Notes from the Mayor: Tax Base, Tax Rates, …

As I have worked through the 2018 city survey I’ve seen a number of comments related to our prop tax and tax base compared to other cities. I’ve done some research in that regard and want to share it with you. There some limitations when comparing cities as they all have their individual idiosyncrasies  For example, we have a $18.50 road fee which we track outside of the General Fund, Cedar Hills has a $6 EMS fee, Pleasant Grove has a $8.45 road fee … . I did not reach out to the individual cities to get their current household count but used US Census Data for all cities which is several years out of date. Also, the revenue and expense data is taken from each city’s 2018-19 budget, which are subject to change as the year progresses. So while the information is interesting it is certainly not perfect. What is does show is that Highland does have a per household sales tax base that compares favorably with our neighbors (except for AF which is significantly higher than everyone else), our property tax rate is the second lowest and our general fund spending per household is in the middle (just below average).

LD 27 Republican 2018 Primary Candidates Responses to Questions

A “Meet the Candidate” evening was held on Wednesday June 6th. Each candidate was given about 45 minutes to response to questions and interact with attendees. Below are videos excerpts from each candidates segment during the event which show their responses to common questions. Thanks to Scott Hart for filming the event and then taking the time to create these side-by-side responses to questions! He created a debate without the disadvantage or advantage of candidates hearing what their opponent said and then responding to it. Personally, I really like this format. Note, the video of the entire event is provided at the end of the post.

Thoughts from a Highland Resident on Priorities

I regularly receive emails from residents who ask questions or want to voice their views on an issue. I recently read one from a resident whose counsel I would like to share.

Notes from the Mayor: Patterson Property/Longhorn Field aka The Groves at Highland

This Tuesday night the city council and planning commission will be holding a joint work session to review the development plan for the Patterson property which is being named The Groves at Highland. The purpose of the session is to gather information. This is an open meeting which will be held in the city council room. Work session agendas do not include a period of time for public comment. Once the project has been presented and the council and planning commission has finished asking questions I will invite residents to ask questions if there are any they felt haven’t been asked which would provide additional insights.

Notes from the Mayor: Public Safety Cost Allocation and Lone Peak Fire Service Call History Information

As we look at how best to fund the needs of the Lone Peak Public Safety District I have been doing some homework in two different areas. The first is allocating costs between Alpine, Cedar Hills, and Highland. We presently have a somewhat complicated formula that includes a fixed percent allocation of the budget (10%) to each city and then splitting the remaining costs based on population and ERU’s (Equivalent Residential Unit: non-residential buildings are given 1 ERU per 10,000 sq. ft., homes and accessory apartment are given 1 ERU).

Notes from the Mayor: Average lot sizes, Open Space compared to Non-Open Space

I have been working on enhancing and refining the lot size data information I received from our pressurized irrigation billing system for the past several months. I’ve learned some things which run counter to “common knowledge.”

Notes from the Mayor: Caucus Information and Selecting Delegates

Selecting Delegates

Caucuses are held every two years. At  these meetings you will be electing precinct officers (chair, vice-chair, secretary, and treasurer) as well as county and state delegates. County delegates are expected to attend county party conventions where they help select party nominees for county offices, state representatives and state senators (unless the district boundary crosses county lines). In Highland we will be selecting candidates for State House District 27 and 56, County Commission seats A & B, County Sheriff, County Clerk, and County Attorney. State delegates are expected to attend state party conventions where they vote on party nominees for state offices. This year that includes candidates for the US House of Representatives and one of our US Senate seats.

William George Jordan: The Power of Personal Influence

The Power of Personal Influence

William George Jordan, The Majesty of Calmness, 1900

Zannie [my wife] spends lots of time with grandkids creating magical moments

THE only responsibility that a man cannot evade in this life is the one he thinks of least,―his personal influence. Man's conscious influence, when he is on dress-parade, when he is posing to impress those around him,―is woefully small. But his unconscious influence, the silent, subtle radiation of his personality, the effect of his words and acts, the trifles he never considers,―is tremendous. Every moment of life he is changing to a degree the life of the whole world. Every man has an atmosphere which is affecting every other. So silent and unconsciously is this influence working, that man may forget that it exists.

Notes from the Mayor: East-West Connector, Development South of Lone Peak HS, Highland Fling

The Highland Fling will be held July 28th through August 4th this year. Our theme is “We Rise by Lifting Others.” We expect this to be another great fling. However, in order for this to be the case your help is needed. We  need volunteers to help with:

1. the Parade
2. Vendors
3. Stage entertainment
4. Baby Contest
5. Garbage Management (this has been used in the past an Eagle Project)
6. Graphic Design
7. Photography/Videography
8. Other events

Please contact Julie Tapusoa at Julie@highlandcity.org or 801-772-4507 to help make this year’s fling one of our best. You can make a difference!

