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Show Times Newspaper Thursday, October 9, 2003 Page A7 CITY COUNCIL CANDIDATES Continued from front page such as the city's new outdoor out-door pool and recreation fields for soccer and baseball. base-ball. Sandstrom cited his experience in business, as an architect, in the military, and as a former airline pilot. Sperry said he is not an incumbent, but, "I feel I have a lot to offer." He said he grew up in Salt Lake and served a church mission in Minnesota. He named development and crime as big issues in the city, and said he would support implementing a crime watch program that would reward "those who look out for each other." He said he has "a lot of ideas and beliefs," and feels he can "do a great job for the city." The first question for the candidates was on the city's recent and somewhat controversial con-troversial decision to raise the speed limits on selected collector roads, on a trial basis. The candidates were asked for their opinions on the issue. "My opinion was found in my vote," Campbell said. "I voted for it." He explained that statistics have been kept and a recommendation from city staff was brought to the council to try the change for nine months. Statistics will be kept, and if the new speeds are violated, violat-ed, "the signs will go down and we will go back to the former speeds". Forsyth said that the design of the roads where the speeds were increased is for 35 miles per hour, legally legal-ly deemed a "reasonable and prudent speed." When a vehicle travels at 25 mph on such a street, dangers occur when a line of cars forms behind the slower vehicle. "We have a lot of traffic to move in the city, and we were assured that actual speeds would not increase. I believe that, or I wouldn't have voted in the affirmative. affirma-tive. We will revisit it, if not." Sandstrom said he also voted to increase the speed limits, after staff and council coun-cil spent hours studying the issue. The bottom line, he OREM FARM Continued from front page Anderson saw the beginnings begin-nings of Orem's real growth, during World War II and the years after, when Orem's prodigious fruit industry began its half-a-century of decline, with the advent of residential housing hous-ing developments, large and small, which proliferated proliferat-ed throughout the community commu-nity to meet the needs of the growing population. Mobile home parks came first. Residential subdivisions sub-divisions followed, closely behind. Apartments and other forms of multiple dwellings joined the single-family single-family dwellings in providing provid-ing housing for families, as well as for university students stu-dents from Brigham Young University and Utah Valley Community College. During this past half-century, half-century, the City of Orem has played a remarkable role in expanding the infrastructure infra-structure and working to match the growing utilities with the expanding population. popula-tion. Thirty years ago, the construction of the KEVIN ROLLINS Continued from front page On April 7, 2000, the newly opened eBusiness Center at BYU was named the Kevin and Debra Rollins eBusiness Center. Dell Computer Corporation Vice Chairman Kevin Rollins and his wife, Debra, were honored at a banquet for their $3 million donation I said, was that in making the recommendation, staff assured the council that actual speeds will not increase. His decision to support the increase came after he personally witnessed wit-nessed two children almost hit when a frustrated driver suddenly pulled around a vehicle that had been traveling trav-eling 25 mph and was stopped for the children. Sperry said Orem is a unique place to live because people have a desire to obey the law. He said he would have voted for the speed limit increase, but with caution cau-tion and monitoring by the police. "There is a feeling as you go down the street whether you can go fast or not." The candidates were next asked for their suggestions in helping the city's streets operate as smoothly as possible. pos-sible. Forsyth said he believes in strict enforcement enforce-ment once "reasonable and prudent" limits have been set, and that more can be done with such measures as synchronized lights. Sandstrom said "all can agree" that traffic is a problem prob-lem in Orem with the growth that has come over the last 20 years, and asserted that the city needs to "put a lot of money" into improvements, such as widening Sandhill Road, but not by raising taxes. Sperry said there is more to traffic flow than just speed limits, and said the changing chang-ing of lights should favor "those who are actually there." "Let's just face the truth," Campbell said flatly. "The problem is us, because we love our cars." He said traffic traf-fic problems will continue until we get on buses or public transportation, overcoming over-coming the "western independence" inde-pendence" mentality. A question on education stated that the Orem High School lunch room has been remodeled and equipped with television, while notes have been sent home asking for liquid soap for underfunded under-funded elementary schools. The candidates were asked how they would work on such "unequal funding." University Mall and the University Parkway came together to transform the City of Orem into a truly regional shopping center, increasing Orem's sales tax revenues dramatically. Meanwhile, the continuing continu-ing residential growth in Orem has accelerated the sale of orchard properties for subdivisions as fruit growers moved their operations opera-tions south of Utah Lake. The value of the remaining orchard properties has transformed them into