Utah County leaders praised

PROVO — Salt Lake County Councilman Randy Horiuchi spoke to Utah County business owners on Thursday, giving a 2008 outlook on politics, transportation and the economy.

Horiuchi, a Democrat, spoke during a luncheon put on by Capital Community Bank.

Horiuchi, who joked about being somewhat of an outsider among the heavily conservative population in Utah County, said he hoped those there understood the level of respect he has for the way Utah County is conducting business.

"You are very fortunate to live in Utah County," said Horiuchi. "It is not because of BYU, and it's not because you are all conservative and mostly Republican, but it is because this great county has a lot of things going for it politically."

Among those things is the way the county legislative delegation works together. Instead of fighting, legislators from Utah County band together.

"(Because of this) whenever Utah County wants something and they don't get it, there is something wrong," he said.

This trend has shown up in recent transportation decisions.

"Here Salt Lake City residents are going to help pay $250 million for the pleasure of giving you commuter rail," joked Horiuchi.

But not everything was praise. He also pointed out the importance of beefing up the freeway and improving roads, as well as creating east-west corridors similar to those in Salt Lake because of the continued growth.

"They all work together, but I'm telling you that it doesn't matter," Horiuchi said. "Once they are done it will feel like you have done nothing, but if you don't do anything then you will really be in trouble."

Many people in the crowd echoed what they heard from Horiuchi regarding the importance of rejuvenating the county's transportation systems.

"It is vital. As a businessman I am more concerned about this issue than anything else going on right now," said Jon Aldrich, of First Colony Mortgage Corp., based in Orem. "We have been talking about this for years, but if we don't start doing something about it, then I am afraid there is going to be a big price to pay for all of us."

Horiuchi also pointed out that the economy within Utah County can withstand tough times.

"The economy is built upon what works down here," he said. "There are a lot of MLM's (multilevel-marketing firms) and small businesses which have built a solid economy down here that in many ways I believe is recession proof."

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