ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS

The Deseret News sent me these questions. I post them here, along with my answers, FYI. The DesNews' circulation in Provo is not great, and the Daily Herald has asked no questions. They HAVE sent me a price list for placing an ad in their paper, so if I want the voters to know where I stand, it will cost me $24 an inch.

From Melanie McCoard
Candidate for Provo City Council, District #3

1. The iProvo project is expected to run a deficit again in the next fiscal year, and for a couple of years beyond that, according the projections by city staff. In the past, the City Council has covered iProvo debts two ways -- either by approving long-term loans to the project from a city surplus fund or using that year's surplus sales tax receipts. Which system should the council use for the debts expected over the next few years?

I would not have voted for the iProvo bond. I would also have liked to see the bond issue placed on the ballot for the voters to decide.

That being said, the bond DID pass, and we DO have a fiber optic network, and a $40m debt, so at this point, it must succeed. We have to fund it. If we sold it, we would get a fraction of the money out. How would I pay for the deficit? Don't know. I need to study the other alternatives. I'm open to suggestions.

2. What options should the city pursue to make iProvo profitable?

Change the perception. Join me in being positive about our wonderful, new fiber optic system! (I am NOT being sarcastic! I really mean it. We need to quit the trash talk about iProvo. It exists. We have to pay for it. We can't pay for it unless people subscribe. People won't subscribe if they keep hearing negative stories about it. Although I am tempted to capitalize on this issue during this election season, doing so would add to the problem. I want to be part of the solution. So, in order to help change the perception of the system, I will only speak positively!)

I LOVE the speed of the Internet connection. The cable TV has some kinks; but it'll work out. I'm going to hang in there, and be patient. It's a new system, so I'll make allowances. And I'll keep a perspective. So my cable TV has to reboot once in a while? So? My life will not end if I have to wait a few seconds and push an extra button or two. Let's all get on board and subscribe! How's that, Kevin Garlick? And you thought I couldn't be a team player!

3. For years, the City Council has funneled hundreds of thousands of federal dollars into downtown Provo by buying and rehabbing old homes and then selling them to first-time home-buying families who promise to live in them. What is your position on this purchase-rehab program and its stated goal of stabilizing the city's central neighborhoods?

The CDGB monies, which CAN only be used in certain areas and for certain purposes, by federal mandate, have NOT gone into Downtown Provo, but into five central neighborhoods that extend from 900 East all the way to I-15, and from East Bay to BYU, a huge chunk of the city.

I am in favor of the program. The program has been in place for seven years. It's time to re-evaluate it. Does it need to be expanded into other areas, OR removed from some areas, which, after careful study, may prove not to be viable, single-family neighborhoods any longer? (The General Plan gets a review in 2008, anyway.)

All of the residents of Provo should weigh in on this question-- "Are there areas of town that should not be reclaimed, but upzoned for redevelopment?"

The commitment to the South Joaquin neighborhood, below 500 North, must be kept. The Downtown Business Alliance should get some of the CDBG dollars. The PIP program should NOT have received any CDBG money.

4. Many BYU students are complaining that the city doesn't care about them because the City Council recently passed two ordinances that restrict their ability to park on some Provo streets. The Council is considering another ordinance that would do the same for streets directly south of campus. What is your message to BYU students?

This issue makes me so mad I could weep! This is only the latest in a long list of issues that students have misunderstood. (I could go on for an hour about how the dance ordinance was misrepresented, how the apartment licensing ordinance was misread, how the zoning enforcement regulations have been misinterpreted. OH!)

Nothing could be further from the truth. The City Council understands that many students are the victims of unscrupulous landlords who rent to too many students, charge them exorbitant rents, and fail to provide them with adequate facilities: chiefly, parking .

The parking ordinance is only ONE step that needs to be taken to address the problem. The attack must be multi-directional -- like fining the other perpetrators: the Realtors who misrepresent the correct zoning of a property, the property management companies who continue to allow over-occupancy of the condos, and the home owner's associations who raffle off the provided visitor parking places to residents, forcing visitors out into the streets, and driveways, of the neighbors.

Most of the City Council care deeply about ALL student residents (35% of Provo's students attend UVSC and 10% attend other Education Institution -- that's almost half who are NOT BYU students!) The ordinances are to HELP the students, not hurt them. Yes, it will be difficult at first. It always is when you try to undo a wrong that's being done. But the wrong is NOT being done by the City Council, but by profit-seekers attempting to earn a buck at the student's expense.

