Candidate Question – Family

cedarvalleysentinel.com sent a survey to each of the City Council and Mayor Candidates for the 2017 election. The questions included ones about roads, education, city issues, city strengths, as well as a few to get to know the candidates on a more personal level. Over the next few weeks, those answers will be published on cedarvalleysentinel.com. If you have missed any, want to catch up, or just review them again, you can do so by visiting the Cedar Valley Sentinel (formerly i84005) Election Center at http://cedarvalleysentinel.com/elections/. Feel free to share these articles on social media. Lets get the word out and increase voter participation in this election cycle. Eagle Mountain is a great city, and it can be made even greater by our elected officials, but they need input from the residents. Question: Can you give me a brief description of your family, and what it means to you? Melissa Clark – City Council Candidate

My husband Nathan and I have been married for 19 years, and we have 4 beautiful daughters—an 18 year old who will be a senior this year at Westlake, twin 9 year olds, and a 5 year old about to enter Kindergarten. Nathan comes from a traditional family of 9 where dad worked and mom was the keeper of the home front, and I come from a blended family. Our little family is a mix of the two: somewhere in the middle of the two ends of the spectrum. We have had our fair share of trials, from children with special needs and disabilities, to home disasters and within our extended family we have had addictions, legal problems, job loss, small business success and trials, divorce, and other triumphs and trials. In short, we are like everyone else.

Stephanie Gricius – Part Time Mayor Candidate

My family means everything to me! I married the perfect man for me, and we have three kids. Our oldest is a super sweet young man who enjoys building things and taking random objects apart to find out how they work. He also loves to read and talk philosophy. My older daughter is absolutely fearless. She loves doing all things that give her mommy a heart attack, art, and makeup. My younger daughter has a passion for music, dinosaurs, and Disney villains. My oldest and youngest are only twenty-six months apart, so they are all three very close in age. They’re also the best of friends and we can’t imagine life without them. We also have two adopted fur babies.

Jonathan Vail – Mayor Candidate

Family, to me, does not necessarily mean that one has to be related by blood. I learned this while serving in the United States Marine Corps. We were all willing to give our lives not only for everyone’s freedom, but for each individual that we were serving with. This carries over now, in that, once I consider a person family, they are for life.

Matt Visser – City Council Candidate

I have a beautiful wife Shauna, and 2 boys Ace and Linkin. I met my wife thru my roommate, and we spent everyday together from that day on. We’ve been married for about 17 yrs, and have lived in EM for about 16 of them. I don’t know if I believe in love at first site, but I imagine how I felt and feel is what it’s like. My two boys are the best kids you’ll ever meet. Ace, will be going into 8th grade, he Loves to read and play video games. Link, is going into 5th grade, he loves to skate, and shoot.

Jared Gray – City Council Candidate

I have been married for almost 19 years to my wife Heidi. We have 4 children, Kaitlin 17(graduate of West lake with honors) Cameron 15 (playing football at West lake) Kortney 13 (on Frontier dance company) and Kelsey 11 (has been involved in school plays) Although I’d love to take all the credit for how good they are, it’s been a team effort with Heidi being instrumental in our success. We love being together, and support each other in all our passions.

Drew Curley – City Council Candidate

My wonderful wife, Rachel, and I met when we were teenagers living on the East Coast. We dated a little bit in the high school years, and reunited at BYU after I returned from serving an LDS Mission. We will be celebrating our 14th anniversary this year. We have three wonderful children, two boys with a girl in the middle, who will be ages 13, 11, and 10 this year. We have lived in Eagle Mountain for ten years. To us, family are those individuals whom you would do absolutely anything for. Thus, we have a very large family here in Eagle Mountain.

Donna Burnham – City Council Candidate

Much of my life is centered around my family. My husband, Lincoln, and I have been married for 28 years and we have 3 grown children. We love our children dearly but are pleased that they are all properly launched, contributing members of society—taxpayers, in fact. We are expecting our first grandchild in five weeks and are beyond excited. Family is everything.

Debbie Hooge – Full Time Mayor Candidate

I grew up in a large family. I am one of 11 kids. I have six children of my own and 23 grandchildren. The older I get the more I realize that nothing I do will ever bring me as much joy as my family does. They are my pride and my true legacy.

Jan Preece – City Council Candidate

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.

Tyler Shimakonis – City Council Candidate

I am a fortunate man, after 10 days when I asked my wife to marry me she said yes. A great two weeks of my life as a summer camp youth counselor. Thirteen years, ten moves and four states later my family lives here in the beautiful city of Eagle Mountain. I am proud to be the father of six children ages 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, and 2. This is the reason this city is so important is because I want the best for my children and family. They are the most important thing in my life and nothing else is more satisfying to me than loving, protecting, and serving my family. A close second is serving my community.