As I feared, the reform vote got split pretty badly and the incumbents and the establishment’s preferred alternatives dominated the primary election. Both incumbents, Mayor Heather Jackson and Council Member Nathan Ochsenhirt, did quite well despite their awful records in office.
Chris Pengra, the top mayoral candidate, and Bryan Free, a council candidate, also did quite well despite the fact that both of them often took an insider’s view of reforming the city.… Read the rest
Vetting candidates is the single most important responsibility of voters, but it’s also one of the hardest things to do properly. If you’re like most voters, you generally choose your candidates based on information you get from the media even though it’s biased and is often heavily filtered. Our two local papers, The Daily Herald and The Crossroads Journal, are prime examples of how media outlets protect corrupt politicians even when they are dirty.… Read the rest
Check out the following two documents. Heather Jackson’s BYU transcript clearly states that she hasn’t received any college degree yet on her Facebook page she clearly states that she was a member of the Class of 1995. Doesn’t that normally mean that someone graduated with the Class of 1995?
Heather Jackson has always been bold.… Read the rest
In the May 2013 city newsletter the mayor had this to say about the city recent utility rate changes:
Based upon the mayor’s calculations it seems reasonable to conclude that city residents will be seeing double digit percentage decreases in their utility bills. Of course, this can’t be true.
Here are the utility cost figures for my family of four, which lives in a 2,200 square foot home.… Read the rest
According to a friend who attended the March 19, 2013 city council work meeting, the city’s outside consulting firm, Sawvel and Associates, told the council that if the city doesn’t raise its utility rates by 2015 it will no longer be able to make its debt service payments. A few hours later the council voted unanimously to spend $937k on a natural gas pipeline extension, which was essentially a development subsidy for a $3 billion construction company that is building an asphalt plant north of SR-73.… Read the rest
Back when news of the Eagle Mountain City Utility Scandal first broke in February we decided to create a Facebook group page (Eagleshare Emcity) so residents could discuss the issues in a forum that was easy to use and follow. But after the site was bombarded by trolls supporting the city, we decided to delete the group.… Read the rest
This last week I was contacted by Paul Lydolph, an attorney who lives in Eagle Mountain, because he wanted to let me know about a proposal he sent to the city years ago and resubmitted after the city’s attorney died last year. His proposal was rejected both times. If you ever wanted to know why the city keeps racking up huge legal bills, you might want to check out this document.… Read the rest
Today I received a letter from the Utah State Auditor, John Dougall, regarding my report on the Eagle Mountain City Utility Scandal. I am pleased to announce that he is going to investigate the city’s:
It may take some time for his office to begin their investigation, but it has been officially added to their statewide list of potential investigations.… Read the rest
I have a few observations to make about last night’s town hall meeting.
(1) It was orchestrated by the city to preserve the careers of select politicians and city employees. They spent the first 1 hour and 40 minutes telling us their feelings and concerns so we could sympathize with them, as if they were the ones being victimized.… Read the rest