Platform of the Wasatch County Democratic Party
April 25, 2008
We, the Wasatch County Democratic Party, promote and support effective implementation of good local government based on the principles of the Democratic Party. Our primary goal is to sustain or improve the quality of life of all residents in our County. While we subscribe to the issues and principles set forth by the Utah and National Democratic Party platforms, we also subscribe to a unique set of positions that are local to Wasatch County. These issues and positions are summarized as follows:
Preservation of the rural character of the valley
- Support ordinance changes in both the cities and the county that slow the rate of new residential growth via lower density zoning
- Support ordinance changes that preserve open space like the North and South Fields at minimal cost to existing residents without the shortcomings of trading higher overall density for open space
- Support land use management principles like conservation easements that encourage farmers, ranchers and large property owners to not develop their land
- Say no to developers who would saddle us with higher taxes and jeopardize the rural character of our valley
- Demand that developers pay impact fees that cover their full costs to the community
- Slow down or stop the county to city annexations that invariably lead to higher residential densities
- Create permanent green belts around the towns in the valley that define the municipal boundaries
- Oppose state legislation that permits city incorporation without approval of the majority of registered voters within the proposed boundaries
- Support ordinance changes that discourage the use of street lights and reestablish dark nights and bright stars
Recreation
- Support legislation to increase the number, quality and maintenance of city and county parks
- Increase the number of interconnected hiking, biking and equestrian trails throughout the county
- Support legislation that results in the creation of a ProvoRiver hiking, biking and equestrian trail connecting Deer Creek Reservoir with the Jordanelle Basin trails
- Support wider roads and marked bike lanes on selected roadways for the safety of our children and recreational riders
- Require county maintained and publicly accessible recreational areas to be a part of all new developments
- Support legislation that encourages developers to open their private recreational facilities to county residents at reasonable fees
- Oppose all attempts at privatizing low cost public recreation facilities
Downtowns
- Work with both Heber City and Midway to create vibrant, pedestrian friendly, attractive downtowns
- Discourage the creation of satellite malls that pull retail sales from the city downtowns
- Consolidate all new retail commercial activity to the existing downtowns
- Support legislation that results in a western bypass to divert transient traffic from downtown Heber City
Economic Development
- Promote quality economic development that brings high paying jobs to existing residents
- Discourage economic development that results in low wage positions and increased residential growth to support these low wage positions
- Forbid private economic development that requires tax subsidies or holidays
- Support legislation that restricts commercial development to existing zones
- Where residential development is inevitable, support legislation to encourage high end second home construction to provide tax revenue to be used for affordable housing and purchase of open space
- Insist that developers meet their affordable housing obligations by actually building affordable housing rather than paying a token fee
- Discourage gated developments that isolate new residents from the community at large
- Insist on publicly available, understandable, fiscal impact studies for all major private and public projects
Government
- Keep taxes low by restricting irresponsible commercial or residential growth that results in a higher demand for services that must by paid by existing taxpayers
- Actively support all policies that result in full transparency in both city and county government
- Demand that city and county elective and appointed officials communicate their activities via timely distribution of meeting agendas and minutes on their websites
- Demand that all meetings of elected and appointed officials be available via both live streaming and podcasts on the city and county websites
- Require that the councils be forbidden to vote on a recommendation from the planning commission until a week after the planning commission minutes on that matter are publicly available on the county website
- Communicate a summary of the city and county budgets to all taxpayers showing both the totals and the amounts that the specific taxpayer is contributing to each specific budget item
- Establish a strong set of ethics requirements that eliminate conflicts of interest by demanding that those elected or appointed officials who would directly or indirectly gain financially from their positions recuse themselves from participating in discussions or voting
- Restrict the acceptance of gifts or making quid pro quo (something for something) agreements with lobbyists, developers, contractors, land owners or other parties with vested interests
- Encourage citizen involvement in all aspects of local government including: participation on committees, boards and commissions; running for office; attending meetings; and, of course, voting
- Revise the current city and/or county procedure for nominating Planning Commission and Board of Adjustment positions to demand that the elected councils vote from a full list of applicants – not just on a single nominee
- Restrict all non full time elected and appointed officials to two consecutive terms not to exceed eight years
- Require that the City and CountyManagers be reaffirmed every two years after a new council is elected
- Seek informal agreements with Republican County Council candidates to limit campaign expenditures to $2000 per campaign and individual contributions to $100 per campaign (city elections are non partisan)