HJR 7: East-West Connector passed the house (70 to 0 with 5 abstentions) and will be voted on in the Senate shortly. Below is a summary of the resolution:

Notes from the Mayor: Roads, Dev Center Legislation, Sewer Rehab Video

At the last council meeting we approved $1.5M worth road projects for the 2018 calendar year. Click here to see a detailed list of the projects and associated costs. Among the projects is rehabilitating 6000 W from 105550 N to 11800 N at a cost of $615K. Two of the originally planned projects were pushed out. One was delayed because a development was approved adjacent to the road which will put a lot of heavy equipment on the road. The other was pushed into next year because of budget limitations.

Council Meeting Etiquette

At the council meeting on January 9th, 2018 I proposed a set of rules for us to follow during our meetings. The council was very supportive of my thoughts. The underlying objectives of these rules are to:

1. Have our residents feel welcome and free to participate in the meeting regardless of which side of an issue they are on. Often those with a minority opinion are reticent to speak out for a variety of issues. We want everyone to be able to share their thoughts.
2. Encourage civil debate between the council

Here are the rules I covered:

City Council Agenda for 9-Jan-2018: East-West Connector Resolution; Boundary Change Resolution; Survey

I am making a change to how I report on city activity in my blog. Going forward I will share my thoughts with you on key items that will be on the council agenda for the next meeting rather than providing an after action report as I did when I was a council member. As mayor I generally do not have a vote on issue but I do help formulate the agenda. As such I will try to provide inside into upcoming issues and share some of the discussions which precede council meeting. Upcoming agendas are posted on the city web page. Click here to see a list of the upcoming and previous agendas.

As residents you can best influence decisions by connecting with council members in advance of meetings (see Tips on Influencing Local Government).

My Goals and Priorities as Mayor for 2018

As the year begins I wanted to share with you the goals and priorities for the coming year. We will have a work session early in the year where the council will get to go through their goals and work to put them in a priority order. Below is a list I provided to council members a couple of weeks ago. Feel free to share your thoughts. Did I miss something you think is important? Am I heading somewhere you think is ill advised? … .

Lone Peak Fire District Selects a New Chief

The fire district board tonight approved a contract with Reed Thompson to be the new fire chief. Mr. Thompson was the unanimous pick of the board plus the fire chiefs of Lehi, American Fork, and Pleasant Grove, who were part of the selection committee. The local chiefs all said that we be hard pressed to find a better candidate no matter how long we looked.

Mr. Thompson comes to us from the S. Jordan fire department where he currently serves the deputy fire chief. He has an Master's of Public Administration from BYU, serves as the chair of the Utah State Urban Search & Rescue Advisory Board (SUSAR), and the vice president of the National State Urban Search and Rescue Executive Board, and He has over 20 years of fire department experience. He will start on or before December 29th.

For those who had or have concerns about the process used to hire Mr. Thompson, we started with national search and received 16 applications from across the nation. As soon as Mr. Thompson submitted an application, his father, Mayor Mark Thompson, resigned from the fire district board. A selection committee comprised of the city administrators from Alpine, Cedar Hills, and Highland, plus board chief Sheldon Wimmer (Mayor of Alpine), and Brian Gwilliam (acting Fire Chief) with some assistance from local fire chiefs selected 6 applications to interview. From these the top 3 were selected to be interviewed by members of the board, the 3 local fire chiefs, and members of the Lone Peak Fire District. One of the top 3 candidates dropped out before the final interviews. Reed Thompson was the unanimous pick of the board members, who participated in the interviews, the 3 local fire chiefs, and was unanimously approved by the fire district board. Note, I did not participate in the interviews due to a schedule conflict (my mother-in-laws funeral).

I am excited that we have a new chief, who has the full support of the board, and look forward to seeing the district move forward in a positive direction. Click here to view Reed Thompson's resume.

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.

Mann for Mayor: Endorsements

Highland residents from all across the political spectrum, including some who disagree with me on issues that are important to them, talk about why they support my run for Mayor. So why do they support my candidacy? The biggest reasons are transparency, sharing information, and a willingness to engage.

Renee Braddy

Renee Braddy and her husband Kevin are actively involved in the community. They have made a difference in education, local and county politics as well as simply serving their neighbors. Renee reviews their interactions with me and my efforts to communicate with the residents of Highland..

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).

East-West Connector–What Can You Do Today?

