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Show Flinders stresses local experience liiiiBRPl if . . fev: . - .. : .. ' "'""N , ; Tom Flinders "I'm doing this because I can help the county. And I have a savvy for the land and the people' by Christopher Smart Tom Flinders is a real estate broker and a cattleman who believes that his expertise in business and agriculture is exactly what Summit County needs right now. Flinders is a Snyderville native running for the four-year County Commission seat. He is pitted against Sharon L Barlow in the Aug. 21 Republican primary runoff. In addition to his real estate and ranching experience, Flinders says he is knowledgeable in water rights and has kept himself informed on developments in the Snyderville Basin Sewage Improvement District. The development of the Snyderville Snyder-ville Basin will depend largely on the availability of culinary water, he said. The development of the Smith Morehouse Dam would benefit the Snyderville area if water were pumped over the mountain from Oakley, he argued. On the subject of roads, Flinders said that improvements across the county should be studied. Old Ranch Road can be improved, he said, through state gasoline tax funds that are channelled through the county. The present County Commission recently decided aganst a special improvement district for the Old Ranch Road modifications. Flinders said property taxes should be a campaign issue. He maintains that his expertise in real estate will allow him to bring locally assessed property closer to actual market value for taxing purposes. Currently, he said, appraisers don't consider many things when making valuations. Most locally assessed property in the county has a valuation that is too high, according to Flinders. Taxes could be lowered with proper valuations, he said. On the issue of county government, govern-ment, Flinders said that he would have to wait until after the election to determine whether or not the county should have a full-time manager. "Any time we create more employees, employ-ees, we put one more layer of bureaucracy between the people and the government." On the subject of health care, Flinders said that all portions of the county should receive health care programs equally. He said tht if elected he would have to review the county health care program. Flinders said he was hesitant to condemn the current commission for the firing of Frank Singleton as county health director. "It's difficult to know why the commission did what they did," he said. "I'm not a politician," Flinders said of his choice to run for the County Commission. "I'm doing this because I can help the county. And I have a savvy for the land and the people." Flinders said that his main advantage in the race is that he and his family have been here for many years. His brother Melvin served as a County Commissioner while his father, Judd, was a Justice of the Peace. |