South Ogden 2 - Caucus Meeting

Tonight was our caucus meeting. As usual our attendance was fairly low. In total we had eight (nine if you count my son). It was a good meeting and we had a healthy discussion about city council representation. I am sure I will be posting about this conversation later.

All in all the meeting went smooth. The pledge of allegiance was recited, Judy Hunter gave a prayer, we read the state party platform and then we elected our precinct officers.

• Precinct Chair: BenJoe Markland
• Precinct Vice-Chair: Delena Markland
• Secretary/Treasurer: Judy Hunter
• County Delegates (3): BenJoe Markland, Delena Markland and Judy Hunter
• State Delegate (1): BenJoe Markland

Grassroots at its best! Now if you have an opinion about county or state offices you need to talk to your delegates. Remember they are the ones who are making the decisions for you at the conventions.

Utah political caucuses to be held Tuesday

Utah political caucuses to be held Tuesday - Salt Lake Tribune

Tomorrow is an exciting day in Utah Politics. Both major parties will be holding their Caucus meetings. For those that have never attended nor understand the caucus meeting, this is where some of the real elements of our political world take place. Each county in Utah is divided into precincts. Each precinct will then hold a caucus meeting. At this meeting a chair, vice chair, state and county delegates will be elected. The meeting is attended by people who live in the precinct and have registered to vote (you can register there). The Chairperson runs the meeting and the newly elected chair will run the next meeting in two years. The delegates will vote at either the county or the state conventions of each party.

Many candidates running for state wide offices will begin campaigning heavily to state delegates starting next month. Especially those candidates who will face a primary. The same thing will happen to county delegates and people running for county offices. In 2004 we had nearly eight candidates running for Governor. After the Republican Convention we only had two. The reason? The delegates voted Nolan Karras and Jon Huntsman through to a primary and eliminated the rest. Do you see now why the Delegates are so important? Furthermore do you see why caucus meetings are so important? In major election years, candidates will actually train people to go to caucus meetings and get elected as state delegates. This will increase their chances of winning. The average citizen only gets a say in this process if they attend their caucus meeting and help elect good precinct leadership. The average voter isn't important at this point, the delegates and caucus goers are.

I live in South Ogden 2 or SOG002, and I look forward to my caucus meeting tomorrow to be part of this amazing process.

To find out more go to this website http://kued.org/productions/voteutah/voter/caucus.html

Also you can go to http://www.wcrgop.org/elections.htm for republicans
http://www.weberdemocrats.org/caucus.html for democrats

How amazing South Ogden really is - Benefit Concert.

My wife and I have often talked about how much we love South Ogden. When I first moved here, I didn't realize the differences between the Ogden cities. They are all wonderful, but South Ogden is the city for me.

One of the reasons, is because of my neighborhood. In my neighborhood, a very nice man who has been very active in the community has come down with cancer. Mark Vlaanderin was diagnosed with throat cancer in October, he had a tracheotomy and surgery to remove the cancer, in addition they also removed his lymph nodes, just to be safe. Well most recently the cancer has come back and spread to his lungs and brain. Mark is self employed and no medical insurance, also he is now to sick to work. Their only household income is that of their 17 year-old-daughter.

In an effort to help them pay their medical bills. Local community members (CarolAnn Knight and Laural DeGroot, and many more) have come together to sponsor a benefit concert on their behalf.

The concert is Thursday the 13th of March at 7 pm. It will be located at Bonneville High School and will feature T-Minus 5 and Jessie Clark Funk. The talent has donated their time for this cause.

Feel free to email me on how you can get tickets or you can make a donation at Goldenwest Federal Credit Union in Ogden.

Here is the KSL Event Listing