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Around Eagle Mountain, you have started to see campaign signs appearing along the side of the streets. One of my daughters the other day asked me what the big No and Yes signs were about. I had a vague idea of what it was about but was not 100% sure. I believe there are probably a lot of other residents that feel the same way. This article is a non-biased article that describes what Prop 9 is, how it will affect Eagle Mountain and a short poll about how you will vote on Prop 9.
What is Prop 9
The wording of the ballot measure states, “Shall Utah County adopt the alternate form of government known as the Executive –Council (also known as the Mayor-Council) as recommended in the proposed optional plan?”.
But what exactly does that mean. Right now Utah County has a Three-member board that acts as the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial functions.
Currently, the board consists of Tanner Ainge (chair), Nathan Ivie, and Bill Lee. ” The Commission is responsible for levying taxes, adopting ordinances, and making policy which affects all of the County’s nearly 623,000 residents. Commissioners are elected for four-year terms.” [source] If the proposition passes, then we would change to a Mayor-Council form of government also known as an executive-council form of government. The main change is, “Within the executive-council form of government, Utah County shall be governed by an elected county executive (the Utah County Mayor), an elected county council (consisting of five members and constituted as provided for herein), and other officers and employees authorized by law.” The Legislative and Executive roles would be separated. The County Mayor alone would be the Executive branch, and the 5 council members would be the legislative branch.
- District 1 contains Lehi, Saratoga Springs, Eagle Mountain, Fairfield, Cedar Fort, and unincorporated county areas surrounding those cities. 2018 census data states that District 1 contains 110,000 residents.
- District 2 contains Alpine, Highland, Cedar Hills, American Fork, Plesant Grove, and unincorporated county areas surrounding those cities. (135K Residents)
- District 3 contains Lindon, Vineyard, Orem, and unincorporated county areas surrounding those cities. (124K Residents)
- District 4 contains Provo, and unincorporated county areas surrounding those cities. (127K Residents)
- District 5 contains Mapleton, Spanish Fork, Salem, Payson, Elk Ridge, Woodland Hills, Genola, Santaquine, Goshen, and unincorporated county areas surrounding those cities. (130K Residents)
Shall Utah County adopt the alternate form of government known as the Executive –Council (also known as the Mayor-Council) as recommended in the proposed optional plan?
How will you vote for Prop 9?
- No (52%, 124 Votes)
- Yes (48%, 114 Votes)
Total Voters: 238
Loading ...Pros and Cons
If you go to vote.utah.gov and look for information on Prop 9, you are taken to a pdf file that lists the acutal proposition as well as arguments for and against with rebutals of each. You can view the document here. There are also a couple of websites you can go to for more information.- Pro – BetterUtahCounty Website
- Con – NoToPropNine Website
Cons
“The process in creating Prop 9 was rushed, biased and one-sided. Utah County is flourishing despite the challenges we face. No government system is perfect and there is always room for improvement, but as the old saying goes, ‘If it ain’t broke don’t fix it.’” [notopropnine.com]Pros
“Our current county form of government is no longer adequate to meet the needs of a rapidly growing area.” [betterutahcounty.com]Argument AgainstGovernor Herbert recently called Utah County the “epicenter of dysfunction.” That dysfunction has been driven in part by Utah County’s outmoded, unresponsive, and unrepresentative form of government. Prop 9 provides a better form of government for Utah County –one that provides better representation and greater accountability. This form of government includes five part-time council members representing geographical areas and one full-time mayor. Utah County is the second largest county in the state and studies indicate we will have 1.6 million residents by 2065. The time to change is now. Our current form of government consists of three full-time commissioners who hold both executive and legislative powers, and who are elected at-large. While this may function for rural areas, Utah County would be better served by a government that includes a separation of powers,checks and balances, and regional representation. Utah County consists of both rural and urban areas, and the challenges faced in different parts of the county are not the same. The issues faced by Lehi, with the growth of the technology sector, are different than those of Genola, which has a population of just over 1,300. Having a form of government with regional representation means the perspectives of citizens throughout the county will be better considered. Our government must be accountable to citizens. Having three CEOs doesn’t work for business and it doesn’t work for government. Separating the legislative and executive branches means that the county council