Salt Lake Tribune - Utah:Rec center's planners ride the tides of budget changes

Quote of the day:

"They could have mentioned it's only 3 feet deep"
--Bountiful resident Carolyn Jorgensen

We are told in the article that the Rec Center will contain more than the voters asked for. Does it bother anyone else that so many of our taxdollars are being shovelled into an already bloated project?

""It's going to be what the people voted on and more," says Bountiful City Manager Tom Hardy, noting that the county's cash infusion allowed planners to add four lanes to the competition pool. "

Rec center's planners ride the tides of budget changes

Salt Lake Tribune - Utah/Standard Examiner

Bountiful is loaning $2 Million Dollars to the South Davis Rec District, to be paid back by the County, in order to fund all the extras on the Rec Center. The quote of the day comes from Tom Hardy, supporter of the deal, "I'm just praying we don't have an earthquake."

The whole deal depends on the State Legislature not changing the law to remove the tourism tax.

"Construction costs are an inherent part of these projects, and this is just one more example of why the cities and the county should not be in the business of risking tax dollars to build rec centers in the first place," said Mike German of the Utah Taxpayers Association.

Why couldn't the Rec District just scale back the facility?

Salt Lake Tribune - Utah

And the Standard Examiner

Utahn's for Immigration Reform and Enforcement

"I think he ought to consider his views and decide whether they're consistent with the Republican Party," Rep. Chris Cannon, R-Utah, said of the Colorado congressman" (Tancredo)

The above quote comes from ufire.net which is dedicated to immigration reform. What does Cannon think Tancredo is doing that is out of line? It seems to me that the GOP Platform is all for enforcing legal immigration? What am I missing?

Republican Platform

deseretnews.com | No amnesty, critic says

Representative Tom Tancredo will be speaking at the auditorium of the Redwood-Salt Lake Community College tonight at 7:00 PM. He is taking a hard-line stance against immigration puting the onus on employers rather than the government. Immigration becomes an important issue for Davis County to address considering the large illegal inmate population in our jails. Tancredo would have more illegals sent to jail. What sort of effect could this have on our Counties bottom line?

deseretnews.com | No amnesty, critic says

Centerville Citizen: Eight candidates, eight letters, and hopefully eight responses

At the risk of sounding like a running advertisement for Centerville we should expect some response from most/all mayoral candidates for that city to appear on Citizens blog. Stay tuned...

Centerville Citizen: Eight Letters...

Clippertoday:Centerville rated best in state, county

Some good news about one town in Davis County.

Centerville rated best in state, county

Salt Lake Tribune - Utah:Candidates for municipal offices

Below are the candidates that relate to this blog. As far as I'm concerned, I would like to see Joe Johnson of Bountiful gone. Kay Briggs of North Salt Lake to remain. I think that Arce-Larreta, Briggs' opponent, was recently fired by Salt Lake City-he's only running to reverse the position of NSL on the land dispute, anyway. Is it true that Michael Johnson, of Centerville, is only 22?!

Which candidates do you like? Are there any incumbents that you would like to see replaced?

