Candidate Profile - Wayne M. Smith

Name: Wayne M. Smith
Contact Info: Unknown

Info: Born and raised in South Ogden City
Education: Graduated Bonneville High School 1985
Occupation: Weber County Sheriff's Office - Enforcement Supervisor (18 Years of Service)

Areas of Experience:

• Corrections
• Patrol Division
• Investigations
• Gang Unit
• S.W.A.T.
• Narcotics
• Traffic Enforcement
• Judicial and Civil Service

Other Accomplishments:

• President of the Utah Narcotics Officers Association.
• 2002 Utah Winter Olympics Operations Chief at Snowbasin.
• 2002 Utah Winter Olympic Games Security Planner.
• 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympic Games Law Enforcement Supervisor.
• Volunteer for South Ogden City youth sports and Boy Scouts of America

The following information I received from a Wayne Smith flyer I received on my door:

1. Public Safety: As a law enforcement officer, Wayne understands the challenges that face our community. He will put the safety of our families and community first.
2. Promoting Quality Way of Life: Investing in recreational opportunities for our youth, adult and seniors is an important issue to Wayne.
3. Infrastructure: Wayne will work hard to address any issues that may arise regarding the infrastructure of South Ogden City to include; Water, Sewer, Roads, Police and Fire.
4. Promoting Quality Housing: Wayne favors strict enforcement of housing standards to protect our citizens and their property values.

Candidate Profile - Arlo L. Mueller

Tonight I was able to get a hold of Arlo L. Mueller running for city council. He was very delightful on the phone and we had a great conversation. He took the time to explain his platform and talk about his life. I am posting this information below:

Name: Arlo L. Mueller
Contact Info: 801-479-3264
Age: 85

Mr. Mueller explained that he is not excepting any donations for his campaign and will send all donations back.

He is retired from the Marines and moved here from Nebraska. He has lived in South Ogden since 1969 and is retired from the Fire Department. Arlo has also been involved in numerous volunteer activities in our fair city, he explained a long list of things he had accomplished by volunteering and working for South Ogden.

Some of his strong stances are for South Ogden to have a recreation center, he said, "There is no reason for South Ogden to be behind on this." In addition he would like all state travel expenses to be published in the city monthly newsletter. He would expand neighborhood watches, citizen patrols, and increase handicap parking and hope to hire more police officers.

He mentioned a few items that were more state related, like minimum wage and taxes, but he ended our conversation with saying he would display the constitution in all public offices.

Again, he was very friendly and I think if you called him, he would be happy to talk to anyone about his campaign.

Candidate Profile - City Council Woman Shannon Sebahar

The first candidate to respond to our request for info is Shannon Sebahar. Below is her bio information. She gave us some amazing answers to our questions, you can read those by following the link below: (forgive the yahoo ads it hosts the link)

Shannon Sebahar Q&A

Name: Shannon P. Sebahar

Education: M.B.A. – Utah State University
B.S. Finance – University of Illinois

Occupation: Current: Marketing Strategy Consultant

Previous: 15 years of finance, marketing and business development
experience at large corporations such as Thiokol and Iomega.

Contact Info/Website/Email:

• Phone: 801-475-0554
• Website: www.shannonsebahar.com
• Email: shannon@shannonsebahar.com

Community Leadership Positions:

• Ogden-Weber Chamber of Commerce – Board of Directors and Women in Business Committee
• South Ogden City – City Council, RDA Board Member, Audit and Benefits Committee
• United Way – Community Change Impact Council, Government Pledge Drive Committee Chair
• South Ogden Days – Volunteer Committee Chair
• South Ogden Business Alliance – Founding Member

For her answers to our questions click on the following link:

Shannon Sebahar Q&A

Getting Candidate Info

I received a great email today from one my readers:

Dear Ben,

A number of us in SOC suffer from VOTER CONFUSION and VOTER DEFICIT
DISORDER, re the backgrounds of different folks running for SOC
council, on 11.6. I was hoping you could post biographies of the
following people on your blog,....From where I sit:

Shannon Sebahar (yes, we can read what is posted on the SOC site. But
do you have more info)

Sallee Orr (some of us know her; some of us do not).

Wayne Smith (almost no one in this group knows who he is)

One more person (man) is running. BUT SOC just dumped that Election
page from their site.

Thanks for posting new info on your site:
http://www.fromwhereisitblog.com/


Eleanor Thompson

Eleanor, I couldn't agree with you more. We need this info out there. I promise more to come! Shannon Sebahar contacted me today.

BenJoe

Mayor Brent Frost

Tonight I received word that former South Ogden Mayor Brent Frost passed away. I did not know him, but I do know his son and family.

My thoughts and prayers go out to the Frost family. From what I have heard he was a fabulous mayor.

South Ogden has lost a great man.

The Questions:

I have been asking citizens in South Ogden this week for questions to ask our city council candidates. Thank you to all that have responded. Here is what we have so far:

• Name:
• Education:
• Occupation:
• Contact Info/Website/Email:
• What makes you the best candidate?
• What issues do you feel are most important to the citizens of South Ogden?
• What is your stance on green space areas and similar areas in South Ogden like Golf City?
• A number of citizens have mentioned the need for a recreation center and/or swimming pool, what are your feelings on this?
• As a city council person, what will you do better communication between the council and the rest of the city?
• What do you feel are the strengths of South Ogden?
• What do you feel are the weakness of South Ogden?
• What opportunities does South Ogden have in today’s economy?
• What threats do you see that could threaten the opportunities of South Ogden today?
• Anything else you would like to say to the citizens of South Ogden?
• How do you feel about school vouchers?

Though one or two of these questions the city council has no control over, I think it is important to see the principals of our elected leaders and these questions help us to see that.