has legislative authority to set policy and control the budget while the executive is tasked with implementing that policy and advocating for the county. Responsibility is divided between the two branches and there is a built-in system of checks and balances similar to our national, state, and city governments. Knowing who is responsible for what improves accountability. This is not an expansion of government. It does not create new powers, new departments, or new levels of bureaucracy. Nor does it require a tax increase as the legislative branch would consist of part-time council members. The funding currently allocated to the three full-time county commissioners and staff would be distributed among the staffing needs for a full-time executive and part-time council. Seven counties in Utah have moved to a form of government that separates executive and legislative functions, and no two are the same or offer the same services. Who we elect matters. The advantage of a part-time legislature means we widen the pool of candidates as those who have other employment can serve in county government, similar to our state legislature and city councils. A part-time council allows for more citizen servants and fewer full-time politicians. Our government must meet the needs of a rapidly growing area. Vote YES on Prop 9 to implement a better form of county government with a separation of powers, checks and balances, and regional representation. Visit betterutahcounty.com for more information. Sincerely, Mayor Jenney Rees, 9466 N 3830 W., Cedar Hills UT 84062, 385-202-3710 Representative Mike McKell, Spanish Fork Commissioner Tanner Ainge, Alpine Sheriff Mike Smith, Lindon Clint Betts, Lehi
Governor Herbert recently called Utah County the “epicenter of dysfunction.” That dysfunction has been driven in part by Utah County’s outmoded, unresponsive, and unrepresentative form of government. Prop 9 provides a better form of government for Utah County –one that provides better representation and greater accountability. This form of government includes five part-time council members representing geographical areas and one full-time mayor. Utah County is the second largest county in the state and studies indicate we will have 1.6 million residents by 2065. The time to change is now.
Our current form of government consists of three full-time commissioners who hold both executive and legislative powers, and who are elected at-large. While this may function for rural areas, Utah County would be better served by a government that includes a separation of powers,checks and balances, and regional representation. Utah County consists of both rural and urban areas, and the challenges faced in different parts of the county are not the same. The issues faced by Lehi, with the growth of the technology sector, are different than those of Genola, which has a population of just over 1,300. Having a form of government with regional representation means the perspectives of citizens throughout the county will be better considered.
Our government must be accountable to citizens. Having three CEOs doesn’t work for business and it doesn’t work for government. Separating the legislative and executive branches means that the county council has legislative authority to set policy and control the budget while the executive is tasked with implementing that policy and advocating for the county. Responsibility is divided between the two branches and there is a built-in system of checks and balances similar to our national, state, and city governments. Knowing who is responsible for what improves accountability.
This is not an expansion of government. It does not create new powers, new departments, or new levels of bureaucracy. Nor does it require a tax increase as the legislative branch would consist of part-time council members. The funding currently allocated to the three full-time county commissioners and staff would be distributed among the staffing needs for a full-time executive and part-time council.
Seven counties in Utah have moved to a form of government that separates executive and legislative functions, and no two are the same or offer the same services. Who we elect matters. The advantage of a part-time legislature means we widen the pool of candidates as those who have other employment can serve in county government, similar to our state legislature and city councils. A part-time council allows for more citizen servants and fewer full-time politicians.
Our government must meet the needs of a rapidly growing area. Vote YES on Prop 9 to implement a better form of county government with a separation of powers, checks and balances, and regional representation. Visit betterutahcounty.com for more information.
Sincerely,
Mayor Jenney Rees, 9466 N 3830 W., Cedar Hills UT 84062, 385-202-3710
Representative Mike McKell, Spanish Fork
Commissioner Tanner Ainge, Alpine
Sheriff Mike Smith, Lindon
Clint Betts, Lehi
Dear Utah County Voters,
Proposition 9 is not about improving government—it’s about expanding government on the backs of Utah County taxpayers. With the economy down and continued economic uncertainty under COVID-19, now is a terrible time to consider growing county government.