(redacted by yours-truly)"DAVIS COUNTY Bountiful (mayor and two council seats) Mayor: Joe Johnson (i), Jeff Ovitt At-large: John Marc Knight, Fred Moss (i), Shawn O'Hara, Thomas Tolman (i), Phill Wright Centerville (mayor and three council seats) Mayor: Michael Johnson, Ron Russell At-large: Justin Allen, George Fisher, Delise Herem, Richard Hunt, Sherri Lindstrom, Jim Pedersen Clearfield (mayor and two council seats) Mayor: Thomas Waggoner (i), Mark Shepherd At-large: Ivan Anderson (i), James Barlow (i),Kathryn Murray, Don Ormsby, Vern Phipps Clinton (mayor and three council seats) Mayor: Mitch Adams (i) Four-year: Dale King (i), Lori Miller (i), Barbara Patterson, Frank Russell Two-year: Jeff Comrie, Chris Martinez, Nathan Schow, Cheri Reed, Tony Thompson Farmington (mayor and two council seats) Mayor: Dave Connors (i), Scott Harbertson, Cory Ritz At-large: Paula Alder, David Hale (i), Susan Holmes (i), Trinity Jordan, Robert Kohutek, Darrell Lake, John Montgomery, Art Parmley Fruit Heights (Sept. 13 caucus) Kaysville (mayor and two council seats) Mayor: Brian Cook (i), Neka Roundy At-large: Patrick Jon Buchanan, Mark Johnson, Gil Miller (i) Layton (mayor and two council seats) Mayor: Steve Curtis, Stephen Handy, Renny Knowlton At-large: Carl Thompson, Michael Bouwhuis, Scott Freitag, Michael Courtney, Kathy Hyde, Loran Hubbard North Salt Lake (mayor and two council seats) Mayor: Kay Briggs (i), Juan Arce-Larreta At-large: Brian Elkins, Matt Hardy, Lisa Watts-Baskin South Weber (mayor and two council seats) Mayor: Joseph Gertge (i), Guy Saucer At-large: Tom Graydon, Gayle Kennington, John Massengale (i), Scott Peterson, Farrell Poll Sunset (mayor and two council seats) Mayor: Janice Galbraith (i), Timothy Isom, Dan Von Almen, Brad Weller At-large: Randy Boothe, Ricky Carlson, Fred Childs (i), Norman Sant Syracuse (mayor and two council seats) Mayor: Amy Butters, Fred Panucci (i), Bill Williams At-large: Joshua Hughes, Lurlen Knight (i), Michael Lawton, Stuart Montgomery, Jeffery Orn, Phillip Orton, Doug Peterson, Marc Webb, Wesley White West Bountiful (mayor and two council seats) Mayor: James Behunin, Carl Martin (i) At-large: James Ahlstrom, Wes Argyle, J.R Bangerter, Alan Malan, Tom Madsen, Debbie McKean, Julie Millard, Rex Tunbridge West Point (mayor and two council seats) Mayor : Jerry Chatterton, John Petroff (i) At-large: Sheri Anderson, Lee Barrett, Eric Craythorne (i), Andy Dawson, Barbara Langston Woods Cross (mayor and two council seats) Mayor: Jerry Larrabee (i), Kent Parry At-large: Daniel Bradford, Tamara Dayley, Jennifer Decker (i), Jill Evans, Randen Funk, John Hadlow (i)"

Salt Lake Tribune - Utah:Candidates for municipal offices

Standard Examiner:S. Davis rec center loses pool, features

The Rec Center will be scaled back with the following features missing:

Climbing Wall
Outdoor Pool
Some Stadium Seating
Some Sound Panels
Some Bike Racks
Some Carpeting

Officials have said that they may have to reuse parts of the old facility, (which is what they could have done in the first place). Why does it take a crisis like this before officials decide to try to cut costs?

Standard Examiner:S. Davis rec center loses pool, features

DesNews:Budget cuts loom for rec center

Today is the day to make your voice heard. Those who can attend the Recreation District meeting at 4:00 PM, please do.

Bountiful City Hall
790 South 100 East

Update: I don't like the title of this Deseret News article. It seems to imply that the Rec Center will end up costing us less than was originally planned when it is anticipated to cost 2.7 million more! A meeting, open to the public, will be held on August 15th at 6pm which all should attend that aren't going to today's meeting! For more information see Citizens for Tax Fairness.org.

DesNews:Budget cuts loom for rec center

Weber County Forum:A Tale of Two Rec Centers

RudiZink at Weber County Forum wonders whether Weber Counties Rec Center will share the same, sad, fate as the Davis County Rec Center.

Centerville Citizen commented on the post, "...I'll tell you what though, those people at citizensfortaxfairness.org who were so opposed to the rec center project are probably feeling very justified after the revelations about the setbacks with the project."

Mr. Citizen, yes they are.

And the source of Weber County Forum's trepidation is this, scathing, Standard Examiner editorial.

Weber County Forum:A Tale of Two Rec Centers

Salt Lake Tribune - Utah:North Salt Lake water supply can't keep up with growth

We all now realize that for a city with no secondary water, the costs of flouridation can be excessive. I did not know that the east benches have more porous soil, and therefore, require more water to have the same effect as those watering elsewhere. Eaglewood Golfcourse, on the east end of NSL, is leeching a great deal of water from our reserves.

Salt Lake Tribune - Utah:North Salt Lake water supply can't keep up with growth

Citizens For Tax Fairness:BOUNTIFUL - MAKING CHURCHES & SCHOOLS PAY

It has been a while since citizensfortaxfairness.org has been updated, but I have been checking it religiously for information since January. Today, I noticed that a much neglected topic of power rate hikes were being addressed. Ron Mortenson had mentioned this to me months ago as a topic on which I might blog and, to be frank, I couldn't dig up enough dirt myself to justify a post. (However, the dirt was there.) Fortunately, I've been saved the trouble of having to do some detective work of my own. Shame on me for not trying hard enough.