This "Provo Hates Students!" attitude has been advanced by other candidates to gain political capital. Four years ago, at a candidate forum at BYU, I watched Steve Turley stir up an audience of about 500 students by playing on this very misconception -- that Provo City is "anti-student." He used misrepresentations, innuendo, suspicion, and inflammatory rhetoric. His performance that day was one of the main reasons I oppose him now. I think he used those students as objects, props in his campaign.

My message to BYU students? Don't let yourselves be used. Get the facts. Educate yourselves, before you decide to march on City Hall.


5. Two new towers have been announced in Downtown Provo. Studies show the potential for additional businesses, retail, and residential growth. How should Provo manage this potential to ensure that the growth happens and happens in a way that will maximize it?

John Frigonese, who did those studies, said that Downtown Provo would never again be a major retail center, but could become the office, restaurant, and arts district of the City. The Administration is focusing on those goals. The Council needs to change some policies that will promote those goals, like upzoning some areas for high density, mixed-use housing.

Provo's Economic Development Department needs to place the revitalization of Downtown as it's FIRST priority. That has not happened in the past. I believe that the reason that the Downtown Alliance became necessary was because the Eco. Dev. Dept. and the Chamber of Commerce failed to adequately represent Downtown.

The Council sets the policies of the city. The administration, including ALL the bureaucrats and staff, must follow those policies. They must not be making decisions and deals that undermine those policies. I will see that they don't.

6. Studies are underway to determine what should happen with frontage roads and freeway exits before the I-15 expansion in Provo begins and to consider roads from the I-15 East Bay exit to the Provo Municipal Airport and from the airport north to Geneva Road. If elected what would you do and which plans would you support and why?

Last week, I attended a MAG Open House. MAG (Mountainlands Association of Governments) is the regional entity which administers state transportation funds and oversees improvements to state roads (I-15, Geneva Rd, future Westside Airport connector, Center Street, 300 S., etc) When I left that Open House, I felt like I had fallen through a rabbit hole!

The maps, studies, consultants, and contractors filled the gym. Plans are in the works, in various stages, for some very MAJOR, and very IMPACTFUL changes to Provo City streets. Widening Center Street from Geneva to I-15 to 4 lanes? Widening Center Street from I-15 to 500 West to 6 lanes? Widening 820 North from Geneva to University Avenue to 4 lanes? A $1 million grant to study where in the wetlands the airport road should go? PR firms hired to get the project through the public process? I pay attention, but I was stunned to realize how far advanced some of these projects are.

Get involved! There is another open house in Vineyard in November. Go to the MAG website. Read the RTP (Regional Transportation Plan). If you want the facts, you need to go get them. Provo citizens, especially west-side residents, YOU NEED TO PAY ATTENTION!

7. Synchronized traffic lights on University Avenue help traffic flow north and south in Provo. What could be done to improve east-west traffic flow in the city as the City Council has and is expected to approve large new developments on the west side?

Put 600 South on the top of the list for Capital Improvement Projects. Lobby MAG for the underpasses at 600 South and 900 South to be moved to the top of their CIP lists. Change the policies that gave priority to the road in north-east Provo (a four-lane 4800 North to Riverwoods? Given the LACK of development occurring in NE Provo? When almost 1000 new units have been built on the west side, and another 2000 are anticipated? And expecting the infrastructure costs to be paid by the developers and the homeowners along 600 South? No.)

We are a COMMUNITY! The idea of community is that we ALL contribute for the common good. The costs of improvements to the west side should be shared by the entire city, from the Capital Improvement Budgets of the City, as they were for the beautiful, new, four-lane road at 4800 North. That is fair.

I will restore equity to the process.

8. The City Council has created strong rules restricting home rentals in many neighborhoods to three single people, not more, and added new teeth to zoning enforcement efforts. Do you support these initiatives and why or why not?

I absolutely support this initiative. I think it should be city-wide.