Platform of the WasatchCounty Democratic Party
April 25, 2008
We, the Wasatch County Democratic Party, promote and support effective implementation of good local government based on the principles of the Democratic Party. Our primary goal is to sustain or improve the quality of life of all residents in our County. While we subscribe to the issues and principles set forth by the Utah and National Democratic Party platforms, we also subscribe to a unique set of positions that are local to Wasatch County. These issues and positions are summarized as follows:
Preservation of the rural character of the valley
- Support ordinance changes in both the cities and the county that slow the rate of new residential growth via lower density zoning
- Support ordinance changes that preserve open space like the North and South Fields at minimal cost to existing residents without the shortcomings of trading higher overall density for open space
- Support land use management principles like conservation easements that encourage farmers, ranchers and large property owners to not develop their land
- Say no to developers who would saddle us with higher taxes and jeopardize the rural character of our valley
- Demand that developers pay impact fees that cover their full costs to the community
- Slow down or stop the county to city annexations that invariably lead to higher residential densities
- Create permanent green belts around the towns in the valley that define the municipal boundaries
- Oppose state legislation that permits city incorporation without approval of the majority of registered voters within the proposed boundaries
- Support ordinance changes that discourage the use of street lights and reestablish dark nights and bright stars
Recreation
- Support legislation to increase the number, quality and maintenance of city and county parks
- Increase the number of interconnected hiking, biking and equestrian trails throughout the county
- Support legislation that results in the creation of a ProvoRiver hiking, biking and equestrian trail connecting Deer Creek Reservoir with the Jordanelle Basin trails
- Support wider roads and marked bike lanes on selected roadways for the safety of our children and recreational riders
- Require county maintained and publicly accessible recreational areas to be a part of all new developments
- Support legislation that encourages developers to open their private recreational facilities to county residents at reasonable fees
- Oppose all attempts at privatizing low cost public recreation facilities
Downtowns
- Work with both Heber City and Midway to create vibrant, pedestrian friendly, attractive downtowns
- Discourage the creation of satellite malls that pull retail sales from the city downtowns
- Consolidate all new retail commercial activity to the existing downtowns
- Support legislation that results in a western bypass to divert transient traffic from downtown Heber City
Economic Development
- Promote quality economic development that brings high paying jobs to existing residents
- Discourage economic development that results in low wage positions and increased residential growth to support these low wage positions
- Forbid private economic development that requires tax subsidies or holidays
- Support legislation that restricts commercial development to existing zones
- Where residential development is inevitable, support legislation to encourage high end second home construction to provide tax revenue to be used for affordable housing and purchase of open space
- Insist that developers meet their affordable housing obligations by actually building affordable housing rather than paying a token fee
- Discourage gated developments that isolate new residents from the community at large
- Insist on publicly available, understandable, fiscal impact studies for all major private and public projects
Government
- Keep taxes low by restricting irresponsible commercial or residential growth that results in a higher demand for services that must by paid by existing taxpayers
- Actively support all policies that result in full transparency in both city and county government
- Demand that city and county elective and appointed officials communicate their activities via timely distribution of meeting agendas and minutes on their websites
- Demand that all meetings of elected and appointed officials be available via both live streaming and podcasts on the city and county websites
- Require that the councils be forbidden to vote on a recommendation from the planning commission until a week after the planning commission minutes on that matter are publicly available on the county website
- Communicate a summary of the city and county budgets to all taxpayers showing both the totals and the amounts that the specific taxpayer is contributing to each specific budget item
- Establish a strong set of ethics requirements that eliminate conflicts of interest by demanding that those elected or appointed officials who would directly or indirectly gain financially from their positions recuse themselves from participating in discussions or voting
- Restrict the acceptance of gifts or making quid pro quo (something for something) agreements with lobbyists, developers, contractors, land owners or other parties with vested interests
- Encourage citizen involvement in all aspects of local government including: participation on committees, boards and commissions; running for office; attending meetings; and, of course, voting
- Revise the current city and/or county procedure for nominating Planning Commission and Board of Adjustment positions to demand that the elected councils vote from a full list of applicants – not just on a single nominee
- Restrict all non full time elected and appointed officials to two consecutive terms not to exceed eight years
- Require that the City and CountyManagers be reaffirmed every two years after a new council is elected
- Seek informal agreements with Republican County Council candidates to limit campaign expenditures to $2000 per campaign and individual contributions to $100 per campaign (city elections are non partisan)
Platform of the WasatchCounty Democratic Party
