[Moderator] (6:48 - 7:05)


[Moderator] (8:28 - 44:53)


[Ashley Korenblat, Chamber of Commerce] (44:54 - 47:47)
We're going to get started. That works better. Okay.

So grab a seat wherever. Just give me a couple more seconds. Okay, you're right.

Okay. Hi everyone. My name is Ashley Korenblatt, and I am the president of the Moab Chamber of Commerce.

The Moab Chamber of Commerce was established in 1958, and we continue to evolve to meet the needs of our community. We have three priorities right now. One is growing the Moab economy.

The other is supporting our Moab businesses through trainings, grants, and networking. And the other is giving back to our community, like the Christmas Light Parade and other events that the Chamber hosts. We're going to be adding lots of exciting stuff to that list.

On behalf of the Chamber of Commerce, we want to thank first the candidates. Thank you so much for stepping up to serve our community and by entering the race for city council or mayor. We deeply appreciate your commitment to public service and your willingness to engage with our local business community during this important election.

Okay. I'm going to read this part because I've got to get it exactly right. Ready?

The ballots are set to be mailed on October 14th. Early voting and ballot drop off takes place between October 21st and October 31st. If you plan to mail your ballot, you must have it postmarked no later than November 3rd.

Ballots can also be returned in person to the clerk's office between the hours of 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday or to the ballot drop box in the City of Moab's Recorders Office between the hours of 8 and 5, Mondays through Thursday and 8 a.m. to noon on Fridays. That was complex. Vote is the main point.

Okay. For those who wait to the last minute, November 4th is election day. Do not mail your ballot on election day.

Ballots must be returned in person on election day, November 4th at the City of Moab's Recorders Office or the Grand County Clerk's Office. The Grand County Clerk's Office and the drop box at Moab City Hall will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on election day. Okay.

The evening's format will begin with city council candidates followed by the mayoral candidates. Each segment will feature questions submitted by chamber members and curated to reflect the interests and concerns of the local business community. We had really great response, so lots of questions came in.

Thank you to our chamber members who submitted the questions. We really appreciate you. And now Cora is going to go over the forum rules and etiquette.

And Cora is our executive director who did all the work to make this happen. So let's give her a round of applause.

[Cora Philips, Chamber of Commerce] (47:50 - 48:56)
All right. These lights are bright. This event will be live streamed if you didn't catch that already at Dewey's.

It's on our Moab Chamber of Commerce YouTube channel. And the recording will also be available following the debate. To ensure this recording is top notch and the event is a success, we ask that you abide by the following five rules.

Please, if you have not already, place your cell phones on silent so that it doesn't interfere with the recording. Please be respectful and courteous. Please refrain from getting up while candidates are speaking.

We will provide a ten-minute break after the city candidates have completed. Please no interruptions or outbursts. Outbursts will not be tolerated.

Those causing disruptions will be escorted from the premises. And finally, we ask that you hold your applause until the end of each round. Thank you so much for being here and supporting our candidates.

Please join me in a warm round of applause to welcome our candidates to the stage.

[Moderator] (49:13 - 50:01)
Good evening. We will start tonight with introductions. Each candidate will have two minutes to share their background, experience, and why they chose to run for City Council.

The order was decided before the event by drawing names out of a hat. Howard Trenholme, we will begin introductions with you, followed by Jason Taylor, then Miles Loftin. At the buzzer, you will need to finish your sentence, and we will stop you by saying thank you.

So please keep it at two minutes. Howard, you may begin.

[Howard Trenholme] (50:03 - 51:48)
Good evening, Moab. I can't see you really out there with these bright spotlights on us politicians, hopeful ones here. For those that don't know me, I am Howard Trenholme.

I'm originally from Scotland. I emigrated in 1988, and I came here as a tourist in 1996. I fell in love with Moab then, and I'm still in love with Moab.

In 1997, I staked my claim in this community by starting the Red Rock Bakery. And I can really thank the Chamber of Commerce and City and County for at least through the first 20-odd years of fully supporting my business in all aspects. I also have a family here.

I've never mentioned that, but it's important, and I have a beautiful daughter, Megan, and an even more beautiful granddaughter, Rhea. And the reason I'm standing up here before you is I'm deeply concerned that our current government, city government, isn't really in touch with its people. It doesn't seem to care about our well-being, and well-being counted in terms of not just the quality of life, but for all of us that live in Moab, we have to have a quantity of life to exist in this seasonal town.

Last few years have been most disappointing. I've been really disappointed in my mayor and my city council for not standing up for the people of their community that have worked so hard to support their budgets and everything else. So I'm here before you.

I was here a year ago, too, in a district that was the city, and I'm here to serve you. And truly, your genuine care is my highest mission, and I will be as passionate as I am. As I have been in my work life, my family life, I will be that way for you, the Moabites.

Thanks.

[Moderator] (51:50 - 51:52)
Thank you. Mr. Taylor?

[Jason Taylor] (51:56 - 53:56)
Good evening, everybody. My name is Jason Taylor. Move it closer.

I'm actually running to serve a second term. I have a long history in Moab. I moved here in 1997 as a river guide, working to make money while I was going to college.

After a while, I was like, man, Moab is a pretty good place. I think I'm just going to stay here. I ended up here, and I had a girlfriend at the time, and I asked her if she'd marry me, and she did.

And I said, Kate, we're going to move to Moab. And she said, okay. And we've been here ever since.

And currently, I'm still in the outdoor business. I work in the tourism business, and I'm grateful for that economy and what it's brought in my life. I swore I'd never wear a suit and tie to work, and I'm wearing a tie tonight, but I do feel that this is important.

