2017 Primary election votes

Since the Gardner Policy Institute has projected that Utah County should have a population over 1 million by the year 2037, I was wondering how many people would be voting in elections compared to now. Granted the latest results are not finished and less people vote in primary elections than general elections, here is a list of total voters for each primary election this month. 

American Fork Mayor 3,862 votes
American Fork City Council 6,915 votes
population 28,770

Alpine Mayor 2,359 votes
population 10,361

Eagle Mountain Mayor 2,259 votes
Eagle Mountain City Council 3,996 votes
population 29,202

Highland Mayor 2,986 votes
Highland City Council 5,776 votes
population 18,647

Lehi Mayor 6,280 votes
Lehi City Council 11,251 votes
population 61,130

Orem Mayor 11,817 votes
Orem City Council 32,553 votes
population 97,499

Payson Mayor 2,295 votes
Payson City Council 3,854 votes
population 19,810

Pleasant Grove City Council 7,637 votes
population 38,756

Provo Mayor 11,955 votes
Provo City Council District 2  1,148 votes
Provo City Council At Large 11,108 votes
population 116,868

Saratoga Springs City Council 3,222 votes
population 26,887

Vineyard Mayor 414 votes
population 3,953

The county didn't report, but there was a primary election for the office of mayor in Cedar Fort and Goshen. Both had three candidates narrowed down to two.

I also thought it was interesting that only Provo has city council positions divided by areas of the city instead of each council position voted on city wide like the other cities. I liked that 32,553 people voted in the Orem City Council election. I was disappointed that there wasn't enough people running for office to have primaries in the other municipal elections.
Here is the link for the election results, 
http://www.utahcounty.gov/Dept/ClerkAud/Elections/electrslts/2017municipal/summary82217.pdf.

The Census Bureau estimated that the Utah County population was 592,299 in July 2016. This includes everyone, but the County Clerk emailed me the number of active voters is 265,000 for the county, but I didn't ask for individual cities. 

Campaign Narrative

I am trying to put together a narrative about me to convince the voters to vote for me. I wanted to include how I learned from the women in my family and how they prepared me to run for office.

My Mom set the example of being an informed voter and voting in every primary and general election. However, she did not contribute to any campaign, put out any lawn sign, or participate in any political party. My Mom, like many registered Republicans or unaffiliated, voted Republican but didn’t have time or money to participate in the party. That is why I’m running for Utah County Commissioner. I’m running to represent and serve those who have 2-3 jobs to support their family, who barely have enough to pay for the food in their fridge, who have expensive medical bills, who have a child that needs more love than their other children, and those who have a job that consumes most of their time.

My 2^nd Great-Grandmother, Sarah Jane Perkins Rogerson, was first elected to office in 1900, twenty years before she could vote. Someone typed out her journal and emailed it out to the family, so here is an excerpt from my copy about her political career:

In the fall of 1900 I was appointed Deputy County Clerk of San Juan Co. (Miss Kate Perkins was the clerk, she taught school that winter and I did her office work.) At the election that fall, I was elected County Treas. and took over the treasurers business on the first of January 1901.

I served as deputy clerk till June of that year, at which time I was appointed County Clerk. I resigned my office as County Treas. and James Woke(?) was appointed Treas. in my place; and I was appointed Deputy Treasure which position I held for several terms. That same spring I was also appointed deputy assessor, that is, I was to do the assessor's book work. Willard Butt was the assessor. I was also deputy for D.B. Perkins, during his one term of office. I held the office of County Clerk for 14 years, being elected on the Republican ticket and the Democratic ticket, and twice I was on both tickets. I ran once on the Republican ticket against a Democrat and a Progressive ticket.

After I left the Clerk's office I served as Town Clerk for eight years. During my office career, my two sons Ed and Lynn, each filled a mission for the L.D.S. Church.

Sarah Jane married John Edward Rogerson, a survivor of the Martin Handcart Company, in 1879. Sarah Jane and John were asked to settle in Monticello, Utah in 1888 with their three children, their only daughter, Madora Laverna (she was called Vern), is my Great-Grandmother.

A while back my Aunt Sally gave me advice to join the PTA. She told a story about a bad teacher she was able to have transferred to another school because of her influence on the PTA. I took that advice as; if you aren’t involved how can you have any influence. So last year I joined the PTA even though we don’t have kids yet, so I can be involved in the neighborhood. 

I'm kinda famous (it depends on how old you are)

Yep, that is me in the yellow dress holding the cup. 

I didn't think people still used this sacrament picture since it is so old. I remember going into the Distribution Center the first time and seeing the new picture. I was so sad I got replaced by a cute Polynesian girl.

If I remember right, it was the beginning of 2nd grade and my Mom picked me up early from school that day. We went to our chapel and we sat in those seats for HOURS! At least that was what it felt like. I felt bad for the deacon because he had to lean over for hours. But after we took a break everyone was worried about my finger, but it was fine. The little boy couldn't sit still, so I was wondering if he would be in the final picture. Remember this was the early '80's before digital cameras.

The lady that picked people for church pictures was in our ward when we lived in Centerville, Utah. I was in another picture with this family for the Ensign, it was about blended families. The church wanted to do a sacrament picture, but they wanted to add another kid to the family, so since I looked more like them than my own family, so I got picked. Plus I had the cute blonde kid thing goin' on back then.

This is my cousin Mary Ann. She was picked for the picture because she was 8 years old and my Uncle Don was a graphic artist for the church. Actually, I think my Uncle Don is the hands on the left. I think it was the old Valiant B Primary manual where me, Mary Ann, and her younger brother Chris were all in the picture section of the lesson book. My Grandma Riding had a copy of it and I remember seeing her copy in her bedroom after she died. 

Infrastructure Issues: Water

On Monday KSL did a story about Goshen’s water problem.  

Except that isn’t the whole story. I met with Goshen Mayor Fred Jensen back in June, that’s when I found out about the problem. I’ve been meeting with mayors to find out about the issues each city deals with. He said the spring providing water had E. coli. Then in July I met with another south county mayor that told me Mayor Jensen had applied to for a grant to take care of the water. But I still felt like I didn’t know the issue, so I finally was able to speak to Marie Owens of the Division of Drinking Water. She explained to me that the grant would pay for chlorination equipment to clean the water, but there is no guarantee that the E. coli would be cleaned out of the spring. She also said each city needs to have a minimum of two sources of water and suggested drilling for a new well, using a new spring, or contract with another city to bring in their extra water. Although I thought other cities might be able to use river or lake water depending on their geography. I called back and spoke to the clerk in the Goshen city office and she clarified that the five homes in the KSL story are not in Goshen city limits, they are actually in the county unincorporated area.

This means technically these five homes would be in the jurisdiction of the County Commissioners. I have learned that the county government does not provide for infrastructure like an incorporated city would. The home owner needs to have their own well and septic tanks. I plan on meeting with all the people that live in the unincorporated areas since those are the people I will serve as a County Commissioner when the people elect me.