Background

The East-West or Murdock Connector is a road which has been under discussion for about 40 years. When built, it will connect N. County Parkway (4800 W) with Alpine Hwy (5300 W) south of Lone Peak High School.

An Open Meeting Violation is Being Referred to the County Attorney’s Office According to Senator Dayton

The East-West connector and development of the land south of Lone Peak High School continues to be most interesting. Was the meeting Senator Dayton expressed concern (my 15th “Issues and Information” meeting held at city hall on 5-Oct-2017) a violation of the Open Meeting Act? Good question. Let’s start with Senator Dayton’s email:

From: Margaret Dayton <mdayton@le.utah.gov>
Date: Friday, October 6, 2017 at 5:18 PM
…
Subject: USDC issues

Gentlemen ~ I have had a few calls today from Highland residents concerned about a meeting that was held at Highland City last night to discuss USDC land issues.

Apparently you were all there.

I have also been told that the mayor and 3 of the city council were there - so that indicates a majority of the city council was in attendance  - and thus a quorum was present. Reports that have come to me indicate that not all the city council were aware of the mtg - and that the meeting was not posted on the Highland City website - thus violating the Open and Public Meetings law.

Open Meetings Act is defined “meeting means a convening of a public body with a quorum present to discuss, receive public comment about, or act upon a matter over which the Pubic Body has advisory power.”

Some of the citizens took copious notes - and sent them to me re discussion of selling all the USDC land, changing the master plan, reconfiguring the road plans, etc Apparently no motions were taken - but public input and discussion were certainly part of the meeting.

The recordings I received were not voice recordings, so I do cannot argue about the proceedings of the meeting.The violation of the open meetings act is apparently being referred to the County Attys office.

Those in violation of the open meetings act are not any of you - it would be the city council members and at the mayor - but the optics of layering all of you on top of that mtg is not good - so I wanted to let you know what I had heard.

Just a heads up -

Enjoy this glorious fall and the long weekend.

Margaret

There were indeed three Highland City council members at this meeting. However, what the senator perhaps did not realize was that:

• This meeting was organized by me.
• The meeting room was paid for by me.
• The agenda was set by me.
• The purpose of the meeting was to provide a forum for residents to interact with our state legislators on the issue of the East-West connector.
• I used the same notification process I have used for my other meetings which includes: creating a Facebook event; inviting Facebook members who live in the Highland area; sharing the event with multiple Facebook Groups and Pages; sending an invite to those who signed up to be notified. I did do something extra this time and paid to boost the Facebook invite to residents in Alpine, Cedar Hills, and PG.
• The elected officials who attended the meeting came of their own volition with the exception of Representative Mike Kennedy and Senator Dan Hemmert who were invited to discuss the steps that will be taken by the legislature with regard to approval of the East-West connector.
• She need not worry about the notes she received being inaccurate as the meeting was recorded and posted. For those brave enough to watch a meeting some evidently believe violated the Open Meeting Act, here it is .

It is also interesting to note that the only previous “Issues and Information” meeting that I have held where three council members and the mayor were present was on May 26th 2016.  That was promoted as “The East-West Connector and State Land, a Discussion with Senator Dayton." Click here to read my notes from the meeting (which includes an excellent summary by Tammy Hodson) and here to see the Facebook invite. Elected and state officials who attended that meeting include: State Auditor John Dougal, Senator Margaret Dayton, a state attorney whose name I don’t recall, Representative Mike Kennedy, Highland City Council members: Rod Mann, Brian Braithwaite, Dennis LeBaron, and Highland Mayor Mark Thompson. During this meeting many of the same topics discussed as were Thursday night. This includes:

• The east-west connector road
• Use of funds generated from developing the land
• Potential configurations of land under development
• State owned land and property tax revenues for the city

So why was May 2016 meeting not an Open Meeting act violation and the Oct 2017 meeting was? The truth is neither were. Those public officials who attended both meetings did so of there own volition (see chance meeting below in the public meeting act). Both agendas included no items that the city council would be voting on and the intent was for our representatives to inform residents about the East-West Connector and state lands as well as provide a forum where residents could ask questions and get answers.

So what’s next now? My understanding is that the state attorney’s office deals with Open Meeting Act violations so the county should forward the referral to the state attorney’s office. State Auditor John Dougal may get to weigh in (and probably should since he was in attendance). I will be happy to respond to any and all questions from state attorney’s office.