I've had the opportunity to serve on a lot of boards here in town. I've served on the travel council board. I've served on the EMS board.

I was an EMT for 12 years. I was also part of the chamber ever since I can remember. I was the chamber board.

And I know how important it is that we have an economy that's driven, and we have businesses that are thriving to support, you know, the people of this town. And it's been really important to me. And I know that it was brought up by Howard, you know, like why he's disappointed.

But I just want to say the last four years have been great. We've gotten a lot of stuff done. We've got a new park, you know, a new playground at Swanee.

We've gotten roads paved that haven't been paved in a long time. Moab is in a very good place, and it's moving forward. And it's because we have strong leadership, and it's because we have, you know, a strong city council.

It's because we have a strong mayor who's doing this because they care about town, and they care about the people in this town. Thank you.

[Moderator] (53:58 - 53:59)
Mr. Lofton.

[Miles Lofton] (54:01 - 56:05)
Hi. So, my name is Miles, and I'm kind of the newcomer here in a lot of ways. I first came to Moab when I was six years old.

My mom was a teacher, and she brought school kids here for a trip she called the magic of Moab. And as her kid, I got dragged along. And I fell in love with the place.

We came here every year since on spring breaks or during summers to enjoy this beautiful canyon country that we have here. And when I got done with school and had to figure out what I wanted to do with my life or where I wanted to live and put down roots, the easy answer was Moab. And I moved out here, and I've been a renter.

I am still a renter. I have worked odds and ends jobs, retail, guiding, and I've had the luxury of finding a career in being a contractor here in town. And I saw a need in our community.

I saw people who needed help with their homes, and I had the requisite background, and I had the opportunity to build this business. And now we're several years in, and we're doing well. And I've hit a point where I really saw this community and the direction we're moving in, and it really was like my love for this community that has held me here.

And so I wanted to be a part of this. And I went ahead and got a position on the Planning and Zoning Commission with the city so that I could get an idea of how things worked and what I could do to affect meaningful change in regards to making this town grow in a way that I cared about. And so now I've spent some time working with the city, getting to know our issues.

And as a contractor, I get to talk to people every day from all different walks of life. And I get to see the people who are on fixed incomes and their needs and their requests, and I get to see the people who just bought a home and their needs and their requests. And so I feel like all of that gives me a very strong background to come here and represent Moab as a whole.

So I'm very grateful for the opportunity, and thank you.

[Moderator] (56:05 - 56:06)
Thank you.

[Moderator] (56:09 - 56:27)
For this next question, you will each receive two minutes to respond. We will start with Howard Trenholme, followed by Myles Loftin, then Jason Taylor. Mr. Trenholme, what are your top three priorities that you plan to work towards if elected?

[Howard Trenholme] (56:29 - 57:57)
Top three priorities. First one is housing, and I mean housing for the workforce, attainable housing. I don't care if you're a doctor or a busboy, there has to be housing available within that realm.

I believe the city can do more for zoning. There should be high-density zoning within the city. That's what cities are built for.

The rural areas can offer more space, but we need to allow developers to happen and development to happen. And we need more Yimbys and less Nimbys. Secondly, with housing in order, I think we can start working on the Moab economy, which has been on decline now for four years.

Our sales tax dropped by 30% year over year this past budget year, after stagnating for three years. There's lots of reasons for that, and I want to thank the county for rescinding an executive order that was dropped in November of 2020 that really curtailed Moab's business. So once we get our tourists back here and get our hotel occupancies up to even a margin level, I think we'll be in good shape.

And then last but not least, with that economy in order, we're going to bring back that wonderful Mayor Dave Sacrison, Mayor Tom Stock's trick that really aided all the Moabites by taxing our visitors and not our residents. Get rid of these property taxes, as we did before, and find other ways to make things happen, as we did quite beautifully for 32 years.

[Moderator] (57:58 - 58:11)
Thank you. Mr. Lofton. Thank you.

[Miles Lofton] (58:12 - 1:00:12)
So my first priority is also housing. The differentiation I'd like to make is, I believe that housing needs to be addressed in a couple steps here in town. And we need to recognize that housing is not just a problem for young people, but it's also a problem for seniors.

It is something that affects all of us here, and it is kind of the bedrock of many of the other issues here in town. And so I believe if we address housing appropriately, if we understand that we have a limited space in this valley to develop. So the trick is to really understand what housing we need.

I'm part of a city task force that is doing just that for the city. And if we can identify our housing needs directly, then we can do more with less. We don't have a ton of land to develop on.

So the trick is to be really pointed about how we develop, and who we partner with. We have excellent non-profits in the area who have already done good work to provide workforce housing. And I think it is the city's job to facilitate that.

I think that we also need to create attainable housing. So there has to be a step between the apartment or the rental unit you have, and the higher end homes that we see on the market nowadays. And that's what's going to attract people to the town.

That's what's going to keep the younger generations living here, instead of moving out of town. So that's incredibly important to me. Something else.

So my second issue that I think is really important is water. I think that all development in this area relies on water, and that we as a city need to lead by example. We're asking our residents and businesses to cut back a little bit or save water.

I think we need to lead by example if we're expecting that. And my third issue is infrastructure. As a plumber, I see the struggle that this city has with its neglected infrastructure, and I know that we need to address it in a big way.

Thank you.

[Moderator] (1:00:13 - 1:00:28)
Thank you. Mr. Taylor.