prime locations for upscale homes. One such property is the Ercanbrack Farms in south Orem. Recently, the Ercanbrack family requested request-ed the City of Orem to adjust its common boundary bound-ary with Provo City, in order to include within the city limits of Orem their property at 2200 South Main Street. The property is 3.70 acres, and is located adjacent to other Ercanbrack property, currently cur-rently being developed into a new residential subdivi sion. At the turn of the past to the eBusiness Center. "E-commerce is the future of where business is going," Rollins told the audience that day. "It is not a sidelight, but the core. All business will be e-commerce, some day, and I wanted the Marriott School and the church to be right on top of it. Those businesses who fail to adapt to e-commerce are going to miss the power of i Sandstrom said members of the council do not have the power to address many education edu-cation issues, but expressed the opinion that Orem should not have its own school district. Sperry said he is an Orem High graduate, gradu-ate, and stated that despite lowest per capita expenditures, expendi-tures, the community has "some of the highest test scores" and "wonderful students", stu-dents", and education needs should be met through community com-munity partnerships. Campbell said, "This may lose me every vote in this room, but there has to come a time when we stop asking teachers and administrators administra-tors to solve every problem in our society." He suggested suggest-ed core subjects might be taught in the morning, and "extras" taught in the afternoon, after-noon, with parents paying for those types of classes. "If there's no liquid soap in our schools, that's sad," he said. Forsyth said that although the council does not have any way to directly assist the schools, the city does work closely with them on matters such as the parks that adjoin school facilities. The City of Orem has not raised its share of property taxes for 25 years, but the school district had to raise their share by 34 to open some schools after the state backed out of its promised share of funding. "I'm very proud of public education," he said, adding that he would do all he could to help the schools as a councilman. The next question touched on a topic already addressed by Sandstrom whether or not the Alpine School District should be divided. Sperry said he would consider having an OremLindon School District, but asserted that Alpine School District is "doing a good job." Campbell said that his wife, Linda, was on the school board for 12 years, and stated, "If it the plan to divide is good, I'm not convinced. It is foolish fool-ish to consider dividing with the current economic situation." Forsyth said 42 of the students in the district dis-trict come from Orem, and century, settlers from Salt Lake City were re-settling in Utah County. A number of those settlers found the Provo Bench an ideal location loca-tion for growing fruit and growing families. In 1905, one such family the Ercanbrack family settled on the Provo Bench, viewing view-ing the fertile soil and moderate mod-erate weather as ideal for growing crops, free from frost. Over four generations of Ercanbracks built a legacy of hard work, honesty, loyalty loy-alty and integrity. And according to Sheldon and Randall Ercanbrack, the same dedication dedi-cation and devotion that went into farming those properties extends to the development of a prestigious presti-gious neighborhood there, today. The Legacy at Ercanbrack Farms is conveniently con-veniently located near to commercial shopping centers, cen-ters, and is within walking distance of Nielsen's Grove, Orem's newest and finest parks. The lots at Ercanbrack Farms range in size from it." The Kevin and Debra eBusiness Center at BYU is giving students, faculty and local businesses hands-on experience with e-commerce. The faculty and students said they were excited about the new center. Besides giving the $3 million donation to the Marriott School, the Rollins have also endowed the district pays a lot of attention to this area. He said subdividing to two or three districts would be a "terrible decision" that would cause the duplicating of administrative services, without adding classrooms. Sandstrom reiterated his position against a district division, noting that when enrollment goes down, state funds dry up and a "day of reckoning" comes when schools must be closed or taxes raised. The candidates were next asked about recent court rulings calling into question the display of the Ten Commandments on public property. Campbell said he believes each individual community has to face the issue on their own, along with the issue of prayer in public meetings. "We do pray (in Orem) and have come to what we feel is an appropriate solution. But each community has their leaders, and should do what the citizens want. If they lose court challenges, they lose, and if they win, they win." Forsyth said Orem does not have such a monument on city property, and "it would be foolish in the current cur-rent legal climate." He also said the city expects to be challenged on the prayer issue, and "we hope we have that settled." For him, he said, it is a "great help" to have prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance at meetings. Sandstrom said he gets "fired up on issues like this," and stated, "Groups like the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) are enemies to this country. The establishment clause of the Constitution says nothing about how we can't honor God or recognize Him.. .If the Founding Fathers did not want prayer in public, why did they open and