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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.
The answers for the candidates have not been modified in anyway. We have also randomized the order that the answers are listed in for each question.
I think it chose me in some crazy cosmic way.Stephanie Gricius – Part Time Mayor Candidate
Why would you not choose to live in Eagle Mountain? This place and the people here are amazing. We’re close to everything, yet still outside of the hustle and bustle of city life, and that’s something Chris and I both love.Donna Burnham – City Council Candidate
Believe it or not, my husband and I initially did not want to move to Eagle Mountain—it was simply too far from everything. We were struggling to decide where to relocate, made a spreadsheet with categories that were important to us, weighted the categories, and evaluated several communities. To our surprise, Eagle Mountain won hands down. I don’t remember all the categories, but I know we wanted a child-friendly community where we could stay for many years, raise our children in a safe community, and be close to a library. Since then, we have enjoyed many other wonderful aspects of eagle mountain, including open space, night skies, and a real sense of community. We have lived here over 16 years and still love it.Matt Visser – City Council Candidate
About 16 years ago we moved to Eagle Mountain. The house we were going to build in Saratoga Springs fell through. So we continued to look, and found a house here. We moved to the city, when the closest grocery store was in Lehi, or Riverton. We had to plan trips to the store and it saved us tons of money on impulse buys. I’m glad we moved here. This community is a tight knit community where people are willing to help. I don’t see the same things in other city’s. The reason we moved here is like many others, the open space and we get more home for less money.Drew Curley – City Council Candidate
My wife and I chose Eagle Mountain ten years ago because we love the wide open spaces, the small town feeling, the friendly citizens, and that this is one of the few places in the state that remind us a little bit of where we grew up. When we moved to a larger home a year ago, we chose Eagle Mountain again because we love this city.Jan Preece – City Council Candidate
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!Melissa Clark – City Council Candidate
We moved to Eagle Mountain 9 years ago because we were making a job change and needed an affordable place to rent. We stay in Eagle Mountain because it is where our hearts are. As we have fallen in love with this place and the sense of community and beauty, we have made this place home and bought our family a home here. We raise our kids here, garden here, worship here, serve here and wouldn’t have it any other way.Jared Gray – City Council Candidate
I grew up in Lehi, so at first (back in 1998) to find my wife! (She was in Eagle Mountain) then like most, it was affordable. But now, almost 20 years later, because it’s the best. We have the best of all worlds, and lack very little. Close to big city’s with jobs and airports, yet far enough away to be quite with open space and clean air. It’s perfect here.Tyler Shimakonis – City Council Candidate
My family chose Eagle Mountain because of the opportunities for families. My children enjoy the parks, the rec programs, the pony express events and everything else we can do right here in our city. We now have a great grocery store and bank and other growing business so I don’t ever have to leave (except for work). I am excited to continue to develop family focused growth that will allow its citizen’s to find everything they want and need in our own city.
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.