MEDIA SURVEYS

PARK RECORD CANDIDATE SURVEY

Question #1 - What has prepared you for service as a county councilor?

Media Answer (all media answers are limited to 200 characters):  Command-level decision making. Decades of proven leadership in a variety of positions in government service, particularly 31 years in the U.S. Air Force. The discipline of a fighter pilot/test pilot.
Expanded Answer:  The discipline of a fighter pilot/test pilot career and the responsibilities and daily activities of command—many of which are highly political (leaders, you know what I mean)—are perfect lead-ins that have prepared me for county-councilor service.  I’ve already been making those tough personnel, budget, and leadership decisions. That’s great prep to hit the ground running.

Question #2 - What makes you the best choice?

Media Answer:  Successfully managing adversity is key to navigating the complexities of service to a community, and my integrity has been tested and proven time and again in some very difficult circumstances.
Expanded Answer:  Successfully and repeatedly managing adversity. You would think a flying career would just be cranking engines and blasting off.  Not so. In my career as a test pilot, I’ve made many tough calls that were not welcome at the time. As a commander I had to choose between the safety of my squadron mates and re-starting a billion-dollar production line that was shut down because of an aircraft accident.  Rather than put my flight crews at risk before having the full story, I voted against re-starting production until we had enough information from the accident board to continue. After just a week’s delay, sufficient information had been gathered and my return-to-fly conditions were met. We were airborne again and the squadron scored big kudos from senior leaders. Successfully managing adversity is key to navigating the complexities of service to a community, and my integrity has been tested and proven time and again in some very difficult circumstances.

Question #3 - What must the county council do as Wasatch County growth leads the state?

Media Answer: Gain control of undisciplined growth; insist on prior water and infrastructure planning; and maintain our open spaces at all costs. The days of approving each and every development project must stop.
Expanded Answer: The County Council must get control of undisciplined growth that we’ve seen in the last few years.  Maintaining Open Space is critical. The days of approving what seems to the people as every development project that comes before the council must stop.  There is no requirement anywhere that I’ve read that says leadership must perpetuate the mistakes of the past. I’ve quoted that line to many people who wanted projects approved with sketchy execution plans. They didn’t like that; so they either went elsewhere or modified their plan to make it acceptable. Next – we must insist on a water and infrastructure plan. I’ll not be approving any development that presents with a negative impact on our water system. Proper infrastructure must also be a prerequisite. Finally, properly managing growth in my view means having the right project at the right time based on hard data, not just financial opportunity for a developer. Both current population numbers and forecast population growth must be considered to trigger possible (not guaranteed) approval.

Question #4 - What is the best approach to the Legislature in Wasatch County’s best interests?

Media Answer:  Collaboration and cooperation—combined with asking the people their concerns about any given issue—are the most essential aspects to dealing with the State Legislature to gain critical county support.
Expanded Answer:  This question is a bit poorly written and unclear, so I’ll answer by saying collaboration and cooperation—combined with asking the people their concerns about any given issue—are the most essential aspects to dealing with the State Legislature to gain support essential to Wasatch County’s best interests.  While our officials around the country do represent us, it does often seem like they vote in ways that benefit themselves. To correct this situation, at the county level we should continue to seek not only formal public comment on topics but also let the people know we really need to hear from them to get a feel for what everyone is thinking. In my door knocking during this campaign, I’ve often told voters that I really want them to call or otherwise contact me and that I will make myself available for just such contact.  The current council is well-engaged with the state, and I intend to increase that engagement even more. We can only get beneficial decisions from the state legislators if we routinely and regularly make our positions known. And we’ll only know what those positions should be if we seek and document the positions of our constituents.

Question #5 - What is most important to you serving as a Wasatch County Councilor?

Media Answer:  Frequent and regular communication with constituents.  Many people I’ve talked to during my door-knocking campaign seem surprised that I am so focused on seeking feedback and opinions from the voters.
Expanded Answer: I’ve mentioned this aspect of the way I’ll do business when elected to those I’ve met.  And on one visit, this response happened. “What? You actually care what I think?” Yeah…I heard that one. This was disappointing to hear but served to let me know that our public officials need to step it up regarding our communication with the people and establishing our positions on matters concerning the voters who put us in office.

PARK RECORD CANDIDATE SURVEY (continued)

Question #6 - What three county challenges are you most determined to solve?

Media Answer:  First – Undisciplined, uncontrolled growth, while at the same time making real progress on housing affordability. Second – rooting out and ending fraud, waste, and abuse.
Third – Reducing property taxes
Expanded Answer:  First – Undisciplined, uncontrolled growth, while at the same time making real progress on housing affordability. I’ve lived in several communities where people have to drive long distances just to get to work because they can’t afford nearby housing. I’ve lived in very successful and attractive multi-tiered price-point developments, and these are just one viable solution.  Second – rooting out and ending fraud, waste, and abuse.  Imagine the savings we could enjoy if all fraud, waste, and abuse were eliminated at all levels of government. Could we even eliminate income taxes if the money went to where it was actually appropriated?
Third – Reducing property taxes. I’ve been talking to people for months, and this problem is always in the top three concerns. Plan: work with other council members, the county manager, and the assessor to seek different income sources and to cap current rates. A great place to start the reductions would be properties belonging to seniors with paid-for homes.