[Jason Taylor] (1:00:29 - 1:02:34)
You know, I'm like Howard and Miles. I have a lot of the same concerns that they have, and a lot of the same priorities. Housing.

We've been working on housing for four years, and we got some great things coming down the pipeline. And with this council, we initiated the AEH ordinance, which is the Active Employment Household, which says that all housing that when you're putting in, like apartment buildings or duplexes or whatever, that anything over four, that 30% of it has to be dedicated to active employment housing. This is housing that's dedicated for the local workforce.

It's not going to be sold as second homes or to people who are out of town or nightly rentals, if that were to ever come up again. We have 166 houses, I think, that are okay permitted to be built. We're just waiting for them to be built.

So we have housing that's coming online that was not online five years ago. We've worked super hard with this, and things have been slow. Things have been affected by the economy, by loans, by interest rates, things that are affecting all of us are also affecting housing things.

But this council and the mayor and then the city council has worked so hard to create housing, and we've moved the needle. And in the next few years, that's going to come up. Also, we talked about infrastructure.

That's been my big thing is roads. Before we got elected, before I got elected, the plan for roads was no plan. We need to have a plan to fix roads.

We need to have a plan to maintain the roads. We need to plan what we have. Third thing on my list is locals.

Locals are the pride and the joy of this town. They're the ones that live here. They're the ones that work in the restaurants.

We need to do things that benefit them. That's maintaining the swimming pool, the aquatic center, the ball fields, all things that need to be redone that have been neglected for years and years and years. Big part of my thing is to make things where families can go and they can play.

We can improve our parks. We can improve the pool. We can improve the ball fields.

Things where people congregate, where they get together and they're associated with each other. Thank you.

[Moderator] (1:02:50 - 1:03:20)
Great. For our next six questions, we will adhere to the following format. The selected candidate will be asked a question and provided two minutes to respond.

Each opponent then has one minute to reply. We will change the order in which the opponents respond, so please do not begin until called upon. Mr. Loftin, we will start with you. You have two minutes to respond. The question is, Swanee Park Playground was recently upgraded. What other improvements or expansions would you suggest for our city parks?

[Miles Lofton] (1:03:22 - 1:04:43)
Thank you. So as Jason mentioned, there's several maintenance issues that we have with things like the swimming pool and otherwise that need to be addressed. But if I were to speak on one improvement for all of our city parks, it would come from an infrastructure and water perspective.

So going back to my earlier point, we live in the desert and water is going to be a stressor for us. And right now, all of our parks are being watered with culinary water. And I think that for us to move forward and us to make sure that we have that important resource for further development and further growth means the city leading the charge in implementing greywater systems in our parks so that we can responsibly maintain them as well as preserve water and resources for further development or otherwise.

I think that something that I've heard from the community a lot also is little things, like our skate park is something that is brought up to me more often than not. And as fun as it seems, I would love to address some of our community concerns with some of the things that we have and kind of updating them and bringing them to a point where they are really enjoyable. We did that with the playground and that's wonderful to see.

I'd love to see it done with the pool and the skate park and that as well. So thank you.

[Moderator] (1:04:43 - 1:04:55)
Thank you. Mr. Taylor, you have one minute to respond.

[Jason Taylor] (1:04:56 - 1:05:58)
I'm right on board with Lofton. We need more skate parks. We've had a lot of young people come up to us and say, we need a new skate park.

And I grew up on skate parks and I love skate parks. And I've been to Colorado and places that have these great places for kids to hang out. You know, when kids are doing activities, they're not getting into trouble.

When kids, you know, they're not bored and they're getting fitness, they're getting athletic. You know, like we said, we put in, we used our RAP taxes, which Asimov City residents, you guys all voted for. And that helped pay for the park.

We were working to help redo the ball fields. We've been saving that money so that we can do a whole remodel on the ball fields without going into debt. You know, very much.

And trying to get, design something where locals can hang out. And I just want parks maintained. I want the parks, people, the parks where people hang out.

They need to be, they need to have good bathrooms. We need to redo the bathrooms and the ball fields and the parks. And is that it?

Okay.

[Moderator] (1:05:59 - 1:06:01)
Thank you. Mr. Trenholme.

[Howard Trenholme] (1:06:03 - 1:06:53)
Boy, we're blessed with open space in this town, are we not? Aside from the beautiful parks we have in the city, we have the greatest public lands on earth. But back to the city and trying to stay in those boundaries.

Again, Jason mentioned the RAP tax. That's great. I believe that if we can restore our economy as it once was, we'll have a lot more money to play with with the RAP tax.

So that would be something I would suggest. Also collaboration. Moab City has 5,000 residents, has a limited budget.

There's lots of help out there. The recreation district at the county has always been a great partner to the city. So I would strongly continue that working with our partners at the city.

And if we can get money from the state or the federal government to help with our needs, I'm all about that too. Rather than taking from our taxpayers is my goal. Thank you.

[Moderator] (1:06:56 - 1:07:06)
Second question. Mr. Taylor, we'll start with you. You have two minutes to respond.

How should water resources affect land use planning and growth in Moab?

[Jason Taylor] (1:07:09 - 1:08:43)
We all know that water is very limited. Can I go? We all know that water is very limited in this area.

You know, while we have the Colorado River, we don't, it's not the greatest water and it takes a lot to treat it. So as we are doing development, we need to be mindful of water and where that water is coming from. I think the city, you know, right now the city is working with the state and with the county just to figure out how much water we do have.

How much, you know, how fast our springs and our wells are recharging. As well as, you know, what's happening, what can happen in the future. And as we do develop, you know, how much water is going to be used.

