bus routes to frequent the campus on a reliable and regular basis for the needs of both day and night students. My personal experience as a student says this: I was a non-traditional student, with a child that needed to go to school, and I needed to get to class at a certain time -- I drove to Dee Events & took advantage of the shuttle. I can hardly visualize any student (traditional or otherwise) wanting to use a transit method that would require driving to a particular place downtown, waiting for the car, bus, or box, and then sitting for 30-50 minutes while it winds its way up to campus -- especially if the student lives outside of Ogden, which many of them do. Students are more likely than not to be in a rush to get to school - the only thing that could conceivably work, besides actually driving and catching the shuttle, would be to have more frequent UTA busses that just go straight to campus and drop students at the centralized locations they currently use.

4. The Ogden City administration has proposed a major redesign of the Mt. Ogden Golf Course, which would include building a hotel and condominiums on city property above the top of 36th Street. Do you support this proposal? Why or why not? I don't golf. I have heard from people that do golf that Mt Ogden Golf Course is awesome, and comparable with some more well known courses. I don't think the city can afford to totally revamp the course - they claim they cannot afford the $250,000 per year in the red current operating costs. Why should the city foot the bill for hotels and housing? Is the land atop 36th suitable for such high density development? I don't think so. Keep going up the mountain, especially in a fault zone, you will have buildings and houses slipping and sliding away -- check out Davis County. If the city develops that, there are lawsuits just waiting in the wings for the first crack in a foundation because of slippage. Besides, there is the water issue -- not enough to go around after so much development, especially if Powder Mountain has their way (only I expect they won't be able to get the water rights away from Ogden City -- unless someone has a fat enough checkbook for the Commission in charge of the water). Money would be better spent on infrastructure - with more permanent repairs and upgrades rather than yearly or twice yearly band-aids to fix a more than occasional leaky water main, and necessary repairs to public safety equipment/buildings.

5. In general, should the City Council do more to encourage or discourage further development of Ogden's foothills and other open space? Please explain. See answer to above question. In addition, if we have open space, already developed with trails for biking, hiking and outdoor activities - they should stay that way. Isn't this supposed to an Outdoor Mecca? If we develop over the trails, where's the draw?

6. Should you be elected, do you plan to recommend changes in the way Ogden deals with waste, recyclables, water conservation, and/or protecting our aquifers and watershed areas? If so, what changes will you recommend, and why? Not completely in the know about water restrictions for Ogden City, but working from a logical standpoint -- we should conserve and protect the watersheds in the area - water is essential to all life, and should be protected. Some recent years have seen an abundance of water, but this is a desert area and how quickly we forget, but we just came out of a drought that lasted many years. Some of the ordinances seemed to be out of whack with the situation for a while -- get a ticket for not having a green lawn or for xeriscaping and growing things besides grass, get a ticket for watering on even numbered day. There should be regulations that would fit the situation, and be readily adoptable by policy-makers and administration and enforcement alike. And the public needs to be made aware -- the water bill includes a nice little newsletter that gives much information, but if you are a renter you don't get it, because the water bills go to the homeowners.

7. Do you favor designating a portion of the National Forest lands above Ogden as federally protected wilderness? Why or why not? How far above Ogden are we talking? and would this fall under the purview of the city council? I like being able to camp in the Nat'l Forest lands - if the Feds want to change it to protected wilderness, again it begs the question: why consider Ogden an outdoor mecca if they take it away?

8. What other environmental issues would you address if elected? Keeping the city clean - that includes property in the hands of developers that is left to decay, waiting on the developer to do something. The happy homeowners in Ogden do not get the luxury of waiting until they want to do something, enforcement comes down on them, and they must comply immediately (or within a specified reasonable timeframe) - yet the developers are afforded much more leeway. I think the enforcement for developers should be stricter than for homeowners, because they (the developers) should have the means to take action in a timely manner. If a resident is unable for various reasons (other than refusal to comply), such as physically challenged, financially challenged, elderly - then consideration should be given on an individual basis and a reasonable solution should and could conceivably be reached.

Note: These questions were forwarded to me a few weeks ago; if readers would like me to expound on any of them or if you have any other questions ... please use the comment section at the end of this post, and I will respond.