2023 Candidate Question: Building Consensus In A Divided Community

Jared R Gray
Eagle Mountain City Council

When I first started working with the Pony Express Rodeo Committee, there was a lot of opposition.  The committee and I had to overcome a lot of hurdles to get to where the rodeo is today.  This year the rodeo was sold out and we hope to keep this Eagle Mountain tradition growing in the future. 

Melissa Clark
Eagle Mountain City Council

Three examples jump out at me. With a particular development in City Center, we had a councilmember who felt very strongly that we needed to preserve larger lots in that area. I agreed. The project the developer brought before the Council wasn’t bad, but it did not meet the desired land use for that area. Instead of just voting yes or no as is, I met with that developer and the other councilmember. We worked through the concerns and desires of both the landowner and councilmember, and ultimately found a way to increase the average lot size without stripping the landowner of the value and use of his property. Another example is when we were working on getting the code created for the Wildlife Corridor Overlay Zone and one of the first developments to adopt the Wildlife Corridor-friendly components. I remember talking to a very supportive landowner and developer that had reached the end of how much he could bend and accommodate the wishes of those in support of the Wildlife Corridor. He was getting worn out from that back and forth and was close to just giving up on the discussions and moving forward with the development as vested. In listening to both sides of that issue, I knew we were super close and both side just needed someone to hear and help the issues along. It wasn’t my doing that finally got it over the finish line, it was a total group effort, but sometimes in situations like that, both sides just need a little nudge, or sympathetic ear and ideas for creative solutions. The last example was when one neighborhood was subject to some really impactful and even damaging activity in their neighborhood. We found ourselves in a really tough spot because the activity was partially done and if we made the developer and excavator halt the work, it would have left a huge mess for those neighbors. We had to listen to the residents to hear their biggest concerns and then also hear what efforts could make the problem better. We were able to create code to prevent that situation from ever happening again, we were able to get compensation for those that sustained damage, and also were able to get some additional park amenities funded by that developer to help mitigate the inconvenience, damage, and frustration. We couldn’t undo what had started, but we could facilitate a path forward. (I use the word we because it was a group effort. I was able to help contribute to the solution with some of my skills, but that solution was not only from my work, it was a combination of residents raising concerns, city staff helping provide context and the understanding of what could legally be done, and the elected officials repeatedly going to the neighborhood and listening so we could help make this situation better.)

Michael Weber
Fairfield Council Seat A

TBD

Scott Ferre
Eagle Mountain City Council

This is something I do daily managing projects and construction. I have found the best course of action is to be proactive and discuss conflict before it becomes a crisis. I rarely start a discussion to address a problem without having contemplated possible courses of action and solutions. I find that even if the solution presented is not the one adopted, starting with a plan in mind always diffuses conflict and starts discussion on a productive footing. It requires the ability to see problems from the point of view of others involved so that common ground may be established quickly and built upon for the eventual solution.

Rich Wood
Eagle Mountain City Council

Building consensus requires a lot of one on one time with decision makers. Especially with the very restrictive laws regarding creating a voting quorum with elected officials. I was able to meet with each of them individually or in pairs of two to accomplish getting their ideas and feedback in crafting law that they can all get on board with. It wasn’t easy with the zoning code, because at the time we had two council members that were firm in not restricting developers. We were able to get them to see the overall benefit and had to take out the restriction on poor quality exterior materials and designs from the code to get them to vote on the remaining document.

Alina Pringle
Fairfield Council Seat A

Assuring each participant has a chance to voice his or her opinion, most conflicts can be resolved simply by listening.

Angelina Washburn
Eagle Mountain City Council

Not to the scale of what I could do in this position. Locally, I am on an HOA committee in which we plan neighborhood events. Despite large disagreements, we were able to pull together the whole HOA for several events. I have held to and continued pushing well past the years of complicating factors that divided the committee.

Craig Whiting
Eagle Mountain City Council

You can’t close a real estate transaction without bringing divergent sides together, and I’ve closed over 500 transaction in my career, including several technical, difficult land deals that took months & sometimes years to close. I also served on the CC&R rewrite committee for Cedar Pass Ranch. We had to bring divergent views successfully together, and although the process isn’t done, we’ve received feedback from key players that appears to show we’ve created enough consensus to pass.

Craig Morris
Eagle Mountain City Council
No responses to questions returned.

Hollie McKinney
Fairfield Mayor

Successful resolution often begins with active listening and understanding different perspectives. Encouraging open and respectful conversation is essential in finding common ground. Most times having that simple conversation along with explaining the details help resolve conflicts.