There may be a time when we need to really cut, or we should be cutting back on what we use, but, and where that is in development. Like Miles said, I'm a huge proponent. I think we should be, you know, using, you know, using our discharge water that's treated as water for irrigation and farming and stuff like that.

And even being looking at, you know, we worked and we got a grant with Grand County and the water agency to pull water and pump it back up into the valley. You know, and to help recharge our systems and stuff. So we are working towards this stuff and it is moving forward.

While it is on government time and moving slowly, things are moving. But I think a way in which we are using secondary water for lawns, gardens, and even cutting back on some of that stuff will help us to protect our water, to protect our resource, and to help us grow in the future and down the road.

[Moderator] (1:08:45 - 1:08:54)
Thank you. Mr. Trenholme, you have one minute to respond.

[Howard Trenholme] (1:08:55 - 1:08:55)
Can I repeat the question?

[Moderator] (1:08:56 - 1:09:02)
I can. How should water resources affect land use, planning, and growth in Moab?

[Howard Trenholme] (1:09:03 - 1:09:45)
That's a great question. And I was actually educated on this quite recently by one of the most knowledgeable people I know in Moab. Apparently, Moab uses 1,600 acre feet of an available 11,000 acre feet.

So as far as the city of Moab goes, we're in pretty decent shape. Just for a comparison, the George White Ranch uses 1,800 acre feet per year. So you can weigh that.

I believe we need to work with help our neighbors in this regard and a diversion from the Colorado River with the compact. I know Moab City can't do that, but it can certainly be with the state for that. And that will help not only Moab City, it will help Grand County and San Juan County.

[Moderator] (1:09:47 - 1:09:58)
Thank you. Mr. Lofton, you have one minute to respond.

[Miles Lofton] (1:09:58 - 1:10:57)
Thank you. So obviously, water is a big one for me. And Howard cited some numbers.

And I need to clarify the difference between the water available and the recharge rate. So we are blessed with an amazing aquifer that has a considerable amount in it. But how much it's recharging every year is something that I have heard varying numbers on.

I think when it comes to water, we need a data-driven approach. And we need to do the research to have relevant and current studies on how much water we are using and how much the aquifer is recharging. As Jason mentioned, we do have the river, but that seems like a poor option.

I lived in Albuquerque when we switched over from the aquifer to the water coming from the river. And it made for a significant decline in water quality. So I would like to do what we can to preserve our water.

And I think graywater systems and the city leading by example is important. Because if we're asking residents and businesses to do that, as we have with the landscaping ordinance, then we need to do it ourselves.

[Moderator] (1:10:57 - 1:10:57)
Thank you.

[Moderator] (1:11:04 - 1:11:14)
For our next question, we'll start with Mr. Trenholme. You have two minutes to respond. How do you propose funding Moab area transit beyond the lifespan of the grant?

[Howard Trenholme] (1:11:17 - 1:12:27)
I would like to get some data-driven responses on Moab area transit. How much the grant is and how many people are actually riding it. My solution would be to have fixed routes and not have a wandering Uber all over town.

Fixed routes up Murphy Lane, up Mill Creek Drive. And unfortunately, the city is going to have to dig into its pocket. Because it was using the hotspot funding grants that was supposed to go to a parking structure.

And that money has been used to help this transit system, which will expire. I'm not sure. I'm sure Jason and Joette will know exactly when that money is about to run out.

So it's again, we have to weigh these situations up as a city. We have to work within our budget. We cannot keep adding property taxes for a service that is, quite honestly, appallingly used.

And I know it's a benefit to people in one person. But everybody I talk to, they say, there's only one person ever in these transports. The one that goes up and down Main Street.

I see that all the time. And I rarely see any actual passengers in it. So I'd really like to question the value and the ridership of this program before even considering extending it.

[Moderator] (1:12:29 - 1:12:33)
Thank you. Mr. Loftin, you have one minute to respond.

[Miles Lofton] (1:12:37 - 1:13:28)
Thank you. So the MAT has been useful, as far as I've seen. Now, I agree with Howard in regards to fixed routes.

I think one of the complaints I've heard about the MAT the most is that it does take a while to arrive. And so you have to plan your day around that. But it is something that alleviates the needs of some of our community that is really struggling to get around town.

And as we begin to sprawl out further south of town, transportation is very important. So it is something that we will need to review in the sense of where is it being used the most. Potentially get fixed routes going throughout them so that we can transport more people at once.

And then we have to understand how much of a scale we are going to keep the project at before we decide how we're going to fund it. Thank you.

[Moderator] (1:13:29 - 1:13:33)
Thank you. Mr. Taylor, one minute to respond, please.

[Jason Taylor] (1:13:34 - 1:14:35)
You know, the MAT is an amazing thing. And while I was very disappointed that we traded the parking structure for the MAT, I've seen the MAT work. The MAT works really well in town.

It gets people to work that need to get to work. It gets people to work that don't have the ability any other way. They don't have a car.

They live too far away. They don't have a bicycle to get to work. It helps people that have special needs to be able to go and shop at city market and be able to get home.

The Uber style system is amazing. But we do need to figure out how to fund it. And it is a priority because this is the group of people, the people that are using it are the people that need it the most.

These are the people that rely on it for it to get to work. And that's why we, when working with some people in Washington, we've been working with people at the state to try to fund this into the future. You know, it's going to end in about three years, I think, three or four years.

And the funding is going to start falling more upon Moab City. Thank you.

