From Deseret News archives:
Mayors report on Provo, Orem
For the 10th straight year, the political tag-team pair of Orem Mayor Jerry Washburn and Provo Mayor Lewis Billings presented their annual state-of-the-city addresses Friday to the Provo/Orem Chamber of Commerce.
Their act could run another four years.
Washburn and Billings said they are leaning toward running for re-election this year during a question-and-answer session after they talked about the recession and a significant drop in major crimes. Each would be seeking a fourth term.
Incidents of murder, rape and other "part one" crimes dropped in Provo for the seventh straight year, Billings reported, to 29 incidents per 1,000 residents.
In Orem, the rate dropped to a new 20-year low at 27 incidents per 1,000 residents. The category tracked by the FBI also includes aggravated assault, robbery, burglary, arson, theft and auto theft.
Washburn attributed the drop in part to increased efforts by both cities to combat graffiti. "We organized a gang task force in Orem in 2008 to identify gang members and interrupt their activities," he said.
Both cities are consolidating jobs in an effort to save money in what Billings termed sobering times. "We are doing a number of things to make sure we can live within our means," he said. "Our goal is to be lean, to be mean, to keep your taxes low and to keep your fees low."
Orem's policy is to be frugal in both tough times and good times, Washburn said, but both mayors are moving ahead with important projects. Orem completed a $2.5 million road project last year, and both cities are looking forward to completion of commuter rail from Salt Lake County down to Provo and to the launch of a bus rapid-transit system that would loop from Utah Valley University to Brigham Young University and the Provo Towne Centre.
Washburn said business development in Orem remained strong in 2008, with 374 new commercial enterprises. The city also entered a partnership to share fire, paramedic and dispatch services with Lindon to improve service for north Orem residents and reduce costs.
Billings is preparing a more detailed report on the state of Provo, which he will deliver Thursday at noon at the Provo City Center, 351 W. Center.
The Washburn-Billings billing had a third act Friday. Third District Congressman Jason Chaffetz, back in Utah for the first time since his swearing-in, made a 60-second presentation as a new member of the Chamber of Commerce and joined the question-and-answer session.
Chaffetz said he opposes the $700 billion federal stimulus packages passed last fall and the new $850 billion package proposed by President-elect Barack Obama.
E-mail: twalch@desnews.com
