2021 Highland City General Election Results

Congratulations Highland! 40.9% of registered voters participated in this years municipal election. It is the 2nd highest turnout in the last 12 years! The highest was 41.1% in 2017.

We had an uncontested mayoral race, four candidates running for two council seats as well as two propositions. The propositions were:

Highland City 2021 Election Information Sources

For those who have not voted yet there there are lots of sources  of information available to help in your decision. Those who are elected will serve for four years and represent us on many issues. Judgement, temperament, and the ability to work with others are key factors that will affect their ability to effectively serve the residents of Highland.

When issues are looked at from different perspectives the city council ends up making better decisions. However, when discussions turn contentious, creativity is diminished and the decisions made are 2nd or 3rd best. Below are a list of links to sites and videos where you can learn more about the candidates and issues plus a couple of posts where I share my points of view:

Selecting Candidates for Local Office 2021

This November, residents of Highland will have the opportunity to determine who will fill two city council seats. Candidates for these offices are asking for the privilege to spend five to twenty or more hours a week, for the next four years. They will make decisions that affect us today and years into the future. Over the term of their office they will be responsible for ~$90M of city expenses and will cast votes that affect zoning, roads, public safety, sewer, water, etc. In short, their actions affect us on a daily basis.

Let me offer a few thoughts on identifying candidates who will serve our community well:

Highland City 2019 General Election Result Summary

A big thank you to those who took the time and made the effort to run for city council. We all benefitted from your contributions. Congratulations to Brittney Bills, Kim Rodela, and Tim Ball who will be sworn in on Tuesday January 7th, 2020.

Below are charts summarizing the results for the city plus a chart showing the turnout for cities in Utah County. Our turnout (35%)was slightly above the average for the county (33.8%). Congratulations to the Highland 7th precinct for having the best turnout (44.3%). the 6th (40.5%) and 2nd (37.6%) precincts were  2nd and 3rd.

Evaluating Highland City Council Candidates: Tips and Videos

Ballots will be arriving in your mailbox shortly. I thought I would make it easy to watch videos of the candidates to help in your decision making. Let me also share with you a couple of thoughts on selecting candidates.

One of the attributes I value most in council members is civility. In my view in order to be an effective member of council you need to be able to work with the other council members, staff, and residents to move the ball on a variety of issues. Everyone brings different perspectives to the table. The ability to share these in a civil manner is an essential part of developing good public policy. There is no member of council that I have served with that I have agreed with 100% of the time. On the other hand, every member of council whom I served with has contributed a unique idea or thought that helped create better policy.

Highland City 2019 Primary Election Summary

I first want to thank all those who took the time and made the effort to run for city council. Running for office requires a lot of work. While not everyone who run gets to serve in office, all candidates meet new people, learn more about how the city operates, and gain a better understanding of the community they live in. In my book all candidates were winners! Congratulations to those who are continuing (Brittney, Kim, Tim, Doug, Ken, and Wayne). They now have the opportunity to meet more people and learn more about the city. Good luck to all.

Below are a few charts of the election results for the city and a chart showing the turnout for cities in the county. Congratulations to the Highland 2nd precinct for having the best turnout (29.8%). Highland 7th (29.4%) and 5th (28.9%) were a close 2nd and 3rd.

Issues Raised in 2017 Highland City General Election

Several issues were raised during the campaign that require more than sound bite responses. Here our what I think are the top four issues and my thoughts on them. Feel free to share your point of view.

2017 City Candidate Debate Video

On Oct 12, 2017, the city sponsored a debate between candidates for city office. The format of the meeting was that each candidate was given time for an opening statement. Then candidates were given between 30 and 90 seconds to respond to questions. Following the question period each candidate was given the opportunity to give a closing statement.

City council candidates (Chris Kemp, Dennis LeBaron, Kurt Ostler, and Scott Smith) went through the process first followed by mayoral candidates (Jessie Schoenfeld and me – Rod Mann).

Why Am I Supporting Rod Mann For Mayor?

Here are five Highland residents discussing why they support my run for Mayor. In the group are those who did not vote for me when I ran for city council, are members of different political parties, and disagree with me on issues. Some I have known for twelve years others a just a few. These were recorded during the primary. More will be coming.

My Perspective on a Meeting with Governor Herbert

I was invited to participate in a breakfast meeting with Governor Herbert along with a few other N. county residents, some of whom were state delegates and most of whom had differences with the Governor on important issues. Kudo’s to the Governor for meeting with those who don’t necessarily see eye-to-eye with him.

The governor responded to questions regarding Common Core, SB-54 (Count My Vote Compromise), testing, local control and more local control.

Governor Herbert was an active listener and acknowledged that there were issues to be addressed. It was a good experience for me and I believe most of those involved. One item that came out of the discussion was the need for him to hear from a broader set of voices on education related issues and his willingness create a vehicle for doing that.

Curious about the 2015 Election in Highland?

There were no local burning issues and no mayoral contest but there was a county sales tax increase on the ballot. We had a 20.1% voter turnout this municipal election as opposed to 2013 when we had a 32.8% turnout. That means that each voter who turned out represented not only themselves but four other Highland voters. Historically, municipal elections with mayoral races draw a bigger turnout than city council only ones. Also,  there is a long term decline in voter turnout in Utah and across the nation. Below is a charts the shows the long term trend for congressional and presidential elections in Utah.

Selecting Candidates for Political Office

I occasionally feel like Mr. Bean looks when it comes to deciding whose box to check on the ballot. Let me share some thoughts on what I believe is important based on having served nearly two years on the Highland City council.

Elections are about selecting candidates for office who have both good character and sound judgment. It is less about how a particular candidate stands on a specific issue. When I ran there were a couple of things I was concerned about:

Meet the Candidates Event – 22-Oct-2015: Video links and brief summary

We had an excellent turnout. Well over 60 people showed up to listen to the candidates talk about why they were running and respond to questions. I thought all candidates did an excellent job communicating their message and I thought the residents asked excellent questions. Examples include:

• You say you want to encourage additional business to come to Highland. What specifically would you do?
• Do you have a position on Sunday closing?
• Why was nothing done to revise the town center development code after Toscana was built?
• Why aren’t the bad roads being repaired?
• How much debt does the city have?
• Where do you stand on Prop 1 (county 1/4% sales tax increase for transportation)?

Scott Hart recorded this event (applause please).  Here is what I like about each of the candidates along links to their videos:

Questions for Candidates that Won't be Asked in a Debate

The 2016 presidential election race has already begun and the 2015 municipal election season is fast approaching in my neighborhood. I have 3 sets of 5 questions I seek answers to when looking at candidates. These are not likely ones that will come up in a debate so I have to dig a little to answer them.

A Question of Character

When we elect someone to public office we are entrusting them to make decisions on our behalf using information to which we don't have time to review and perhaps have access. That being the case I’m more interested in the quality of their character than a specific policy position that may change as an officeholder gets access to additional information.