[Moderator] (1:14:43 - 1:15:06)
Mr. Loftin, we will start with you on this question. You have two minutes to respond. Some local businesses are not directly affected by the macroeconomic factors influencing tourism.

But resilience to these broader economic shifts remain essential. How will you promote economic resilience and growth in your role?

[Miles Lofton] (1:15:08 - 1:16:45)
So this is a wonderful question for me. Because frankly, the business I personally own is in that position. I consider myself adjacent to the tourism business in the sense that while my dollars don't often come directly from tourists, they do come from the result of the places that tourists stay and the general economy that we're able to support.

If people don't have money in town, they don't spend it on remodels or on work or otherwise. And so I think in regards to supporting our economy, we do have a tourism-based economy. And what I'd like to see is encouraging longer stays and more investment in our community from the tourists.

Basically, you know, I've lived here a third of my life and I've barely scratched the surface of what this town has to offer. So by keeping people here a little bit longer, they invest in the community a little bit longer. They stay here, they see more things, they spend a little bit more money.

And we're not as reliant on the sheer volume of tourists coming through. So that helps us with resiliency. Reaching out to different groups and making sure that everyone feels welcome here in the community is important as well.

I think everyone has the right to come recreate here as long as they recreate responsibly. And I think that's absolutely a culture we can continue to have. So by encouraging people to come and by encouraging people to really stick around and get to know us, I think we're going to be able to build a more robust tourist economy and kind of help pad the difference we're feeling as the tourism economy is changing and as things are going down a little bit.

Thank you.

[Moderator] (1:16:46 - 1:16:52)
Thank you. Mr. Trenholme, you have one minute to respond.

[Howard Trenholme] (1:16:54 - 1:17:52)
I've had 28 years on Main Street watching the action. For nine years, I served on the Moab Area Travel Council, which is now, funnily enough, called the Moab Office of Tourism. I actually advocate for the Moab area, realizing Grand was bigger than just Moab.

But my board said, no, no, we're going to make it the Moab Office of Tourism. That's the office designed to keep Moab going. And I'm going to tell you quite categorically, for nine years, and I've just recently rejoined that board, I left that board because the county pulled an executive order that pulled our marketing.

That has been restored. So I encourage the work of the Moab Office of Tourism to fill this town all year and to focus beyond just the frequent, fully independent traveler and perhaps consider a more business-type audience to our community. That's a big market that can come in the winter.

And for all the dark sky enthusiasts, boy, we could have a lot of night sky adventures in the winter months, which is what we kind of need. So I've got lots of ideas. Just give me a shot.

[Moderator] (1:17:53 - 1:17:59)
Thank you. Mr. Taylor, you have one minute to respond.

[Jason Taylor] (1:18:00 - 1:19:00)
I'm a firm believer in tourism. I think tourism is what keeps this town going, what keeps the wheels moving, it keeps food on people's tables. And I don't think there's any industry within this town that isn't touched somehow by tourism.

We need to keep it going. We need to educate the people that are coming here. But we have a lot of federal lands around us.

The people come to see, but they're not coming to spend their time in Moab. They're coming to sleep in Moab, and they're coming to eat in Moab, but they're experiencing other places. And we need to work hard to make sure that our guests have a good, clean area to come to, that they are welcoming.

And in doing that, they're going to spend more money. And if you're retired and not involved in the tourism business, you're still a benefit of the RAP tax. You're still a benefit of the TRT taxes that are generated.

So when people tell me that they're not affected by tourism or they want it to go away, it's going to affect people's well-being and quality of life down the road. So we need to all work together to make it good.

[Moderator] (1:19:00 - 1:19:01)
Thank you.

[Moderator] (1:19:05 - 1:19:15)
For this next question, we'll start with Mr. Taylor. You have two minutes to respond. What will you do to support immigrant residents and immigrant workers in our community?

[Jason Taylor] (1:19:17 - 1:20:40)
You know, we do have a lot of immigrant workers in our community, and I welcome them here. I think that we need to have the benefit of, as a community, of welcoming these people here because they are part of our workforce. They're raising families here.

They're part of the sports teams that are here. They're going to the schools that are here. And I think that we do need to encourage people being here in the right way and working towards that and stuff.

But I think that there's no reason to ever be hostile or not wanting people here. We're all immigrants in one way or another to Moab. You know, some of us probably came from Chicago.

Some of us came from Mexico, you know, or wherever. And so I think that we need to be kind to everybody. We need to be welcoming to everybody.

And we never know, like, how these people are going to, you know, be asked. We know they're going to be assets to our community, and they're doing a lot of work in town to make Moab a nicer place. And so for me, I think it's great, and I think that we need to, you know, do what we can to support these people.

That's all I have.

[Moderator] (1:20:41 - 1:20:45)
Thank you. Mr. Loftin, you have one minute to respond.

[Miles Lofton] (1:20:46 - 1:21:44)
Thank you. I absolutely see immigrant workers as essential to our community. They employ many of the businesses that we frequent.

And it's, you know, like Jason said, keeping a welcoming community for them is incredibly important. And that's, you know, that's true of people coming from anywhere, essentially, to be here in town. I know that here in town, like, our workforce is often limited by the seasonality of our community.

And so having work that goes year-round could be very important. And when it comes specifically to the immigrant workforce, it's about including them in city decisions and considering what their needs are and making sure that we're providing a space that allows them to be here and to be part of our workforce. Thank you.

[Moderator] (1:21:44 - 1:21:50)
Thank you. Mr. Trenholme, you have one minute to respond.

