OPEN LETTER TO THE VOTERS

Dear voters,

This municipal election, you will be asked to decide between several candidates for Provo City Council, both in a city-wide race, and in a district race. How you vote will determine what happens to Provo in the future.

The basis of a representative democracy is that an elected official is accountable to the voters for what he has, or has not done, while in office. If you are satisfied with the job he has done, you should re-elect the incumbent. If you are not satisfied, you should elect someone else. It is how the system is supposed to work. The voice of the people is heard best at election time.

Two of the incumbents are claiming that they are “pro-neighborhood,” that their ideas, policies, and subsequent votes are what Provo needs to preserve the “quality of life” that we all appreciate. I have been paying close attention to City Council for 10 years, I have studied the issues and the measures which the Council has taken to protect Provo, and I disagree with the claims made by Steve Turley and Midge Johnson. Those claims are NOT consistent with their voting records. I believe their records more accurately represent the “pro-business” mentality, that “government should step aside and let the free market determine things” (to quote Mr. Turley.)

I had a similar attitude in 1997 when I began attending City Council meetings. As I watched, I wondered why it was necessary for government to get so involved with all of the decisions that the Council was making. The longer I hung around, the more I learned: about the facts of what is occurring in our city, about the comparison with other cities that are experiencing the same problems Provo is facing, and about the evidence that unless government intervenes, cities are irrevocably gone. I changed my mind, based on evidence.

That evidence is irrefutable, not a guess or an opinion. Unless the City Council intervenes, much of what we love about our city will be lost. The “government should step aside” approach will abandon Provo to the people who want, above all else, to make a profit. In my opinion, that is the way Mr. Turley has voted every time, and how Mrs. Johnson has voted too often.

This election season, you will receive many colorful, and expensive, brochures from the candidates. You will pass many bright, and expensive, signs. On them, you will read some claims about what those candidates have accomplished and what they espouse. Read carefully. Ask, “what has this candidate actually done?” Research their voting records. I have made those voting records available at votemelanie.com

Please examine the records before you vote. If you agree with them, you should vote for them. If however, you see the same discrepancy that I see, that their claims do not match their records, I hope (in the case of the District #3 race), that you will consider voting for me. I have written several articles below and have been completely honest and forthcoming about my ideas and opinions. I make no claims that are not true. I present the facts. You can leave your ideas and comments on any article. If you follow the rules about posts (see above), i will post them, even if they are negative towards me.

Thank you for staying involved in the process.