Candidate Answers – Jan Preece

Question 1: Roads. Roads will be a big issue during this election cycle. With the new High School and the development in City Center, what do you feel would be the best way to alleviate the road problems facing Eagle Mountain? 1. Roads: Roads are and will always be a big issue in any city, Eagle Mountain not excluded. First off, roads are expensive to build and expensive to maintain, so this issue cannot be taken lightly. We need to make sure to hold the developers accountable for the roads they are responsible to put in. This has been a problem more in the past more than at this time. The problem I am seeing with adequate roads now stems mostly from developers waiting until the end of a project before they complete the secondary access road into and out of neighborhoods. I feel as a city we need to address this issue upfront and possibly change when we require the developer to put these secondary access roads in, or if it is the city that is responsible we need to do so in a timelier manner. We have a new high school going in on Pony Express in City Center. The Alpine School District did a traffic study and it was found that the road was adequate to handle the traffic if a four way stop was put in by the high school and possible Bobby Wren being a traffic circle. I was at that City Council meeting and got up and expressed my views about that, which were that we needed to learn a lesson from the traffic issues confronting Saratoga Springs in front of Westlake High School and the Middle School and be proactive in this matter. Fortunately the city is working on expanding the lanes on Pony Express, while also adding a second street that will connect with Eagle Mountain Boulevard. That being said I worry about the second access being through a residential area and how much traffic it will put on that street, what are the potential risks to the people who live on this street? We are not only talking employee traffic, we are talking about student drivers and large buses. Even with the expansion of Pony Express and a secondary route into the school I am also concerned about the two way street which is Eagle Mountain Boulevard and the traffic that will be on that. These are my concerns. I have a couple of ideas, the possibility of building a more direct access road from Eagle Mountain Boulevard to the school, which is costly and therefore I would like to avoid this or making it so any buses coming in on Eagle Mountain Boulevard have to use Pony Express to enter the school to help alleviate traffic through the neighborhood. I also recognize that Pony Express is not as busy in City Center as Saratoga Springs and that the neighborhood access will be sufficient. Question 2: Property Rights. What are your views on property rights, and how do you plan on balancing the property rights of current residents with the property rights of prospective developers? 2. Property Rights are guaranteed under the 5th Amendment to the Constitutions of the United States of American and reads in part, “No person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law, nor shall private property be taken for public use without just compensation.” My beliefs follow the Constitution. A person has a right to do with their property (land) as they see fit, but there is the exception of Zoning Regulations which are in place to ensure that land, and land use is developed in a matter that protects the right of the community. At times the rights of the land owner collide with zoning laws and or the desire of other landowners to change the zoning laws. When considering any changes to zoning laws, or appropriating private property for public use the rights and good of the community must be considered. I am not in favor of changing zoning unless the applicant can prove by a preponderance of evidence that it is for the public good and not just a private good. While as a city we might run into situations where private land needs to be purchased to achieve the public good, I would hope that the City and the parties involved can come to an equitable agreement. Eminent domain is always the last the most undesirable action and I would strongly oppose using this option. Question 3: Founding Fathers. Do you have a favorite founding father? If so, who is it, and what is a favorite quote, or ideal that founding father had that you try to emulate? (Notice I did not define founding father, I am leaving that up to your interpretation.) 3. My favorite Founding Father: I don’t have a favorite Founding Father, but I do love American History. The timeline leading up to the Declaration of Independence to me is fascinating and I love the history behind that document and how it came to be. I know everyone knows this first part, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness”. But my favorite part is the next few lines. “That to secure these rights governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, – That whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principle and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.” The power of government comes from the people whom politicians represent and this is a sacred trust. Question 4: Schools. Do you feel the education system is adequate in Eagle Mountain? If so, what are we doing well, if not, what needs to be changed. 4. Schools: I feel parents are the ones who are ultimately responsible for their children’s education, whether it be public schools, charter schools, private schools or home schools. The role of government is to support the parent’s choice. Question 5: Family. Can you give me a brief description of your family, and what it means to you? 5. Family: I am married my husband works full time and have been a stay at home grandma for about six or so years. I have four grown children who have flown the nest, I have nine wonderful grandchildren and I hope to have more. I love my family very much and they come first. Question 6: Why Run. Can you tell me why you are running for your position? 