[Howard Trenholme] (1:21:50 - 1:22:44)
You're asking a question to an immigrant about being an immigrant in Moab. I've only been a citizen for 12 years, so I fully understand the immigrants. Hospitality industry would not exist without immigrants, okay?

They need a legal pathway to citizenship. That's what I did. I came in the right way.

I signed up and I got my way in. I worked hard. I eventually became a U.S. citizen. And guess what? I'm standing before you or sitting before you tonight to be a candidate for Moab City. That's the pathway you want to do.

Immigrants need work. We need a year-round economy. We need year-round tourism.

They'll give you the best work any workers do, because guess what? A lot of Americans don't like cleaning bathrooms. They don't like washing dishes.

And it takes an immigrant workforce to take care of the people. And I know Jason just mentioned the public lands. But we wouldn't be here without hospitality and lodging and accommodation.

That's what drives our economy. They are our backbone. Thank you.

[Moderator] (1:22:51 - 1:23:02)
Mr. Trenholme, we will start with you for this question. You have two minutes to respond. How will a vote for you impact the profitability of area businesses?

[Howard Trenholme] (1:23:04 - 1:24:54)
I support them. I want them to be busy. I'm going to work that tourism board to get this town pumping.

Right now, we're at 57% annual average occupancy. That is appalling. We've dropped from the best we ever had at 66%.

All I can see in that is opportunity. Without building another hotel room in this community, let's fill what we have to capacity and then create more if that opportunity arises. I have an obligation to this community, if I'm elected, to serve you and make sure that you have a good paycheck, that you can even engage a quality of life and maybe one day hope to have a home here.

That's the place I want to build. I believe our population has been declining for the last 10 years. We need to fix that.

And we need a change in our government to do that because they set the tone. They set the legislation. And for too many years now, we have suffered as people from governments that do not support our work.

I promise you, I pledge to you, that I'll be there for you. And with good leadership at the top, with a good mayor, we will do this. And we'll make Moab the town it once was that I remember beautifully.

And it was a great place. And in the last 10 years, it's just gone downhill so bad. So you actually need to vote for me because I'm going to make sure with a new mayor too that we can make impact changes for this community that will benefit the whole community.

As well, of course, not forgetting our wonderful visitors who will come to our town like they once did and want to return and not feel like they're unwelcome. There's a circular firing squad that unless you're part of a certain user group, you're not welcome. That is not democracy, my friends, my voters.

We need to invite everyone to our town and ask them to behave themselves once they're here.

[Moderator] (1:24:55 - 1:25:01)
Thank you. Mr. Taylor, you have one minute to respond.

[Jason Taylor] (1:25:02 - 1:25:03)
Can you repeat the question for me?

[Moderator] (1:25:03 - 1:25:10)
I certainly can. How will a vote for you impact the profitability of area businesses?

[Jason Taylor] (1:25:12 - 1:26:12)
I am absolutely pro-business. I've been on the Moab Chamber for probably 20 years. I was even president of that.

And I work hard for this community. And a vote for me is going to make sure that businesses are at the forefront. I support the Moab Chamber.

I was not the one who voted to kick the Moab Chamber off of the Moab Tourism Board with a vote, a vote that represents the businesses here. And so I think it's obvious. I was the one who went and fought with it and spoke up for the commission to make sure that they kept that seat on there.

Because I know how important you business owners are. I know how important it is that you guys are fighting in the trenches and you know what's going on and how important it is for your voice to be heard. So for anybody who says that I'm not pro-business, they are absolutely wrong.

And I will win. When the tide rises, all ships rise. And we all benefit from it.

And I will support that.

[Moderator] (1:26:12 - 1:26:18)
Thank you. Mr. Lofton, you have one minute to respond.

[Miles Lofton] (1:26:19 - 1:27:16)
Thank you. So I am also very much pro-business. I am in the trenches as a small business starting and doing my best to become a larger part of this community.

What I want to promise is an understanding that the cost of living here isn't just about keeping people in their homes, but it's about keeping small businesses operating successfully. And that by providing for our locals and by making sure that our workforce is housed, we have people who are able to support these businesses and making sure that our business owners are housed. And so I think that's what I would focus on, is I understand that that cost of living that makes it hard as a business owner as well.

And I pledge to work towards making sure that we all feel good about living in this community and are excited to work. And that's what I look for in my own employees. And that's what I hope to provide you guys with.

[Moderator] (1:27:17 - 1:27:35)
Thank you. So this concludes our question portion of the debate. Each of you will have one minute for closing comments.

We will begin with Myles Loftin, followed by Jason Taylor, and conclude with Howard Trenholme. Mr. Loftin, you may begin.

[Miles Lofton] (1:27:36 - 1:28:25)
Thank you. So I'd just like to make a point of, I really do feel like most of our issues in this community tie back to housing and tie back to cost of living. And what I would like to do with my time as a city councilor if elected is try to make sure that people in this town feel security and don't live paycheck to paycheck because that is how we're going to have a growing community, a growing workforce, professionals that stay here.

That's how we're going to make sure that people's kids are able to buy homes here and stay here in the community as well and support them into their old age. I think that this town is growing, but we can grow in a deliberate way to support locals as well as our tourism economy. And it's my goal to find that balance in my representation for you.

Thank you.

[Moderator] (1:28:25 - 1:28:30)
Thank you. Mr. Taylor, you may begin.

[Jason Taylor] (1:28:31 - 1:29:32)
The last four years since I was elected, which I am so grateful that I was elected, I can honestly say that I've worked hard for this community. I've made myself available. I've talked to people.

