Heber Council Candidates

With the upcoming Primary Election for Heber City Council coming up, several people have asked my opinion on the ten candidates, of whom four will be eliminated. Heber City residents will be able to vote for up to three of the ten. Many worthy candidates available, but the tough choices need to be made; no offense herein to any willing to to step up and run for office!!

As I am not a city resident, I have no vote; but the results of the election in November will affect the entire Heber Valley. The two overriding issues are GROWTH and Big Box - or more correctly the proposed mixed up Residential Chaos Zone - MURCZA - which would allow large retail stores in Heber. That said, and based on my personal observations and radio interviews and debates between the candidates, below are my ratings. I strongly suggest clicking on the links and hearing their comments in their own words. . Of course, it is election time. Interestingly, they indicated that Heber City was in the process of changing the Potential Annexation Zone to REDUCE it. Perhaps they are finally listening to the people, we'll see. Also there was a great deal of talk about transparency in government and openness, we may be making an IMPACT!!!

The candidates expressed nearly unanimous support for slowing growth and annexation into Heber

Top tier:

Sandy Mahoney and Eric Straddeck
Sandy is a long time resident, has a good grasp of the issues, experience on the Board of Adjustment and would work diligently on the RIGHT side of the main issues.
Eric is relatively new to the Valley, a successful entrepeneur, thoughtful and contemplative and would bring a fresh view to the Council.

Second Tier:

Danny Drew and Terry Lange

Danny is a young enthusiastic man with generally good ideas and would be a good addition to the mix.

The venerable Terry has a wealth of historical knowledge and is often on the right side and a consummate politician.

Third Tier - but wrong on the Big Box or growth

Robert Patterson, Mike Thurber and Nile Horner

Robert presented himself well in the debate with some interesting observation as did Mike (especially on developments) Nile was on the right side of Big Box but came up with the strange observation that annexations should depend on WHO was annexing.

Bottom three

Kieth Rawlings, Shari Lazenby and Perry Rose

Kieth and Shari as Planning Commission Chair and incumbent Council member, respectively, need to take some responsibility for the current City philosophy on growth, etc. Perry opted not to show up for the debates or interviews.