April 25, 2008
We, the Wasatch County Democratic Party, promote and support effective implementation of good local government based on the principles of the Democratic Party. Our primary goal is to sustain or improve the quality of life of all residents in our County. While we subscribe to the issues and principles set forth by the Utah and National Democratic Party platforms, we also subscribe to a unique set of positions that are local to Wasatch County. These issues and positions are summarized as follows:
Preservation of the rural character of the valley
- Support ordinance changes in both the cities and the county that slow the rate of new residential growth via lower density zoning
- Support ordinance changes that preserve open space like the North and South Fields at minimal cost to existing residents without the shortcomings of trading higher overall density for open space
- Support land use management principles like conservation easements that encourage farmers, ranchers and large property owners to not develop their land
- Say no to developers who would saddle us with higher taxes and jeopardize the rural character of our valley
- Demand that developers pay impact fees that cover their full costs to the community
- Slow down or stop the county to city annexations that invariably lead to higher residential densities
- Create permanent green belts around the towns in the valley that define the municipal boundaries
- Oppose state legislation that permits city incorporation without approval of the majority of registered voters within the proposed boundaries
- Support ordinance changes that discourage the use of street lights and reestablish dark nights and bright stars
Recreation
- Support legislation to increase the number, quality and maintenance of city and county parks
- Increase the number of interconnected hiking, biking and equestrian trails throughout the county
- Support legislation that results in the creation of a ProvoRiver hiking, biking and equestrian trail connecting Deer Creek Reservoir with the Jordanelle Basin trails
- Support wider roads and marked bike lanes on selected roadways for the safety of our children and recreational riders
- Require county maintained and publicly accessible recreational areas to be a part of all new developments
- Support legislation that encourages developers to open their private recreational facilities to county residents at reasonable fees
- Oppose all attempts at privatizing low cost public recreation facilities
Downtowns
- Work with both Heber City and Midway to create vibrant, pedestrian friendly, attractive downtowns
- Discourage the creation of satellite malls that pull retail sales from the city downtowns
- Consolidate all new retail commercial activity to the existing downtowns
- Support legislation that results in a western bypass to divert transient traffic from downtown Heber City
Economic Development
- Promote quality economic development that brings high paying jobs to existing residents
- Discourage economic development that results in low wage positions and increased residential growth to support these low wage positions
- Forbid private economic development that requires tax subsidies or holidays
- Support legislation that restricts commercial development to existing zones
- Where residential development is inevitable, support legislation to encourage high end second home construction to provide tax revenue to be used for affordable housing and purchase of open space
- Insist that developers meet their affordable housing obligations by actually building affordable housing rather than paying a token fee
- Discourage gated developments that isolate new residents from the community at large
- Insist on publicly available, understandable, fiscal impact studies for all major private and public projects
Government
- Keep taxes low by restricting irresponsible commercial or residential growth that results in a higher demand for services that must by paid by existing taxpayers
- Actively support all policies that result in full transparency in both city and county government
- Demand that city and county elective and appointed officials communicate their activities via timely distribution of meeting agendas and minutes on their websites
- Demand that all meetings of elected and appointed officials be available via both live streaming and podcasts on the city and county websites
- Require that the councils be forbidden to vote on a recommendation from the planning commission until a week after the planning commission minutes on that matter are publicly available on the county website
- Communicate a summary of the city and county budgets to all taxpayers showing both the totals and the amounts that the specific taxpayer is contributing to each specific budget item
- Establish a strong set of ethics requirements that eliminate conflicts of interest by demanding that those elected or appointed officials who would directly or indirectly gain financially from their positions recuse themselves from participating in discussions or voting
- Restrict the acceptance of gifts or making quid pro quo (something for something) agreements with lobbyists, developers, contractors, land owners or other parties with vested interests
- Encourage citizen involvement in all aspects of local government including: participation on committees, boards and commissions; running for office; attending meetings; and, of course, voting
- Revise the current city and/or county procedure for nominating Planning Commission and Board of Adjustment positions to demand that the elected councils vote from a full list of applicants – not just on a single nominee
- Restrict all non full time elected and appointed officials to two consecutive terms not to exceed eight years
- Require that the City and CountyManagers be reaffirmed every two years after a new council is elected
- Seek informal agreements with Republican County Council candidates to limit campaign expenditures to $2000 per campaign and individual contributions to $100 per campaign (city elections are non partisan)
Platform of the WasatchCounty Democratic Party