Question #7 - What can the council do to improve services of the Sherriff’s Office?

Media Answer: Change leadership at the top with the vote, and update facilities to capture economies of scale through efficiency and consolidation. Monitor and amend as necessary the three-phased renovation plan.
Expanded Answer: Change the leadership at the top – we’ll depend on the voters to do that – and update department facilities to capture economies of scale through efficiency and consolidation. Understanding that the public safety mission is first and care for the LEO team is always, here are some associated ideas:
1. Review and amend as necessary the three-phased jail and public safety renovation plan.
2. Prioritize the  implementation of an integrated state-of-the-art Records Management System and Computer-Aided Dispatch (RMS/CAD).
3. One priority I found to be absolutely critical to the success of an organization has been emphasis on Leadership Development and Wellness protocols. In addition to years of training and experience at lower levels of supervisory responsibility as a young officer, the Air Force sent me and dozens of other new Squadron Commanders to a specific command-level leadership school.  Fighter squadrons began to have their own well-equipped gyms installed to enhance wellness efforts. There were some great neck-machines there to help us prepare to pull all those Gs! Timely leadership development and care for the team in my experience has always resulted in high-level mission accomplishment.
4. Big picture – the council should prioritize these and similar actions.

Question #8 - What does the Wasatch County Council need most now?

Media Answer: A conservative, America-First approach at county level. My website at Brett4Utah.com has a page dedicated exclusively to My Positions. It's not enough just to be "for" something; I have action plans.
Expanded Answer: A more conservative, America-First approach applied at the county level. If you’ve been to my campaign website at Brett4Utah.com, you would’ve seen a page dedicated exclusively to My Positions.  There I list all the platform tenents of the Republican Party, our current local issues, and my general approach to attacking these issues. It’s not enough to just to be “for” something.  Sometimes you actually need an action plan to solve a problem. My career to date has been a long run of identifying, developing, and successfully executing action plans…this is practically second nature. In fact, when presented with a problem or situation, the first thing I think of is the plan to achieve a solution, not just whether I’m for or against the topic. The second half of My Positions page I titled “What I’m Thinking.” This is a list of common America-First policies, many of which can and should be implemented at the county level. Isn’t it interesting that so many of the problems we see on the national news (if you’re viewing the right sources) are actually situations that occurred at the county-level in some state.  I’m guessing you’ve heard of Maricopa County, Fulton County, and Los Angeles County regarding the situations their leaders allowed.

Question #9 - When should Wasatch County raise its property tax rates?

Media Answer:  Never. Simple answer for a complex topic. Finding other sources of revenue; capping expenditures; and investigating and eliminating fraud, waste, and abuse would help reduce property taxes and rates.
Expanded Answer:  Never. Simple answer for a complex topic.  Finding other sources of revenue, capping expenditures, and eliminating fraud, waste, and abuse would go a long way toward not only stopping tax increases, but also towards reducing and eventually even eliminating property taxes. Simplified background: the taxing authority identifies budget needs. The taxing authority looks at revenue sources and subtracts other revenue sources. The taxing authority estimates the market value of properties on a regular basis every few years. Properties are assessed at a percentage of their market value. The remaining budget shortfall (tax levy) is filled by dividing that levy by the total assessed value of all applicable taxable properties to get the mill rate in dollars per $1000 of assessed value. Reading between the lines, it’s easy to see why property taxes might double or triple in a short amount of time, destroying generational wealth by the loss of a paid-for family farm or home because they can no longer afford the taxes.  Does the county actually provide triple the services indicated by the notional budget increase? Think you own your home just because you paid off the mortgage? Try not paying your taxes and see what happens.

Question #10 - What planning is needed to account for water in Wasatch County’s future?

Media Answer:  Elected or not, I’m already working on this: a completely new USGS review of our water system. This report would serve as a benchmark to compare analyses of individual projects to a proper standard.
Expanded Answer: Elected or not, I’m already working on this: a completely new USGS review of our water system. This report would serve as a benchmark to compare analyses of individual projects to assess their impact on our water systems as a whole rather than just the impact of project water usage.  There is always a downstream that must be considered, but a given project’s analysis of its impact on the water system usually stops at the boundary. Example: the Heber Valley Aquifer supplies water for Midway, Heber City, and other cities downstream. It’s designated Class IA Pristine…the best. The most recent analysis even coming close is the draft environmental impact statement (EIS) prepared by UDOT for the Hwy 40 Bypass and is incomplete in my opinion for broad use. The last USGS EIS for the Heber Valley Aquifer was from the 90’s. Given our significant growth since, and our population forecast to double by 2060, it’s time for a new report. A new USGS document can be used to analyze project data on water impacts as well as to guide future development. Big picture: if you have no water, you have no life. We must preserve the aquifer at all costs.