Streamlining County Operations

Over the last 50 years, our county has transformed from a very rural county to the most urban county in the State. In the 60s, when I grew up, a farmer raised bison across the train tracks from us. Most cities were very small and there was a need for the County to fill many municipal functions. Today homes and shopping centers have replaced much of that farmland. There are however many pockets of unincorporated land throughout the county and because of that, the county still provides some municipal services to these areas. There are other situations where the Sherriff's office and local police can better coordinate. We need to identify the functions that are best filled by the county, do those well and move others to the extent possible to other entities, including cities and other districts which can perform them more economically.

Quality of Life Issues

Our County has experienced significant growth over the last few decades. This has caused problems with crowded schools, insufficient parks and increased traffic. Our transportation and transit programs especially have not kept up. Transportation dollars are allocated on a competitive basis through our metropolitan planning organization. I will work hard to bring transportation dollars into the county with special emphasis on East-West corridors. We will work hard to improve our project proposals to bring dollars to county where they are needed.

Bringing Cities Together

There are 15 cities in Davis County, and, despite a wide variety in size and geography, they get along quite well for the most part. That said, communication between neighbors is often lacking and at times, there may even be some sibling rivalry. A rising tide in our county will lift all ships and cooperation and coordination will improve life for all of us. Hill Air Force Base and surrounding businesses for instance create jobs for many of our residents in all of our cities. I will work to help these coordinate city efforts better as they address transportation, business development, crime, zoning and other issues so the county as a whole works better.