April 25, 2008
We, the Wasatch County Democratic Party, promote and support effective implementation of good local government based on the principles of the Democratic Party. Our primary goal is to sustain or improve the quality of life of all residents in our County. While we subscribe to the issues and principles set forth by the Utah and National Democratic Party platforms, we also subscribe to a unique set of positions that are local to Wasatch County. These issues and positions are summarized as follows:
Preservation of the rural character of the valley
- Support ordinance changes in both the cities and the county that slow the rate of new residential growth via lower density zoning
- Support ordinance changes that preserve open space like the North and South Fields at minimal cost to existing residents without the shortcomings of trading higher overall density for open space
- Support land use management principles like conservation easements that encourage farmers, ranchers and large property owners to not develop their land
- Say no to developers who would saddle us with higher taxes and jeopardize the rural character of our valley
- Demand that developers pay impact fees that cover their full costs to the community
- Slow down or stop the county to city annexations that invariably lead to higher residential densities
- Create permanent green belts around the towns in the valley that define the municipal boundaries
- Oppose state legislation that permits city incorporation without approval of the majority of registered voters within the proposed boundaries
- Support ordinance changes that discourage the use of street lights and reestablish dark nights and bright stars
Recreation
- Support legislation to increase the number, quality and maintenance of city and county parks
- Increase the number of interconnected hiking, biking and equestrian trails throughout the county
- Support legislation that results in the creation of a ProvoRiver hiking, biking and equestrian trail connecting Deer Creek Reservoir with the Jordanelle Basin trails
- Support wider roads and marked bike lanes on selected roadways for the safety of our children and recreational riders
- Require county maintained and publicly accessible recreational areas to be a part of all new developments
- Support legislation that encourages developers to open their private recreational facilities to county residents at reasonable fees
- Oppose all attempts at privatizing low cost public recreation facilities
Downtowns
- Work with both Heber City and Midway to create vibrant, pedestrian friendly, attractive downtowns
- Discourage the creation of satellite malls that pull retail sales from the city downtowns
- Consolidate all new retail commercial activity to the existing downtowns
- Support legislation that results in a western bypass to divert transient traffic from downtown Heber City
Economic Development
- Promote quality economic development that brings high paying jobs to existing residents
- Discourage economic development that results in low wage positions and increased residential growth to support these low wage positions
- Forbid private economic development that requires tax subsidies or holidays
- Support legislation that restricts commercial development to existing zones
- Where residential development is inevitable, support legislation to encourage high end second home construction to provide tax revenue to be used for affordable housing and purchase of open space
- Insist that developers meet their affordable housing obligations by actually building affordable housing rather than paying a token fee
- Discourage gated developments that isolate new residents from the community at large
- Insist on publicly available, understandable, fiscal impact studies for all major private and public projects
Government
- Keep taxes low by restricting irresponsible commercial or residential growth that results in a higher demand for services that must by paid by existing taxpayers
- Actively support all policies that result in full transparency in both city and county government
- Demand that city and county elective and appointed officials communicate their activities via timely distribution of meeting agendas and minutes on their websites
- Demand that all meetings of elected and appointed officials be available via both live streaming and podcasts on the city and county websites
- Require that the councils be forbidden to vote on a recommendation from the planning commission until a week after the planning commission minutes on that matter are publicly available on the county website
- Communicate a summary of the city and county budgets to all taxpayers showing both the totals and the amounts that the specific taxpayer is contributing to each specific budget item
- Establish a strong set of ethics requirements that eliminate conflicts of interest by demanding that those elected or appointed officials who would directly or indirectly gain financially from their positions recuse themselves from participating in discussions or voting
- Restrict the acceptance of gifts or making quid pro quo (something for something) agreements with lobbyists, developers, contractors, land owners or other parties with vested interests
- Encourage citizen involvement in all aspects of local government including: participation on committees, boards and commissions; running for office; attending meetings; and, of course, voting
- Revise the current city and/or county procedure for nominating Planning Commission and Board of Adjustment positions to demand that the elected councils vote from a full list of applicants – not just on a single nominee
- Restrict all non full time elected and appointed officials to two consecutive terms not to exceed eight years
- Require that the City and CountyManagers be reaffirmed every two years after a new council is elected
- Seek informal agreements with Republican County Council candidates to limit campaign expenditures to $2000 per campaign and individual contributions to $100 per campaign (city elections are non partisan)
Platform of the WasatchCounty Democratic Party
April 25, 2008
