Tomorrow evening, Tuesday, March 25, 2008 at 7 pm, neighborhood meetings will be held across the state to elect representatives, or delegates, to the County and State Conventions. House District 57 (Cedar Hills, Pleasant Grove, SE American Fork) will meet at the Pleasant Grove Junior High School.
Important to this bi-annual process is a brief Q & A session between the candidates running for these delegate & leadership positions and those members of the caucus who will vote during the “neighborhood” meeting for these candidates. Candidates should be honest and open with their answers. Questions should include what the person does for an occupation, if a person was a member of another political party (what party and how long ago did they change affiliations), whether they support the Party’s Platform, if elected will they perform the work required of precinct leadership or delegates, etc…Questions should be probing but not intimate in nature.
There are many “One Issue Candidates” who will attempt to run for these delegate positions; however, it is important to remember that government requires people who can look at the “big picture” and keep a general perspective of what they believe good government should be. The caucus system is designed to “flush out” factionists.
State and County government is more than just one issue. State and County government includes Education, Immigration, Tax Policy, Transportation, Healthcare Issues, and on and on…
A well-rounded, informed candidate is easy to identify. Our Neighborhood, City, County, and State Representatives should embody the best we have to offer.
My plea…get out and participate in the process. Choose wisely your representatives. Oh…and have fun while you’re there.
Why would anyone in their right mind run for public office?
I received this fun little advertisement in my e-mail the other day:
Help Wanted: Full-time job, less than part-time pay. 45 days - minimum, 16 hours per day at $130 per day in pressure packed environment. 20 hours per week during rest of the year virtually for free. Competence in state government -education, health care, transportation, taxation, etc.- a must. Multitasking required. Expect a lot of negative feedback. Persuasive debate skills and ability to communicate effectively are helpful. Every detail of your life will be subject to media scrutiny and you are expected to endure lies, rumors and innuendo without complaint. Straining to marriage and family life will most likely occur. Every two years spend about $15,000 to run for office with substantial stress and fatigue.
Why would anyone want this job?
The answer is simple…”it’s a pleasure to serve at the will of the people.” To represent my friends and neighbors is a distinct honor and privilege. Therefore…I announce my candidacy for Representative of House District 57 (Pleasant Grove, Cedar Hills, SE American Fork).
Since my first mid-term delegate election and subsequent appointment to the Legislature in early 2003, it’s been nothing more or less than a thrilling rollercoaster ride. My family and I have “enjoyed” the experience. And, we’re in line to ride, again!
Senator Hatch (R-UT) spoke for a few moments and then openned the remainder of his time up for questions. After Rep. Eric Hutching’s probing inquiry…any more questions??…anyone…anyone…thank you…good to be here…and, goodbye.
Senator Bob Bennett (R-UT) stopped by the Utah State House of Representatives for an brief annual visit…gave a brief speech…answered a few brief questions…and was gone in a wirlwind.
[A number of constituents have expressed their concern to me related to immigration statement(s) by the LDS Church]
The “Church’s” stance on Illegal Immigration needs to be reviewed in context. An article written and published in the Deseret News (Owned by the LDS Church), regarding statements made during the Interfaith Dialogue on Immigration at Westminster College by Elder Marlin K. Jensen, of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ Quorum of Seventy, were qualified in the paper by saying the “LDS Church has taken no position on any particular measure on the federal or state level.”
There you have it. NO POSITION.
Even though Elder Jensen urged the use of “compassion” in the consideration and creation of policy relating to immigration, the Church has taken no official position(s).
Also, worthy of consideration, in the context of the immigration debate, is this NY Times news article about Marlin Jensen…a Mormon Democrat.
HB163 School Fee Amendments (Rep. Craig Frank, R-Pleasant Grove), will require current acadmic coursework related fees to be absorbed into the traditional funding mechanism–the WPU [Weighted Pupil Unit, $2,513.91 plus or minus FY08-09].
Other non-academic fees (clubs, sports, etc.) will continue to be charged directly to students and their parents. Afterall, I shouldn’t be required to pay for your son or daughter to play varsity lacrosse…right? And, I certainly wouldn’t expect you to pay for my son’s varsity golf green fees!
However, because we all, as a society, benefit from having an educated population (lower crime rates, wider tax base with a lower rate, etc.) we have, in Utah, traditionally absorbed the costs of educating our state’s school children through Personal Income and Corporate Income Taxes and Local Property Taxes (for capital outlay and debt service, etc).
100% of Personal and Corporate Income Tax funds Public Education (K-12) in Utah. That means the base of those who pay for nearly 525,000 Public School children’s education is represented by the employed population and labor force of those who contribute to state income taxes through payroll withholding.
Fees related to coursework required for graduation should be part of the traditional WPU distribution formulas. We constitutionally guarantee a “free” public education to our state’s resident children. Yet, at the beginning of every school year the vast majority of parents who’s children attend grades 7-12 get slapped with a bill from their children’s schools. Those bills include a variety of “fees” related to almost every academic course of the state’s academic core…courses required for graduation.
And, what happens if students/parents don’t pay their fee assessment in time? Often, if these fees aren’t paid by the time grades are posted on Powerschool (on-line grade reporting system) the student will receive an “NC” in the place of a grade until the fee is paid in full.
So, if these academic “fees” are required for academic coursework and graduation from high school, HB163 treats them as the tax they really are and rolls them into the WPU.
Rep. Chris Herrod’s testimony on HB241 Repeal of Exemptions from Non-Resident Tuition on 02/12/08…
I am often amazed at the disconnect we have with what we do with this body. And how one side of this issue has been able to take compassion.
Over the past year, I’ve been called a foaming at the mouth zealot by KSL, and yet they endorsed Mitt Romney, who vetoed in-state tuition. Over the past year, I’ve been called a racist, unchristian by the Deseret News, who also endorsed Mitt Romney, who vetoed in-state tuition. I’ve even been called a super-freak by a member of this body who, with all due- respect, has no idea what I’ve done for immigrants, or for people across the sea.
And so since one side is taking compassion, let me argue from an emotional perspective.
Three weeks ago my wife was on this very floor and a member of this body came up to my wife and said “we love having your husband here. We agree with him on most everything but immigration. My wife was so upset, because you have no idea how a legal immigrant feels when you talk about compassion. She calls it discriminatory compassion, because she asked “why don’t you love the people from my native country equally? Don’t you know that they are suffering?”
Think about it, we are creating innocent victims all over the world because we refuse to enforce our laws. We’re basically saying if you don’t break our laws we’re going to punish your children. My business partner I have here in Utah has three of his siblings that have been killed. The earliest was when he was fifteen, he was shot in front of him. Most recently his brother and sister-in-law were assassinated on their doorstep. He had to adopt his niece and nephew to get his kids here. What do I tell him? He has additional family members who would love to come to this country he is one of those immigrants that has come and has
Tomorrow evening, Tuesday, March 25, 2008 at 7 pm, neighborhood meetings will be held across the state to elect representatives, or delegates, to the County and State Conventions. House District 57 (Cedar Hills, Pleasant Grove, SE American Fork) will meet at the Pleasant Grove Junior High School.
Why would anyone in their right mind run for public office?
HB163 School Fee Amendments (Rep. Craig Frank, R-Pleasant Grove), will require current acadmic coursework related fees to be absorbed into the traditional funding mechanism–the WPU [Weighted Pupil Unit, $2,513.91 plus or minus FY08-09].