I understand that the ordinance looks discriminatory, and there IS a loophole in it, at present, that favors married people. That needs to be fixed, because the issue is not single vs. married, it is occupant-owned vs. investor-owned. Anyone who OWNS a home and LIVES IN IT for at least 3 years contributes to the stability of a neighborhood, whether they are single or married, student or non-student, brown or white or yellow or green! Home-ownership is the end of poverty. Home-ownership is the end of "urban flight." Home ownership is theremedy for "blight", run-down property conditions. Home-ownership is the basis of a healthy community.

When investors buy up the homes, and then rent them to too many people, who come and go every year, the neighborhood deteriorates. Families cannot compete with the prices that such investors can pay, so the families leave. Cities are lost. The studies have shown OVER and OVER again, that that trend does not stop unless government intervenes. FACT!

The restrictions the Council has passed, including the "3 to 2 ordinance", are to provide disincentives to the investors who see our homes in terms of "positive cash flow", our neighborhoods as places to make a profit, and our city as a means to line their pockets. Provo is not a business opportunity. It's our HOME!

9. Many Provoans have clamored for years for a new recreation center. What is your position?

Let's get it built! The plans were done years ago! Has anyone seen them? They are wonderful! I personally need that warm-water exercise pool!

How will we pay for it? Two ways that I can think of at the moment do not raise any taxes:
1. --THE "PROVO ROUND UP"-- All utility bills are rounded up to the nearest dollar. No one ever pays more that $.99 on any given month, and may pay as little as $.01 a month. The bill would automatically be rounded, but if you object to it, you could call and get the exact amount -- a universal opt-out policy. Roger Thomas proposed this when he was hired as parks and recreation director, but it was never instituted. It's a great idea! And it would raise thousands of dollars towards a new Rec Center.
2.-- "EARMARK CELL PHONE FEES" -- Every cell phone provider in Provo pays the city a lease when it puts it's equipment on a Provo City power pole. At the present time, that money goes into the Energy Department's budget. They don't need it. They already are getting generous revenues from all of us, and have huge reserves. Let's pass an ordinance designating ALL lease fees go towards the construction of the new Rec Center.

Those ideas are the ones in my head right now. Give me a few hours and I'll come up with some other ways to fund this worthy project. Or better still, let's form a Rec Center Commission and draft ALL interested parties in the city to work on this project!

And for that matter, how about a "Children's Museum" (The displays created, donated, and maintained by local organizations and companies, like DUP or Novell, etc. Get BYU and UVU students who need community service hours as docents. Ask a non-profit organization, like Timpanogos Community Network, to coordinate proposals.)

Also, how about a "Biosphere Education Center " at Bicentennial Park (wetland, grassland, mountainland! What a great science field trip that would be!) Can we get some grants for development of the program? Who knows how to write a grant proposal? And we need a "Utah Lake Day" for all Provo City school children, and..., and..., and...

I have DOZENS of ideas. I know other people do, too. We need to foster good ideas. We need to empower people. We need to NETWORK!

This is what I do best-- promote good ideas and bring like-minded people together to get stuff done. But I really need to be on the Council so I can be in a position to do so. It would be SO much easier.


10. Provo, like many Utah cities, has enjoyed budget surpluses in recent years because of booming sales tax revenues. Some of the anticipated surplus for this fiscal year has already been earmarked for use by the City Council. What should the Council use future surpluses for, if they materialize?

Three things:
1. Rec center (see above)
2. Bridging the insurance gap for Provo City employees. It isn't right that after giving 30 years service to our community, our valued employees retire without medical insurance coverage, or at the very least, an affordable option for buying it.
3. Parks landbank. The City needs to buy, at a good price, land to save for open space. If we don't do it now, it will be sold for development, and then it will be too late. All owners of empty property need to be educated about the tax benefits of "Conservation Easements" a legal way to put aside land, and avoid huge capital gains taxes when they sell the family farm.

11. The Provo City Council had no impact on the Legislature's decision to provide school vouchers or on the ballot referendum that will decide the fate of vouchers in Utah. However, the issue has been raised in the debates during the four City Council races this fall and many candidates have responded. You may share your position on
school vouchers in this forum if you wish to do so.

Honestly, I don't know. I am not just refusing to answer in order to "reduce the target" during this election season. I need to study this more, and I don't have the time, since I am campaigning right now. I attended the open house of legislators in favor of vouchers -- they made a compelling argument. The League of Women's Voters sent me an equally compelling e-mail. I just don't know. Sorry.