close all of their meetings with prayer? I kind of wish we had a city monument, so we could fight for it. God has a place in government and in this country." Sperry said he agrees with Sandstrom and questioned ques-tioned why the minority seems to win over the ' 1 "s LEGACY VQt-l , i ... , i -, ' r 7P .j Ercanbrack Development m 801-225-7850 li : LOTS FOR SALE v Gorgeous lots varying In size from .28 to .5 acres are featured In the Legacy at Ercanbrack Farms at 2044 South Main Street, where this new Orem subdivision Is being developed with fabulous valley and mountain views. .26 acres to .5 acres. There ers. The homes at maintain value, are no through streets, and Ercanbrack Farms are Next Week: Fruit a wall surrounding the exclusive custom homes Farms, Cow Barns, Golf neighborhood offers addi- with protective covenants Course and Midtown tional privacy to homeown- to create integrity and Flats a scholarship in civil engineering engi-neering at BYU in Rollins' father's name, Ralph Rollins. After Rollins left BYU, he joined Bain & Co. management man-agement consultants, specializing spe-cializing in corporate strategy and management for high-tech and consumer-product firms. While with Bain, he developed devel-oped strategies around the direct selling of computer I majority on so many issues. In response to a question about population growth, density, and mixed use development, several of the candidates Forsyth, Sandstrom, and Campbell mentioned the complexity complexi-ty of the issue of property development rights versus the rights of the neighbors referring to it as "a balancing bal-ancing act." Sperry said some areas, such as the former for-mer Geneva Steel property, might be redeveloped as residential. The candidates were asked their opinion on accessory apartments. Sandstrom said he was one who led the charge to eliminate elimi-nate (new) accessory apartments apart-ments in the city, deeming them "a growing problem that was being taken advantage of." Sperry said he does not agree with having hav-ing apartments throughout the city, but agrees with having large apartments for students in the southwest part of town so their impact on neighborhoods is minimized. mini-mized. Campbell mentioned the city's permit parking system that has helped control con-trol parking around Utah Valley State College, but said, "What we must do better bet-ter than we have is to work with UVSC - that is our college now." Forsyth said he has been asked if it is "fair" for the southwest area to carry the burden of student stu-dent housing such as the large Parkway Crossing project, and declared, "It may not be fair, but it's real." A question stated that Orem City has not increased its portion of the property tax for 25 years and asked if it should. Sperry said he would look at ways of raising revenue, but added he is not in favor of raising property taxes at this time. Campbell took a different view, and said demands for services have increased greatly in 25 years, and the council ought to at least look at the issue. Forsyth said the school district dis-trict takes a 60 share of the tax, and the city gets 15. If the council had voted to double its portion systems and services. Leaving his position as vice president and partner at Bain & Co., he joined Dell Computer Corp. in April 1996. He became president of Dell Americas, managing all company operations in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Latin America. Rollins also served as vice chairman of Dell, prior to becoming presi of the tax, it could have balanced bal-anced a $2 million budget shortfall this year, but chose not to. Sandstrom said he was the only councilmem-ber councilmem-ber to vote against even raising the cell phone tax, and he made a pledge not to vote to raise taxes unless there is an emergency such as a natural disaster. In closing comments, Campbell said that there was rancor and anger in the last campaign, and he thought then that he could be a healer. "We brought smiles and laughter back," he said, taking some credit for the change. He said he has not missed "one single vote in the city" over the last four years of service. "Every Tuesday night, I have been where the people have elected me to be." Forsyth said the night's discussion had been a great opportunity to talk about the issues and solidify views, and stated he looked forward to being elected. He thanked those who will vote for him on November 4 coincidentally his 60th birthday. "You've got three chances just give me one of them," he quipped. Sandstrom said he felt he has been able to add a lot to the effort in the city to mold and change zoning and building standards. "This is a good council. We work well together. We don't always agree, but we are friends. I hope to serve another four years." Sperry thanked the Orem City Youth Council for sponsoring the event, and the audience for attending. attend-ing. He said the fact that he is new and young might be perceived as a weakness, but he believes he can give representation to his area of the city. "I feel the city is doing great things; I want to give to see it continue. I would appreciate your vote on November 4th ," he said. Asked how she felt about the meeting, Youth Mayor Jaynes said, "I thought it went well, and the people, in order to vote, needed to be educated on what is happening hap-pening in the city. I thought it was a success." dent and chief operating officer in March 2001. During his tenure at Dell, the company has seen its most dramatic growth, with revenues increasing from $5 billion in 1996 to $38.2 billion in its most recent four quarters. Next Week: Rollins' "SoulofDeir Defines Company's Culture |