10/28/2021
YOU KNOW IT’S THE LAST WEEK OF THE CAMPAIGN . . .
When Real Issues Get Sidelined by Made-up Stuff
Mayor Randy Lewis
Bountiful is not just a great place to live and work. It’s also one of Utah’s best-managed and best-led cities. From outstanding quality of life, to best-practice fiscal controls, to second-to-none snow removal, Bountiful is up at the top. And it’s been this way for years. Bountiful is a well-run city, with talented and dedicated employees and officers.
But suddenly, my opponent, who’s been on the City Council for 8 years, doesn’t have all that much good to say about how Bountiful is run. To hear her tell it, the city is sloppy because we don’t require competitive bidding (which is simply incorrect); competitive bids are required by law. Or, the city hasn’t had a master plan for 12 years (also incorrect). Master plans are required by law, and Bountiful has always followed the law. Or, we don’t give sufficient attention to aging infrastructure. Huh? We’ve just spent $700,000 upgrading and replacing a power line on 3100 South. A year ago, we replaced/rebuilt the hydroelectric turbines at Echo Dam, at a cost of more than $1,000,000. EVERY city department is ALWAYS planning and budgeting for infrastructure maintenance and replacement. As a Council member for 8 years, my opponent should know this.
She also knows that the mayor has neither a vote nor a veto. BUT HERE’S THE $64,000 QUESTION: IF THE CITY IS SO POORLY RUN, WHY HAS SHE DONE NOTHING TO CHANGE THINGS FOR 8 YEARS?? HAS THE ENTIRE COUNCIL BEEN SITTING ON ITS HANDS?
Hardly, and she knows that, too. It’s easy for ambition to cloud judgment. You might assume that with so much in disarray, she would have an actual plan for change. But beyond asking how YOU would handle things, it’s just slogans.
My opponent, who is thin and vague on business experience, promises that things will be better. But we are where we are after her 8 years on the City Council – where she had the voting power to make things happen! Talk is talk; but when the city needed to renew its $21 million Redevelopment Agency funding – a cash reserve to fund business-boosting projects, I was the go-to mayor to make that happen. It took a year and a lot of hard work with our regional partners. Without that money, there would be no Town Square. There is no leadership comparison with that kind of sustained work and her asking the city staff to update the existing master plan (which took 5 minutes with everyone’s instant agreement).
It was the same on trail projects. All of the Council has been promoting trail improvements, but I was the guy who secured a $500,000 grant from Davis County to help with North Canyon.
I laud Kendalyn for voting with her colleagues to approve more park projects I favored each of those. The ONLY time she and I have disagreed was on last summer’s property tax increase to fund more money for park maintenance and to re-balance dwindling capital reserve funds. She voted NO. I supported the Council’s decision, because if you’re going to vote to create parks, you can’t very well cut off funding for maintenance (wait for it – that’s NOT paying attention to infrastructure!). You can’t claim to be a fiscal conservative and stand by as sales tax revenue is siphoned off to cover capital account shortfalls.
A real leader understands that you can’t be all things to all people, but the core of my opponent’s campaign is built on denying that reality. That’s why a majority of the City Council members are voting for me, and their backing is a big deal. Whenever I’ve had to deliver for Bountiful, I’ve done it. With your vote, I can keep on delivering.
Learn more about Mayor Randy Lewis, his election campaign, and his goals for the future of Bountiful City.