Make no mistake: Voting in favor of Proposition 9 will lead to an expansion of government and an increase in your taxes over time. Twenty years ago, Salt Lake County switched to the mayor-council form of government, and the result has been more bureaucracy, bloated salaries for county officials, “celebrity mayors” seeking higher office, and continual tax increases.
Even the formation of small towns or realignment of school districts requires an independent financial analysis, typically by a CPA firm. No such analysis was completed for this massive change in government, and proponents are relying on the bogus math of the same two county commissioners who recently proposed a doubling of Utah County’s property tax. No independent salary study, benefits study, staffing plan study, office space analysis, or total cost analysis has been conducted on the financial impact of Proposition 9.
We know one thing for sure by looking at Salt Lake County: expanding the county government will result in more government and more taxes. WE BELIEVE UTAH COUNTY RESIDENTS ARE TAXED ENOUGH. In recent years we have seen property tax increases, gas tax increases, and several sales tax increases from the state and many local taxing entities. And these tax increases aren’t cheap—they add up to thousands of dollars per household. Proposition 9 will further increase your tax burden.
Approving Proposition 9 will result in less representation, not more. Currently, all three Utah County commissioners are elected at-large, which means each voter is represented by 100% of the Commission, and each voter votes for all three commissioners. Under Proposition 9, each voter would only vote on one of the five councilmembers, which means each voter would be represented by just 20% of the Council.
Utah County already has tremendous separation of powers. In addition to the three commissioners, we have seven other independently elected county government officials. Increasing the number of elected officials is an unnecessary expansion of government.
Another big problem with Proposition 9 is that it consolidates executive power in one person: a county mayor. Because Utah has no recall law, it is virtually impossible to mitigate a bad county mayor. Contrast that with the Commission form of government where the negative impact of one bad executive is minimized by the other two commissioners.
One of the advantages of the current system is having three full-time commissioners, which empowers voters by giving them direct electoral oversight over those making the day-to-day decisions in county government. But under Proposition 9, the bureaucracy will be empowered because the new legislative body would only serve part-time. Having three full-time commissioners provides much greater oversight than one full-time mayor and a part-time council.
PLEASE JOIN US IN VOTING “NO” ON PROPOSITION 9. To learn more, visit www.NoToPropNine.com.
Sincerely,
Utah County Commissioner Bill Lee, 835 N 500 E., Pleasant Grove UT 84062, StopProp9@gmail.com, (801) 722-4646
Heather Williamson, Saratoga Springs
Jerry Grover, former Utah County Commissioner, Provo
Steve White, former Utah County Commissioner, Provo
Tom Sakievich, Spanish Fork
The rebuttals for each of these positions can be found in the PDF file on the vote.utah.gov site: https://ssl.utahcounty.gov/dept/clerkaud/elections/documents/Prop9VIP.pdf
Mike Kieffer is an IT geek by hobby and trade, with a BS in Information Systems & Technology. He is a proud father of 10, a grandpa, an author, a journalist, and internet publisher. His motto is to “Elevate, Inspire and Inform”, and he is politically conservative and a Christian. Mike has a passion for technology, writing, and helping others. With a wealth of experience, he is committed to sharing his knowledge with others to help them reach their full potential. He is known for his jackassery or his form of self-expression that encourages boldness, creativity, and risk-taking. It can be a way to push the boundaries and challenge traditional norms, leading to creative solutions and positive change.
Excellent job writing this. Theoretically I think it could be good but in reality I don’t trust… So I voted against it. I trust Bill Lee more then Tanner Ainge Any day of the week.
I did find it interesting on who wrote the pro and con arguments. The document that I link to has the rebuttals as well. Thanks for the comment Tim.