At least that is what Rick is hoping. Though I have not decided who I am supporting for South Ogden Mayor, I am very impressed with Mr. Westmoreland and his current endeavor to become mayor. Let's be honest, he is the underdog in this race. He is going against three city council members whom have name recognition and know how to run a campaign in South Ogden. I am not saying Rick is not known in the community—because he is. But Rick has a charm about him that makes you feel comfortable. As a Davis County Prosecutor he has the knowledge of public safety, law, grant writing, and more. All of these skills would make a fine mayor in South Ogden.
Rick began emailing me about 3 weeks ago and we finally were able to sit down and get to know each other. He spent about 30 minutes in my living room discussing the issues of South Ogden and how we can improve them. In the end, we both agreed South Ogden is an amazing place to live. Now it is time to just refine what we have.
I am always amazed as to why people choose to run for public office. So of course my first question was why he was running for mayor. He admitted his initial reason was silly; however maybe a simple concern, it makes sense why he wants to get involved. He is concerned with our local police department and their decision to give you a form to attend traffic school instead of a citation. His reasoning is this is an illegal procedure and we need to be issued the citation first, and then negotiate taking traffic school with the judge or the prosecutor (I am sure this is a poorly paraphrased form of Rick's explanation). As mayor, he would look for ways to improve such issues that may be incorrect or illegal. With his experience as a prosecutor he would push for more federal grants and programs to help reduce costs and improve quality of life in South Ogden without a tax increase. Don't forget the city council raised your property taxes this year. (See Here)
One of my greatest concerns with our current local government is lack of communication and accountability. During the past year I have emailed and made attempts to communicate with my local city officials on a number of things. Mayor Garwood's, Councilmember Smith and Orr are the only ones who even make attempts to communicate back. Bradley responded only once to my emails, when I called him out on his miss-information in the city newsletter. (See Here) But all other emails have gone unanswered. My own Legislator responds to phone calls and emails faster than Minster and Mattson and he receives hundreds of emails a day. It appears some of our council is used to people not attending meetings and expects issues to fade away quickly; therefore it is best to just keep silent. So to have Rick Westmorland go out of his way to communicate with me was impressive. He spent the previous weekend walking the streets with Nate Frost (Son of our former mayor Brent Frost) and his presence is become more and more visible.
Overall it was an amazing meeting with Mr. Westmorland and I wish him luck. As for who I am supporting, I am still undecided but the more info we can gather on this issue the better. Look for more posts soon on the upcoming election.
Rick Westmorland can be contacted at the following:
http://rick4mayor.com/
Facebook
Email: rickformayor2009@gmail.com
