Lehi candidates debate growth, taxes

LEHI — Growth, taxation and public involvement were the prime focal points at a Meet the Candidates Night sponsored Wednesday by the Lehi Chamber of Commerce.

Asked what his biggest accomplishment has been in his two terms, incumbent Mayor Kenneth Greenwood said, "There's a lot of them, but the first one is survival.

"I say that facetiously, but it's true. With the crush of growth we've had, just to keep the level of services where they're at is a remarkable accomplishment."

Greenwood pointed out that Lehi took more than 100 years to reach a population of 12,000 but has added 8,000 more in the past 10 years.

Greenwood's opponent, Howard Johnson, agreed that proper growth management is crucial to Lehi's future but said his reason for running was to give residents a bigger role in deciding how that growth is managed.

"The prime thing is involving the public in the solution," Johnson said. "In my experience, haven't seen as much of that public involvement as there should be."

Johnson said one of the key factors in his decision to run was not being allowed to voice his opinion at a City Council meeting.

"I think the meeting needs to be structured such that you as citizens have a right to speak," he said.

Craig Laurence and Gordon Miner, both running for the city's two open council seats, said increasing taxation was a matter of concern for them.

In his closing remarks, Laurence pointed out that the city has increased the mill levy tax by 43 percent since 1995, resulting in a tax that is significantly higher than the Utah County average and the tax rates in cities with populations similar to Lehi's.

"Why is it so much more expensive to operate our city?" Laurence asked. "It shouldn't be so."

Miner said the city should have done a better job handling impact fees so existing residents weren't forced to shoulder the burden for the city's increasing revenue needs.

Incumbent councilmen Stephan Holbrook and Johnny Barnes said traffic management was the biggest issue facing the city, especially with the booming growth of neighboring cities Saratoga Springs and Eagle Mountain putting additional stress on the city's limited road infrastructure.

Holbrook said the council has done its part to manage growth, and the city must now work with the state on transportation issues.

"We need to remember the current administration and the people involved as city employees have done Lehi's share in managing traffic," he said. "But that doesn't mean we give up and say, 'Sorry state, you make this work, ' not at all."

The candidates were divided over where the Mountain View Corridor, a proposed road by the Utah Department of Transportation that would create an east-west freeway through Lehi, should be built, or if it should be build at all.

Holbrook and Barnes said the city was trying to develop alternate roads, like 2100 north, but Miner countered that if traffic studies say the city needs a freeway, city officials can't go against that.

"I don't think we have a choice," he said.

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