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Show StatesmanCsanpus News Page 4 Monday, Nov. S, 2007 Candidates: Three seats up for grabs in Tuesday s Logan City Council race IJ continuedfrompage 3 paths and pedestrian traffic. Improved bus service to get students off campus to downtown and back to campus is always an important issue, but Logan City also needs to create reasons why the students will want to come downtown. US: What do you feel are the important issues facing this year's election? HO: People are funny, because we pay so much attention to presidential campaigns and national issues, but nothing affects our lives more directly than local government. When you turn on the tap, it's the local government which supplies the water. When you flip the light switch, it's local government that provides the power. Local government provides garbage pickup and sewer capacity. All of these issues affect the lives of students every day, in a very dramatic way. It's the job of local government to make sure those crucial services are delivered timely and with the least cost. So we really should pay close attention to municipal races, but typically, only 15 percent of the population even bothers to vote. And of all voting groups, young people have the poorest record of voting. I hope that changes Tuesday. US: Why are you running for City Council? HO: For years I have encouraged people and challenged people to run for local office. 1 have been the city attorney for various municipalities (including Paradise, Garden City, Snowville, Nibley, Millville and Hyde Park), and I have recognized that we always need committed, dedicated people to undertake a rather thankless job. After spending so many years encouraging others to run, I've finally decided that I should put my money where my mouth was, and I can't think of a for an better place to serve than on the City Council. JOSEPH NEEDHAM, INCUMBENT SEAT 3 US: If you are elected, how will you improve Logan? Necdham: When I first got on the council (four years ago), the very first important thing we had to work on was our city itself. So now, since the city has been corrected, NEEDHAM you could say, we're appropriating a lot of money into better areas. We have cut a lot of different areas. I would definitely be staying the course when it comes to finances, but there are many issues that face Opporhjqi "fhat's Off rhe Ch Reach New Wirh Conv< Always looking to improve ourselves, at Convergys we recently: • Implemenied a defined Customer Service Coreer Path lhat can lead to 3 promotions, raises and bonuses in your first year (with top performance) • Inuociuced new incentives thai can pay you up to S7.75 per sale In addition to your hourly rate • Paid cm over $30,000 in Employee Referral Bonuses • Successfully launclied our Home Ardent Program Interested in Canvergys? Call or apply online today! 435-750*1414 i www.convcrgys.com Walk-ins Welcome! CONVERGYS .•••• Qutthinking Outdoing 1525 North 600 East, North Logan Logan, Our sustainability, financially, and also sustainability in our building, and in our power department. We also have 150 miles in Logan City of no sidewalks. I'd like to address that. I'd need to address our roads. We have tons of congestion on Main Street, and we don't have many other road options. All roads filter to one, and it's overcrowded. We have funded some major road projects that are going to be happening in this next year, but we still have to do a lot more. US: What is the new revenue source for the Ellen Eccles Theatre? JN: We created an endowment, which is money raised that's set aside, so they can live off the interest. The interest that they're going to be receiving is replacing the revenue source of Logan City funds. Its not perfect, but one good thing about it is that the revenue that they expect to have every single year will always be the same, and it's actually more than what we were paying them. The endowment has been raised up to about $5 million right now, and they can live off the interest of that money. We'd like to get it to $6 million, so our job's not done, but we're definitely in the process. US: How will your decisions affect university students7 JN: I've made decisions that do affect university students, and we are looking at many things that will continue to have a good effect on university students. One, for instance, which we're discussing in two weeks, is the licensing of landlords. We talked about the poor quality housing that's out there, and sometimes students are put in a situation that actually could be extremely dangerous, an apartment house with no smoke detectors that work or an apartment house that has no true fire exit. That's one thing we're addressing right away. US: How would things be different if you are elected, as opposed to your opponent? JN: I think that vision is the Ktm.103.9 THE OLDIES STATION RYAN SHUPE & T H E RUB BE (Logan, U T ) e November 1st, 2007 Available online gtf; www. UTAH FOOD BANK S E R V I C E S major difference. When he was asked, "What's the problem with downtown?" his response was, "It's actually pretty good, it's not that bad." When they asked about the air, "It's not that bad." When they asked about coal versus other alternatives, he said, "I would go with the cheapest source, not the cleanest." I think we should be focusing on the clean ... You ask me about any of those topics, and I'll give you a totally different answer. My answer is no, there is a lot that needs to happen in downtown ... That's probably the biggest difference. JAY MONSON, CANDIDATE SEAT 3 US: If you are elected, how will you improve Logan? Monson: The main thing I would like to do is have Logan City cooperate much closer with Cache County, with the other cities and towns in this valley, with the state of Utah, and certainly with USU, to solve the challenges ahead. I think Logan's a great place to live right now, and it s a wonderful place to raise a family ... but Logan has some challenges as well. The two big ones are traffic and air pollution, and 1 think we can solve both of those only by cooperating with all these other agencies very closely. US: How will your decisions affect university students? JM: I think university students are really important in any decision made in Logan because this is a college town, always has been. It's one of the things that makes Logan such a great place to live. I think students should have input in the decisions, and I strongly encourage the students to vote. We need student input. US: What do you feel are the important issues in this year's election? JM: A big issue seems to be the power question. The current council is divided three to two on whether to go with what's called IPP3 Power, a coal plant that was proposed for Southern Utah. It's all scrapped now, so it's a mute point, but I think the majority of (people) were upset because three of the five current council members voted against the power board's recommendation and the mayor's recommendation to go with the Intermountain Power Project for future power. They chose to explore other alternatives. Logan and Utah power rates are about half of the average power rate in California. And I'm committed to keeping the power rates as low as they can be while still exploring other options, but not going after such options without the approval of the citizens of Logan. US: What kind of experience do you have to bring to this position? JM: 1 was a county commissioner, one of the last three ever elected in Cache Valley. I was chairman of that transition team and ran for the County Council its first time around. I was elected, and I served as the chair of the County Council the first two terms. I've also been the chairman of the Bear River MONSON Association of Governments, and I was elected to the State Board of Education for three terms. I've been on the Constitutional Revision Commission. Two governors have asked me to be on various state committees. The best (experience) they gave me is how to work with people and how to bring people together, to agree to disagree at times, but to do so in a way that is consensus-building and not confronting. I think that's important in public service, to have differences in opinion but not to be (confrontational). -kate.r@aggiemail. usu. edit |