Every election, incumbants make a list of everything that they have "accomplished" during their term in office. A comman practice is to list absolutely everything that occurred during the four years, and then imply that they were the "movers" behind the events. Mark Hathaway did this every election, claiming to have been instrumental in things that I know all he actually did was raise his hand and vote for the thing.
Here is a link to Midge Johnson's website:http://www.midgejohnson.com/views.html
Her list is entitled, "While I have been in office" It includes,
* No tax increases
* No power rate increases
* General fund balances have increased, are healthy and are reaching record highs
* Wells Fargo Building was completed
* Mountain Vista Business Park is accepting new tenants
* Provo Arts Center was completed
* Budgeted number of trained police officers were increased and the department has been fortified
* A Citizen's Academy for the Provo Police Department was created
* Equipment and vehicles for fire and police department have been upgraded
* Impact fees were created and increased to help pay for new development and growth
* Funding for designing and building three new parks(Sherwood Hills, Joaquin and Lakeview) and the for upgrading others
* A Slate Canyon study area was created to preserve and improve the Bi-Centennial Park and the surrounding neighborhoods
* New technology was approved for more efficiency at the library.
* A city-wide fiber to the home network, iProvo, was built out and has been offered to our citizens
* Splash pool at North Park was completed
* A regional convention center study was conducted and was approved
* Pride in Provo was created
* Provo Senior Games were created
* An airport tower was completed and staffed
* Airport traffic was rerouted to protect neighborhoods
* Neighborhood revitalization efforts have continued
* Downtown revitalization efforts have increased
* Parking permit programs have been created to protect neighborhoods
The question we need to ask Midge is, just exactly what did you have to do with these accomplishments? How does the list jive with what you said you would do (see posts titled "Midge's Answer to ProvoCitizens" and "Midge Johnson--Does she walk the talk?"
As I review the list, I agree that Midge was in some way instrumental in a few of these items. Turn on your bogus meters, people! Examine her claims, her actual actions, and now this list. Compare all three. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, do not accept all claims, implied or otherwise.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
Wow that IS one impressive list. Yet only some of the items involved the Council at all, while other "accomplishments" were started by previous Councils years ago. So what if anything did Midge push forward and play a key role in?
iProvo
Yes, Midge did vote for the iProvo project which has been completed. Unfortunately the Mayor's financial model was flawed, and unless 2 out 3 people in Provo sign up we will continue to lose a million or two each year on a system that was supposed to pay for itself, or actually make us money.
Impact Fees
In 2004 Midge was on the Council Budget Committee which was asked by the Council Chair Mr. Knecht to make a recommendation for adjusting our fees and adding one for Parks. Midge did work hard once given the assignment, and made good recommendations.
PiP
The City has a Neighborhood Matching Funds Program that gives each neighborhood the opportunity to access up $5,000, if matched by the neighborhood. The match can be labor, materials, or money. The City allocates $50,000 each year, which would fund ten or more projects depending on their cost. Only some of our 34 neighborhoods have ever applied and made use of these funds. It is no small thing to rally a neighborhood and gather volunteers.
Midge proposed something Provo had never seen before, Pride In Provo, or PiP
PiP was like our Neighborhood Matching Funds Project except on massive scale. Instead of $5,000 per neighborhood, it was $150,000 (thirty times in size).
It was a huge project to organize, and despite Midges tireless efforts, it would not have worked without the help of NHS (Neighborhood Housing Services), the Board of Realtors, and others.
After this huge effort in Midge's own neighborhood, it was clear that someone would have to be hired to handle this from year to year, because no neighborhood on its own could provide the labor and organization necessary for to repeat something this large. ( Also NHS was not in the position to handle something this large again.) Luckily no one was hired to oversee this new program, and a new layer of government was not created.
Since the initial success, PiP has died a natural death and we are back to where neighborhoods can do smaller projects that can actually be accomplished on the grassroots level.
Slate Canyon Study Area
This Study would not have taken place without Midge's energetic support.
While this sounds like a positive accomplishment, it was truly an exercise in futility. If anyone had been reading or even listening, they would have known what the neighborhood wanted to be built in and around Bi-Centennial Park, (one family homes.). In the very same meeting that the Mayor proposed doing a study to figure out the future of Bi-Centennial Park, Councilman Knecht tried to introduce a resolution to simply build out the Park as had been planned some 20 years ago, and not to allow any housing to built on park property.
This resolution was brushed aside since the Mayor had the support for his idea to hire a consultant.
Midge supported the Mayor and felt a developer could offer us something more wonderful that we could ever dream of.
When the consultant tried to educated the neighborhoods about the merits of higher density development, he quickly learned we have had enough of that and wouldn't stand for anymore.
Now after a delay of almost three years, (and $50,000) we are back to square one. No housing will be built on Park property, and One Family Homes will be built next to the new school and church on the hillside just like the neighborhood wanted in the first place.
Add to her list the loss of the St. Francis Church. She voted to remove the historic designation and did nothing to stop the demolition even when the Provo Foundation tried to buy the developer out. Much devience occured here, is that part of her list?
The problem with St. Francis Church is that the developer and priest worked "behind the scenes" to get what they wanted. Then without the council's knowledge- started demolition!
Post a Comment