10 More Candidate Questions (with my responses)
1. Do you think our main street/downtown is healthy and successful? If not, what would you do to change that?
Frankly, no. While we have some business and entertainment activity, the business vacancies and turnovers, the lack of consistent “urban life”, the stalling development of housing options, the decline of both retail and office leasing, and the massive amount of “through traffic” all point to a Main Street that isn’t thriving.
2. What’s more important for our city right now: building new homes and commercial space or rehabbing/expanding/better utilizing our existing homes and storefronts?
With over 95% of our land developed, greenfield development isn’t possible. Fortunately, we have a lot of opportunities to better utilitize and improve our existing storefronts and finish building out our urban housing options that have already been planned.
3. How do you feel about the transportation options currently available in our city? Can all of our residents affordably get where they need to go? If not, what will you do to improve transportation in our city?
Our street are generally functional, but not ideal. We need to identify & implement traffic calming measures, and boost traditional transportation options within the city.
4. Some people in our community say that we have traffic problems. What do you think? How would you mitigate those concerns or change the situation?
As before, we need to work on traffic calming throughout our city, and make sure our streets and roads fuction to their ideal intention.
5. If you could change one thing in our zoning code, what would it be and why?
I would defer to the Sandy General Plan, which was written with years of input from the citizenry.
6. How do you plan to involve residents in the decision making process in our town?
I think there are significant barriers to residents giving input. I think we need to make a concerted effort to inform, listen, and respond to all our residents.
7. If someone came to you with a proposal to build a new piece of public infrastructure in our city (road, bridge, etc.), how would you evaluate whether or not that project was worth implementing?
I would assess whether the project is truly needed by the community: We should look at how much the project will cost and fully account for the long-term maintenance expenses associated with the project, then consider where that funding will come from — for both the immediate and long-term costs. We should examine how this project will impact the rest of the city, both financially and physically. For example, a road expansion might enable more people to drive through your downtown, but would the maintenance costs strain the municipal budget in 20 years? Would the road expansion presence harm local businesses?
8. If elected, what three steps would you take to put our city on a firmer financial footing?
Strengthen Tax Base
Incremental & Affordable Expenditures
Invest in the future of our City
9. If you received a $1 million grant to use for the city any way you wanted, what would you do with it and why?
Repair every sidewalk & crosswalk in the city. They’re a critical basic transportation and recreation option, and should be accessible and usable by everyone accross the city.
10. What neighborhood do you live in? Why? Where are your favorite places to spend time in our town?
I live in the Park Crest Neighborhood. I live here because it was my childhood home, and I was given the opportunity to buy the home. I love it because it is full of comfortable homes on modest lots that allow a wide-variety of people to live here.
I love the drive home on Highland Drive. I love grocery shopping at Smiths. I love Dimple Dell Park. I love Little Cottonwood Canyon. I love America First Field & Hale Center Theater.