Wrap your mind around this concept. Other tax policy organizations have addressed the problems inherent in hiding a tax via clever bookkeeping practices. Bountiful is doing just that. By moving money from the Power fund into the General fund, on a regular basis, they create a shortfall of funds needed to generate and maintain power within the city. As a result, a need is, artificially, created for more money to be put into the Power fund. Power rates get increased, and a hidden tax is born. This money in the General fund,(this is sometimes called laundering), goes to other unrelated projects.

Who gets hurt by this practice? Broad answer: Anyone that stands to lose from an unaccountable government. In short: Everyone.

Citizens For Tax Fairness:BOUNTIFUL - MAKING CHURCHES & SCHOOLS PAY

deseretnews.com | S.L., North S.L. clash on venue

NSL and SLC are jockeying over the venue for the lawsuits--Davis County or Salt Lake County.

deseretnews.com | S.L., North S.L. clash on venue

Handcart Days: One year ago

Last year, at the Bountiful, Handcart Days Parade, the Citizens for Tax Fairness were told not to distribute fliers during the event or risk arrest. At the same time, the city distributed their own leaflets. When a complaint was submitted through the State Attorney Generals office, nothing was done. Today, we celebrate with a parade, the same freedoms that were trampled on by local officials one year ago.

Utah Taxpayers.org:Deseret News 7.28.04(PDF)

Davis County Watch:One glaring ommission

After nearly four months of blogging on issues affecting the south end of Davis County, a chink in my topical armor has been exposed. Read enough of my blog and you will see that I have mainly covered topics directly related to Bountiful and North Salt Lake. I've dabbled in other cities and ommitted others completely (a couple readers have mentioned Farmington).

It is time that I settle on the cities of interest to this blog. I decided, when I started the blog, that I wouldn't be talking about the Northernmost part of Davis County. It is just too much geography to cover. I must draw the line at the northern border of Farmington. Here are the cities, once and for all. Farmington, Centerville, West Bountiful, Bountiful, Woods Cross, and North Salt Lake.

Does anyone want to suggest a topic I have missed?

StandardNET/Standard-Examiner:Tax group waiting for response to Aug. 2004 complaint

Thom Roberts has taken the blame for letting a year pass without responding to allegations of a tainted election in Davis County. He has not said what his response may be. We can guess. If I may be allowed to paraphrase my prediction.

"Dear Citizensfortaxfairness.org,

Thank you for your letter...however, we see no evidence of wrongdoing as your election happened almost a year ago...We've talked to Bountiful City officials and they assure us that nothing is amiss. Oh, and Tom Hardy asked me to tell you not to send him any more letters.

Good luck in your efforts to re-elect Joe Johnson!"

StandardNET/Standard-Examiner:Tax group waiting for response to Aug. 2004 complaint

StandardNET/Standard-Examiner

Beginning today, candidates can file for office. The following cities have the Mayoral seats up for grabs.

• Bountiful
  
• Centerville
• Clearfield
• Clinton
• Farmington
• Fruit Heights
• Kaysville
• North Salt Lake
• South Weber
• Sunset
• Syracuse
• West Bountiful
• West Point
• Woods Cross

I'll only comment on the two cities about which I know something. Bountiful- Mayor Johnson appears to have less influence than the City Manager, Tom Hardy. Hardy is at the root of the problems we've been having with the Rec' Center fiasco, and subsequent misinformation picked up by the press.It's time for the campaign to begin to boot out Hardy. That will, likely, entail getting rid of Johnson as well. North Salt Lake-I think Kay Briggs deserves another run. He's been a staunch defender of his city against our bigger, and meddlesome neighbors.

StandardNET/Standard-Examiner

KSL News: Another Viewpoint – A Line in the Sand

As promised here is Kay Briggs response to a recent editorial on the NSL/SL Land dispute. Apparently there is a more complete version of Mayor Briggs' response available but I can't find it.

KSL News: Another Viewpoint – A Line in the Sand

Update: The page has been updated by KSL with Mayor Briggs complete response.

StandardNET/Standard-Examiner:Rec center cost up $2.7 million

And we wonder why the private sector won't build these facilities?

StandardNET/Standard-Examiner:Rec center cost up $2.7 million

DAVIS BEAT - North Salt Lake petition drive fizzles

A petition to put the decision to develop land in North Salt Lake to a ballot has not had enough signatures. Not surprising.

DAVIS BEAT - North Salt Lake petition drive fizzles