Elected officials who were in attendance include:

• Dan Hemmert, State Senator
• Mike Kennedy, State Representative
• John Dougal, State Auditor
• Mark Thompson, Highland Mayor
• Gary Gygi. Cedar Hills Mayor
• Sheldon Wimmer, Alpine Mayor
• Rob Shelton, American Fork City Council
• Jenney Rees, Cedar Hills City Council
• Brian Braithwaite, Highland City Council
• Dennis LeBaron, Highland City Council
• Rod Mann, Highland City Council

Rather than this being an occasion where the “optics of layering all of you on top of that mtg is not good” I believe it was wonderful to see so many leaders being willing to engage with constituents on an issue that is important to them. Thank you to each of the leaders (elected officials and staff) for taking the time to be there and share your thoughts!

By the way this was another great “Issues and Information” meeting. Lots of questions were asked and answered. Representative Kennedy and Senator Hemmert were excellent. I asked Highland City Engineer Todd Trane to give and overview of how roads are designed and speed limits set – he did a great job. Bill Exeter, the state’s project manager for the development of the land, gave an ad-hoc overview of the road and land development plans. He gave a good overview of the purpose of the project he is working on and answered all questions. I had no idea he was coming but really appreciate his contribution to the meeting. Andrew Jackson, the executive director of MAG also came and provided a lot of valuable insights.

Below are the definitions from the Utah Public Meeting Act which is part of Utah State Code. I’ve highlighted a few relevant items:

Definitions
(6)

1. "Meeting" means the convening of a public body or a specified body, with a quorum present, including a workshop or an executive session, whether in person or by means of electronic communications, for the purpose of discussing, receiving comments from the public about, or acting upon a matter over which the public body or specific body has jurisdiction or advisory power.
2. "Meeting" does not mean:
   1. a chance gathering or social gathering; or
   2. a convening of the State Tax Commission to consider a confidential tax matter in accordance with Section 59-1-405.
3. "Meeting" does not mean the convening of a public body that has both legislative and executive responsibilities if:
   1. no public funds are appropriated for expenditure during the time the public body is convened; and
   2. the public body is convened solely for the discussion or implementation of administrative or operational matters:
      1. for which no formal action by the public body is required; or
      2. that would not come before the public body for discussion or action.

Criminal Penalty for Closed Meeting Violation

In addition to any other penalty under this chapter, a member of a public body who knowingly or intentionally violates or who knowingly or intentionally abets or advises a violation of any of the closed meeting provisions of this chapter is guilty of a class B misdemeanor.

* For those who listened to the whole meeting. You heard me say something that was incorrect near the end of the meeting. When asked if any one councilman could stop the road I said no. I also said that I didn’t believe that even a 3 / 2 vote could stop the road. What I should have said was that while a 3 / 2 vote could delay the road given the overwhelming need for the road that ratio would likely change after the following election.

Postscript

On October 10th the Highland city attorney drafted an opinion on the matter of the Issues and Information meeting being a violation of the Open Meeting Act. Note, I was not one of the people who requested that opinion and I am not sure who did.

Dear Mayor and Council:

I've been asked by several people to respond to some questions raised about Rod's Issues and Information meeting with Mike Kennedy regarding the connector road, and whether it needed to be publicly advertised, and whether having a quorum present required someone to leave. 

Rod's event does not qualify as a public meeting under the law because it was not a "convening" of the city council.  Specifically, the statute states "Convening means the calling together of a public body by a person authorized to do so...." Utah Code 52-4-103(3).  As a council member, Rod is not authorized to convene a meeting of the City Council.  However, if the Mayor had done so, it would need to be advertised because he is authorized to convene the "public body" to do business.

No public notice or advertising was needed because it was not a public meeting.  Also, no one knew in advance whether others on the council would attend since they were invited (but not required) to attend.

The other issue is when several council members show up to a meeting like this as guests, did a quorum require someone to leave?  No, because a quorum was never constituted because it was not a public meeting.

However, remember that the intent of the Open Meetings law is transparency.  Therefore, if three members of the council show up and begin to debate each other and deliberate on the public's business, I can see how that would be a violation of the law -- not because the private event became "public", but because they engaged in the public's business outside of a public meeting (see the difference).

Please let me know if you have any questions. 

Best wishes,

Tim [Merrill]

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HANSEN WRIGHT ATTORNEYS

233 S. Pleasant Grove Blvd., Suite 202
Pleasant Grove, Utah 84062
Telephone: (801) 443-2380
Facsimile: (801) 796-0984

hansenwright.com

Related Links:

• May 2017 USDC Board meeting: 
  The full minutes for the meeting can be found by clicking here.
  You can also listen to a recording of the meeting by clicking here. The first 18 minutes are particularly interesting.
• East-West Connector Road Study and Analysis
• History of the East-West Connector
• May 2016 Issues and Information: A Discussion With Senator Dayton

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.