My Concerns For Clinton

Note: This is the third of a series of posts to hopefully help expand on my candidacy for Clinton City Council. You can read the first piece here, the second piece here, Like my campaign page on Facebook for other updates, or follow me on Twitter to learn more. Thanks for reading!

This post is an introduction to my “platform” as it were for my run for Clinton City Council. I didn’t run for city council because I think the current members of the council are doing a bad job; on the contrary, I believe that my opponents have Clinton’s best interest in mind every time that they make a decision that affects our city. I have no complaints about how anyone on the council represents the city, and will gladly support them beyond our election in November.

That said, if I am lucky enough to represent you on the Clinton City Council, I would have the following three priorities:

1) Smart Sustainable Growth – Clinton, like most cities in Utah, is growing. It is important that this growth be managed. One of the great things about Clinton is that it maintains a small town feel despite its size. However, it is also important that open space is maintained, not only for parks, but also so we don’t feel claustrophobic in our homes with neighbors looming large over us. New developments should be planned with this in mind, instead of simply maximizing the number of houses that are built in our remaining open spaces.

Smart growth also includes the proper planning of future transportation developments through the city from the state and county. One giant project that will be coming through Clinton in the near future is the West Davis Corridor. A representative from UDOT was at the August 8th City Council meeting, and I summarized my thoughts on the discussion. As mentioned in the post, I will expand on this over the next few months as I continue to learn about the impact of the West Davis Corridor on Clinton.

2) Conservation of Resources – Like the open spaces mentioned above, our public resources are finite. One of these resources, the water we use to water our lawns, is very dependent on the previous winter’s snowfall. While we may pay for this water every month, this does not mean that we should ignore the watering restrictions that are often in place. I don’t know how many times I’ve driven past sprinklers watering lawns during a rain storm, or shortly after, or water the sidewalk more than a lawn.

I do realize that we have issues with the water pressure in our sprinkler systems, as issue that has been discussed at multiple council meetings. And certain concessions need to be made in the parts of the city that are most affected by this issue. The city is also at fault in this sometimes, and green lawns are beautiful to have, but we also need to be good neighbors and good stewards of this and other shared resources.

3) Community Engagement – I admit that I didn’t attend my first city council meeting until after I filed to run for office. And even people on the council will admit that sometimes they get boring or stuck debating about seemingly unimportant wording in our city codes. But I also believe that community involvement is important, and that as many people as possible should be able to serve their community in any way that they want. I would continue to encourage the Arts Council and other community organizations that allow for citizens’ voices to be heard. I would also encourage attendance at city council meetings by figuring out some incentive to get more people engaged outside of budget meetings.

As stated above and previously, I really do enjoy living in Clinton and the work that city leadership puts into ensuring that our streets, parks, and citizens are cared for. But I also think that there is some room for improvement, even if it is on an incremental scale. Tomorrow, in my final post in this series, I plan on talking about what you should expect from me as a councilman and why I deserve your vote.

Until next time…