Ed Allen vs. Brent Wallis - Legislative District 10.

We have an open seat for Legislative District 10 this election. The democrats have chosen D. Edgar "Ed" Allen as their candidate. The republicans have chosen Brent Wallis. Interesting enough I was able to meet both of them this week. On Tuesday I was invited to a BBQ to meet with Brent Wallis and hear about his platform. Just as I was preparing to go to the BBQ, Ed Allen knocked my door with some of my neighbors. What a coincidence that I would meet both of them minutes apart from each other.

First, my Ed Allen Meeting:

The first thing mentioned was he was a Stake President for the LDS Church. This was also mentioned about five times by his companions. Then I asked about his senate experience; he told me he tried to pass a bill, he called the Gadianton Robber's Bill. (This is an LDS term used to describe people who believe in secret combinations and meetings - he was refering to the republicans in the senate). Most of the conversation kept going back to the LDS theme, his service, etc. I felt that he and his companions wanted me to know he was "worthy" of the position. The only issue he talked about was education and he kept making comments about how the Weber ATC isn't that great. (I wonder why? Maybe because Brent Wallis was the president of the Weber ATC).

Now for the Brent Wallis Meeting:

When I got to the home he was speaking at, he was at the door introducing himself. He asked me my name and I told him. He quickly mentioned he knew where I worked, he knew my boss, and then said, "don't you live on Raymond Ave?" "Yes," I replied. In the 30 minutes we got to talk, he blew me away. There were nearly 40 people at this meeting and he knew a TON about ME! He had taken the time to learn about me, where I worked, who I had worked for, where I lived, etc. I was very impressed with his approach.

Well I left impressed with Brent Wallis. I will post more as time goes on about this race, for I am sure it will become very interesting.

Here are the candidates respective websites to learn more:

www.brentwallis.com
www.voteedallen.com

Raymond Update

Jon Andersen and his crew came to visit with me this morning. We had a great visit and talked about the Raymond project in detail. Essentially all city projects have a one year warranty; they are now verifying the completion date and seeing if the problems we are having fall into this warranty or not.

Some of the problems I discussed and showed them were:

1. Missing Sprinkler heads (on my lawn). We also discussed the problems others have been having with their sprinklers.
2. Chips in Curb and Gutter
3. Chunks of Curb and Gutter missing
4. Breaks in cement and flaking cement.

I have put together a slide show of the damaged areas I showed them.

They agreed that some of the damages were fault of the cement plant and the contractor. "Essentially we are getting poorer cement for higher prices these days" they said. Interesting to note, they told me the same contractor has done other work for them at the Nature park and the Fire station 82. Both of these are seeing the same, if not worse, wear on the cement. I wonder if we will keep using them? However, they were quick to point out the use of ice melt and snow plows last year on the new cement would cause some, not all, of the damage. This could account for some of the flaking cement in the approaches and chips in the curbs.

Anyways, I am glad that we are getting some things done. Jon mentioned he thought the project ended in August. I was quick to point out it was scheduled to be done in August, but wasn't done until the end of September. You can see my post on September 25th, 2007 as proof of that. [See Here]

I will keep you posted from here.

Raymond revisted

Since the Raymond Avenue project last year, our road has been having some problems. A few of us are experiencing sprinkler and other irrigation problems. Also our Sidewalks and driveways are falling apart. I contacted Scott Darrington from the city offices and he has pointed me to Jon Andersen. After speaking to Jon; he agreed to meet me tomorrow to discuss this in more detail. I am excited we are getting to solutions quickly.

Random Newsletter Message

Did anyone think Mayor Garwood's newsletter message this month was overly random this month? He jumped around a lot, but his overall theme was things have changed over the past year and are getting tough. He gave a few suggestions on how we can save money and improve our lives. Again, I felt he was a little random in his writing, he had a good message; however I disagree with a few of his arguments.

The two I disagree with are:


1. He counseled us to buy SUV's??? I personally disagree with this for the fact that if I buy one and it is rebated six weeks later, the car loses value equal to the rebate. Therefor now would not be a good time to buy an SUV. Some money annalists may disagree. If you are looking to really save money don't buy an SUV; because a car is not an investment and never should be treated as such.

2. He announced we are in a recession, when our economy is not in a recession. The GDP has not seen negative growth. Okay so in one sentence he alluded that we might be in one; then in the next one he said we are.

Either way, it was good to hear from the Mayor.