I've met with people in their homes and I have studied every topic that has come up. I may not have voted the way that people have wanted me to vote or everybody's wanted me to vote, but I can honestly say that I have studied hard. I have researched the topics and I have come up with the most educated, best decision that I can.

I will continue to do that. Not because I have some special agenda, but because I like Moab. I love Moab.

I love this town. I've met a lot of people in this town. I know a lot of people.

People know me and you know what I stand for and I will continue to do that. I'm not going anywhere and the best interest of this town for families, business owners, everybody is at the heart of what I do. I have a family.

I have kids that go to school here and I want the best life possible for them. Thank you.

[Moderator] (1:29:34 - 1:29:36)
Mr. Trenholme, you may begin.

[Howard Trenholme] (1:29:37 - 1:30:39)
It's amazing what you learn from people over a cup of coffee in the morning for 20 odd years. I know Moab and Moab needs change big time. Our current leadership is disconnected from the people.

Not once during the last four years did the mayor or council actively engage their partners at the county to be more on board with Moab's economy. For all the talk about need for attainable housing, which is a DJ at KZMU, this week in Moab I heard for 20 years, I've got two words for the city, Walnut Lane. Moab deserves better and I pledge to be passionate about serving the greater communities.

I have been serving thousands of customers and guests to our community and locals. There's a clear choice for the voter. One for a much needed change in the city that has lost its bearings and it actually appears lost at sea and an ocean away from serving its people.

If you vote for Howard Trenholme this November, you will have a passion that perhaps only an immigrant and a Scottish immigrant at that can bring to this community. So give chance for change. Thank you.

[Moderator] (1:30:40 - 1:30:52)
Let's please give a round of applause for our candidates. We will now pause for a 10 minute break.

[Moderator] (1:32:05 - 1:40:50)


[Moderator] (1:40:50 - 1:41:12)


[Moderator] (1:41:12 - 1:41:13)


[Moderator] (1:41:19 - 1:41:20)


[Moderator] (1:41:29 - 1:41:33)


Okay.

[Moderator] (1:41:35 - 1:41:40)


[Moderator] (1:41:42 - 1:41:42)


[Moderator] (1:41:42 - 1:42:37)
All right.

Welcome everyone. For those of you who haven't taken your seats, please take your seats. As a reminder, please place your cell phones on silent so that it doesn't interfere with the recording.

Please be respectful and courteous. Please reframe from getting up while the candidates are speaking. Outbursts will not be tolerated.

Those causing disruptions will be escorted from the premises. Everybody goes, ooh. And finally, we ask that you hold your applause until the end of each round.

Please join me in a round of applause to welcome our mayoral candidates to the stage.

[Joette Langianese] (1:42:49 - 1:43:08)
I asked. The last time we did this was on Zoom. So this is a whole different experience.

[Curtis Wells] (1:43:08 - 1:43:15)
It is bright. I can see why Jason is squinting. Ready?

[Moderator] (1:43:26 - 1:43:44)
Welcome candidates. We will start with introductions. Each candidate will have two minutes to share their background, experience, and why they chose to run for mayor.

Mr. Wells, we will begin with you. At the buzzer, you will need to finish your sentence and we will stop you by saying thank you. Mr. Wells, you may begin.

[Curtis Wells] (1:43:44 - 1:45:46)
All right, thank you. I want to start off and thank the chamber for hosting the debate. I remember running for county council when I was a young man in 2016 and there weren't any debates for the business community.

And I remember going in and asking Jody Hugentobler, who had an office in City Hall, that we really needed a debate in the community to focus on the issues that impact the businesses most. And, you know, the chamber can be a rowdy bunch and there's a lot of opinions on their issues and if they're doing the right thing. But I want to thank everyone with the chamber for hosting the debate and giving the business community a voice and a platform in these important elections.

My name is Curtis Wells. My mother moved our family to Moab in 1991, which was her home. And I split time growing up between western Colorado and Moab.

I worked in my mother's restaurants. We worked in natural resource development, construction, and I feel like about every segment of the economy. I had the opportunity to move back to Moab after I spent some time in college and working for a retired congressman, Jim Hansen, in Salt Lake City in my early 20s.

And I got pulled into politics very quick on public lands issues. Ms. Korenblatt and I got acquainted really well out of the gate. And pretty soon I was running for county council.

I had just a really awesome experience on the county council, was able to be a part of a lot of big funding projects. I later served on Spencer Cox transition team, which led to a role as chairing the CIB board. I also served as an advisor on rural policy to Governor Cox, where I sit on cabinet meetings once a month.

I was just appointed to the state energy council. And I've decided to run for mayor because I believe we need big change.

[Moderator] (1:45:46 - 1:45:52)
Thank you. Ms. Langanese.

[Joette Langianese] (1:45:52 - 1:47:53)
Thank you. Can everybody hear me? Do I have it close enough?

Okay. Hi, I'm Mayor Joette Langanese and it's been an honor and a privilege for me to serve as your mayor for the last four years. And I hope you will continue to allow me to serve for another four years.

I've lived in Moab. It seems like everybody else for over 28 years. I moved here and got a job at the hospital as the chief compliance officer.

I love this community. I have worked on the county council for eight years. I've got a lot done under that role with the Moab area partnership for seniors in the Umpter project.

After that, I was the executive director of the Friends of Arches and Canyonlands Parks where we raised over $2 million for our national park service. All of this experience that I've had has given me the leadership role that you need. And I needed that when I became the mayor of the city.

I came in under a very challenging time from Moab City. Our staffing levels were dismal. We had a police department with seven officers, no chief.