6. Why run? I honestly have never had any intention to run for any office. When we moved out to Eagle Mountain I decided to get more involved with the community and started participating in some events here and there. A couple of years back I sporadically started attending City Council Meeting, what I found is that I could keep up to date on the happenings in the city by doing so and I started to attend on a regular basis. I also found I enjoyed it. I don’t have an agenda, I don’t have any pet peeves, I don’t have any pet projects. But I have learned a lot about our city and our people and your concerns. Your concerns are my concerns Question 7: Biggest Issue: What do you see as the biggest issue in Eagle Mountain, and what do you plan on doing to help solve the issue? 7. What is the biggest issue in Eagle Mountain? Growth is the biggest issue in Eagle Mountain, this is not necessarily a bad thing, but with growth comes the need for improved and new roads, more schools, more utilities, more water management, more parks, more business and more careful planning with developments, to mention just a few things. Some people say the growth is inevitable, but without careful planning growth can be a huge burden. In Eagle Mountain, we have a unique opportunity, we have the room to plan a great community. Question 8: Biggest Good: What do you see as the best thing that Eagle Mountain has going for it, and how do you plan on protecting it for future generations? 8. Biggest Good of Eagle Mountain is the people and sense of community. I am impressed everyday by what my neighbors do for each other. Question 9: Open Space: Many residents like the open feel of Eagle Mountain. Do you feel we have enough open space, to much open space, or to little open space? What policies will you try to implement to support that view? 9. Open Spaces do not only include parks and trails; open spaces also include our agriculture and our wildlife areas. I would like to make sure that our agricultural areas stay protected if there are people who want to pursue it. I want to keep some wild open spaces so that our children will be able to see hawks and eagles fly above our city, to see antelope and to hear coyotes at night. Some people say it’s inevitable that things will change, but I feel with careful planning we can protect this valuable part of our city. Question 10: Development: What are your goals for the City in regards to Development? 10. My biggest goal in handling development is to make sure the new development compliments the area that it is going into. I wouldn’t want a huge apartment complex in the middle of ½ acre lots for instance. I wouldn’t want a light manufacturing facility smack in the middle of homes. I want parks to be assessable to the public. Growing the city in a way that will benefit and protect it for generations to come. Question 11: Cory Wride Memorial Park: What are your views on Cory Wride Memorial Park, and the cities current plan for the park? 11. Cory Wride Park (previously known as Middle Park) is not just a recent addition to the city’s park plans, the concept of this park has been around since the City first began. It is not new, what is new is that we have now started moving forward on some of the amenities. Cory Wride Park is a larger regional park. It is going to take a lot of money to complete. While I am in favor of pressing forward diligently with this project, I also feel that we need to do so in a wise and thoughtful manner. Question 12: Master Plan: The City is currently in the process of updating it’s master plan. What do you think the master plan should look like, and what do you think of the current changes being made. 12. Right now there are three General Plans being reviewed. If I am not wrong these are basically 20 year plans. I would like to see a conservative land use plan go in place that promotes open spaces, our community feel and allows for eco-friendly businesses and room for growth. I would also want to have the protection for our agricultural lands be a priority. All plans have room for retail corridors. There are three scenarios, number 3 being my favorite then 2 lastly 1. I don’t want business as usual, I would like to maintain our community feel into the future. Scenario 3 provides open lands for 20 years, and in 20 years when we re-evaluate things may change and we will have space in our city to accommodate that change if so needed. Question 13: Programs: What is the best program, that you know of in Eagle Mountain? How does that program make Eagle Mountain better, and how do you plan on making the program stronger? 13. There are many programs in Eagle Mountain, don’t have a favorite for sure. Support from the city council is great, but support from the community speaks volumes. I would like to make people more aware of what the city offers, so I would like to work on making the process of how to get involved more open and available to the public. Question 14: Literature: Name one work of literature that has had an impact on you, and why you think it is important for a guide during this election cycle? 14. Literature: Lately I have been reading works from the time around the Revolutionary War. Common Sense by Thomas Payne is one of these works. I have gone from reading it on Kindle to buying a copy so that I can highlight and take notes in. One passage I came across Thomas Payne states, “Immediate necessity makes many things convenient, which if continued would grow into oppressions.” How true is this of life? How many times have fixing immediately some things grown into a burden for years to come? Could proper planning have helped the situation? Could getting insight from others avoided the circumstance? I feel this little sentence can be applied when making plans for our city. Is the decision made now going to be a burden in the years to come? Question 15: Down Time: What do you do with your down time, what leisure activities do you like to participate in? 15. What I do in my down time? I like to read, I like to watch movies. I love Utah, so I like to visit the National Parks and National Monuments. I like to go on day hikes. And I love camping in the desert. I like to go to education things. Question 16: Why Eagle Mountain: Why have you chosen Eagle Mountain as your place of residence? 16. We lived in West Valley for 20 years and had wanted to move for a while. My husband got a job in Orem so we took the opportunity to go ahead with our plans and just move. We picked Eagle Mountain because of its location to the Salt Lake Valley and Bountiful area where we have family. Later my husband’s job changed to Sandy and we loved the peace and quiet out here, the stars at night and most important the people we choose to stay!