We, the Wasatch County Democratic Party, promote and support effective implementation of good local government based on the principles of the Democratic Party. Our primary goal is to sustain or improve the quality of life of all residents in our County. While we subscribe to the issues and principles set forth by the Utah and National Democratic Party platforms, we also subscribe to a unique set of positions that are local to Wasatch County. These issues and positions are summarized as follows:
Preservation of the rural character of the valley
- Support ordinance changes in both the cities and the county that slow the rate of new residential growth via lower density zoning
- Support ordinance changes that preserve open space like the North and South Fields at minimal cost to existing residents without the shortcomings of trading higher overall density for open space
- Support land use management principles like conservation easements that encourage farmers, ranchers and large property owners to not develop their land
- Say no to developers who would saddle us with higher taxes and jeopardize the rural character of our valley
- Demand that developers pay impact fees that cover their full costs to the community
- Slow down or stop the county to city annexations that invariably lead to higher residential densities
- Create permanent green belts around the towns in the valley that define the municipal boundaries
- Oppose state legislation that permits city incorporation without approval of the majority of registered voters within the proposed boundaries
- Support ordinance changes that discourage the use of street lights and reestablish dark nights and bright stars
Recreation
- Support legislation to increase the number, quality and maintenance of city and county parks
- Increase the number of interconnected hiking, biking and equestrian trails throughout the county
- Support legislation that results in the creation of a ProvoRiver hiking, biking and equestrian trail connecting Deer Creek Reservoir with the Jordanelle Basin trails
- Support wider roads and marked bike lanes on selected roadways for the safety of our children and recreational riders
- Require county maintained and publicly accessible recreational areas to be a part of all new developments
- Support legislation that encourages developers to open their private recreational facilities to county residents at reasonable fees
- Oppose all attempts at privatizing low cost public recreation facilities
Downtowns
- Work with both Heber City and Midway to create vibrant, pedestrian friendly, attractive downtowns
- Discourage the creation of satellite malls that pull retail sales from the city downtowns
- Consolidate all new retail commercial activity to the existing downtowns
- Support legislation that results in a western bypass to divert transient traffic from downtown Heber City
Economic Development
- Promote quality economic development that brings high paying jobs to existing residents
- Discourage economic development that results in low wage positions and increased residential growth to support these low wage positions
- Forbid private economic development that requires tax subsidies or holidays
- Support legislation that restricts commercial development to existing zones
- Where residential development is inevitable, support legislation to encourage high end second home construction to provide tax revenue to be used for affordable housing and purchase of open space
- Insist that developers meet their affordable housing obligations by actually building affordable housing rather than paying a token fee
- Discourage gated developments that isolate new residents from the community at large
- Insist on publicly available, understandable, fiscal impact studies for all major private and public projects
Government
- Keep taxes low by restricting irresponsible commercial or residential growth that results in a higher demand for services that must by paid by existing taxpayers
- Actively support all policies that result in full transparency in both city and county government
- Demand that city and county elective and appointed officials communicate their activities via timely distribution of meeting agendas and minutes on their websites
- Demand that all meetings of elected and appointed officials be available via both live streaming and podcasts on the city and county websites
- Require that the councils be forbidden to vote on a recommendation from the planning commission until a week after the planning commission minutes on that matter are publicly available on the county website
- Communicate a summary of the city and county budgets to all taxpayers showing both the totals and the amounts that the specific taxpayer is contributing to each specific budget item
- Establish a strong set of ethics requirements that eliminate conflicts of interest by demanding that those elected or appointed officials who would directly or indirectly gain financially from their positions recuse themselves from participating in discussions or voting
- Restrict the acceptance of gifts or making quid pro quo (something for something) agreements with lobbyists, developers, contractors, land owners or other parties with vested interests
- Encourage citizen involvement in all aspects of local government including: participation on committees, boards and commissions; running for office; attending meetings; and, of course, voting
- Revise the current city and/or county procedure for nominating Planning Commission and Board of Adjustment positions to demand that the elected councils vote from a full list of applicants – not just on a single nominee
- Restrict all non full time elected and appointed officials to two consecutive terms not to exceed eight years
- Require that the City and CountyManagers be reaffirmed every two years after a new council is elected
- Seek informal agreements with Republican County Council candidates to limit campaign expenditures to $2000 per campaign and individual contributions to $100 per campaign (city elections are non partisan)
Contact Us
Send to a Friend
Comments
Posted by Larry Fagot on May 19, 2010 5:31 pm
AMEN!