Fall is definitely in the air, and with fall comes the city council elections and the county transportation sales tax vote.
There is the potential for some confusion this year regarding the elections in that some of us will have to vote in more than one election. Moab voters will have to vote in both the Moab City Council election and Grand County’s transportation sales tax vote on Proposition 1. Adding further to the complexity, one is by the traditional walk-in voting at the polls, while the latter is by mail.
The city council election is sporting a full slate this year, with six candidates vying for the three open positions. The City of Moab has five elected council members and one elected mayor who serve four-year terms. Three council members will be elected in 2015 and two council members and a mayor will be elected in 2017. Some of this year’s candidates have websites as part of their campaign outreach, some are using Facebook, and some can be contacted via email or telephone. Comparing the pros and cons of these six candidates can be difficult at best.
Issues further complicating this process include determining the procedures for registering, getting an absentee ballot, and when and where to vote, requiring one to visit multiple websites or visit multiple city and county offices.
Local media and civic organizations are doing a great job of introducing the candidates and their platforms to you. The Times-Independent, KZMU and KCYN hosted a candidate roundtable on Oct. 5 in the city council’s chambers. Both the Times-Independent and the Moab Sun News are publishing questions they posed to the candidates, and the Grand County League of Women Voters will host its candidate debate on Monday, Oct. 19. All of these are a huge help to us as voters.
In an effort to further assist the voters with this complex process, as well as their understanding of the candidates’ positions, there is a new kid on the block this year. An organization known as Citizens for Community Collaboration – or phonetically, “Sees” (“C’s”) – is publishing a web page at www.seesmoab.org about this year’s elections that includes material on issues submitted by the candidates, the process for getting registered, obtaining an absentee ballot, information on how to vote early and dates for all of the above.
Sees, a sponsored project of the Utah Natural Heritage Fund – a component fund of the Community Foundation of Utah (www.utahcf.org) – is committed to collecting and sharing credible and functional data in a challenging way to further our individual and organizational efforts. Our mission is to increase understanding, cooperation and collaboration among the diverse organizations and individuals in Moab, Grand County and southeastern Utah.
Those of us who call southeastern Utah home love living here because of this community and landscape and our connection to them. Our community, resources and these wild lands offer incredible opportunities for employment and recreation which make southeastern Utah an ideal place to live, work and raise a family.
We encourage you to visit our website, www.seesmoab.org, to help make yourself a better informed voter. And, obviously, make sure you vote as well!
Bill Topper and Dave McLean are both retired executive-level professionals who are committed full-time residents and property owners in Moab.
