Tooele, Grantsville focus on growth, jobs

Concerns about growth, high unemployment and city spending are dominating city council races in Tooele and Grantsville cities.

With an unemployment rate twice as high as the state average, council candidates said there is a need to lure companies to their cities to create jobs and demand for retail and restaurants.

In Tooele, candidates challenging two incumbents said city officials have been engaging in loose spending. Candidate Steve Dale said the City Council has spent too much on recreational facilities to the detriment of streets and other infrastructure. "They're not very glamorous type of things, but they need to be done." Dale works for West Valley City's engineering division and sits on a local special service district board.

Candidate Curt Morris also is concerned with spending. "With tough economic times, it seems a lot of waste is going on with spending." He points to a golf course clubhouse and public swimming pool. Morris, who spent 8 years working for Tooele City as their attorney and now runs a local law practice, said the money should have gone toward parks in the city's new neighborhoods. To foster commercial growth, he said the city needs to bring down building permit fees, which he said was comparable to Park City's.

Morris said the focus on city spending seems to only benefit certain groups who would be interested in golf or swimming.

Candidate Steve Pruden, who works as a seminary principal for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, said he also is not happy with the city's choice of recent projects. "We need to not repeat the same decisions. We need to be more conservative in our choices." He said the city promised to build parks in new neighborhoods, which has yet to be done.

Candidate Phillip Montano is running for office for the first time.

Council incumbent Michael Johnson said most of the money spent on the pool and clubhouse came from the $15 million the city received from the sale of the old military depot to a developer. He said the pool was financed, in part, by the local school district and Utah law does not allow park and recreation impact fees to be spent on roads. "Frankly, they (the challengers) don't know what they're talking about. Everybody thinks all the money goes into one big pot, and that's not how it works." Johnson, an attorney, is chairman of the Tooele Federal Credit Union and works as a small-claims judge in 3rd District Court. He said adequate roads to the depot could improve the city's chances of attracting a big employer to move into the area.