We budgeted for 20, but we were at seven. We had a city manager that was interim who wasn't really interested at the time to be our city manager. And we had no legal team.

We had a planning staff that was skeleton at best. And so we had to rebuild the city. I had to rebuild the city with the city council.

And we were able to do that very successfully. We've got a fully staffed city hall right now. We're doing really well.

During all this time, we also accomplished a lot. We got a lot of infrastructure done. We also had three flash floods.

So we had to prepare for flood events that we were not expecting at all and had to work through those to make sure that we could prepare. I've got more work to do. And I've always promised to put the residents first.

I continue that promise. I will continue that promise for the next four years as your mayor. And I want to make sure that whatever we do benefits our local businesses and our residents.

Thank you.

[Moderator] (1:47:54 - 1:47:55)
Thank you.

[Moderator] (1:47:57 - 1:48:10)
For the next question, you will both have two minutes to respond. We will start with Ms. Langanese. What are your top three priorities that you plan to work towards if elected?

[Joette Langianese] (1:48:10 - 1:50:10)
I have three top priorities, just like everybody else. My first priority is housing. My second priority is flood preparedness.

And my third priority is community well-being. The housing, as you've heard everybody talk about, it's a huge issue for our community. If we don't have housing, it really does not help with our economy.

The city has implemented an active employee housing ordinance. And through that, we have 30% of all multifamily developments will be active employee. You have to live and work in Grand County.

We also have over 800 housing units in the works. They've already been approved. They've already been permitted.

We're waiting for the developers to break ground and get those projects moving. 300 of those housing units are affordable or low-income housing. Those apartments we expect to be online starting next year.

Second, flood preparedness. We've done a lot of work. We've secured over $4 million in state and federal grants to plan and prepare for flood mitigation.

We're also working right now to secure $12 million to replace the 300 South Bridge, which actually is an area where we have significant flooding when we have these flash floods. Community well-being is hugely important because a happy community equals a healthy economy. With all the amenities that we have to offer our community, you can't ask for anything more to make sure that our residents are taken care of, that we have a balance between the residents and our economy and our tourism industry.

I believe that I am committed to make sure those investments are there. As Jason mentioned and others, we've got a new ball field that we're working on. We've got a swimming pool we need improvements to make.

We have new bathrooms that we're gonna put in our parks. We've got a lot going on. Public transportation is a big deal.

The MAT, as you've heard, is something that we need to work towards to make sure we can continue that pilot project in another five years. So with that, thank you.

[Moderator] (1:50:11 - 1:50:12)
Thank you.

[Moderator] (1:50:18 - 1:50:27)
For our next day questions, we will adhere to the following format. The order was decided before the event by drawing names out of a hat. Do you mind if I answer that one, Randy?

[Moderator] (1:50:27 - 1:50:36)
I am so sorry. Hold on, Randy. You know what?

Mr. Wells, that was completely my fault. I do apologize. Would you like me to repeat the question for you?

[Curtis Wells] (1:50:36 - 1:50:39)
No, I'm ready to go. All right. He's quick.

I gotta be quick.

[Moderator] (1:50:41 - 1:50:46)
He even looked at me strange when I did it. So it's completely my fault. I'll take the blame on that.

Mr. Wells.

[Curtis Wells] (1:50:46 - 1:52:48)
Need some espresso. So my platform is very simple and I'm really excited about it. It's nonpartisan, which is very appropriate for city government, obviously.

It's based on three things. The first is serious financial reform. I've been going, I've talked to a lot of people.

I feel like I have a very good sense of where the community's at from a broad array of the spectrum. And citizens don't feel like the city has had a comprehensive internal review of their operations and their finances in a long time. And I believe that as well.

And so that includes a number of things. We have to understand where we have overlapping services with the county. There are a lot of overlapping redundant services.

That means that you're paying for the same things twice in a small community. That's inappropriate. Also, smarter spending.

You'll hear my opponent and you'll hear Council Member Taylor talk about all the things they're doing, spending money. But how is that money being spent? Is it being prioritized well?

Is it being spent too expensively because bids are too high, because the city's too difficult to deal with? What are our taxing policies? The property tax was imposed with the rationale that we can't have infrastructure without that.

But when someone says all of these streets are being paved and you're seeing all these projects, that's not from the property tax. Uranium Boulevard is and it's grossly overspent. And I've listened to the city council talk about expensive water fountains.

And so we need to have that property tax really analyzed and understand if that's necessary. Overlapping services, I mentioned, that's important. And open and accountable government.

The city budget is not transparent. They do not show their fund balances. There's shell games that go on that mask really what's going on with the finances.

That's not appropriate. And you have to go through a PR office to discuss things with the city manager. That's inappropriate.

Thank you.

[Moderator] (1:52:49 - 1:52:49)
Thank you.

[Moderator] (1:52:52 - 1:53:31)
Okay, for our next eight questions, we will adhere to the following format. The order was decided before the event by drawing names out of a hat. The selected candidate will be asked a question and provided two minutes to respond.

The opponent has one minute to reply. The selected candidate then has 30 seconds for rebuttal before we move to the next question. Mr. Wells, we will begin with you. You have two minutes to respond. OHV noise has been an ongoing complaint among homeowners residing within city limits. How do you propose to navigate this matter while still supporting the OHV community and side-by-side business owners in Moab?

[Curtis Wells] (1:53:32 - 1:55:34)
Great question. So the law that's being used to allow off-highway vehicles on city streets or county roads, the legislative intent was, the law was passed in the 90s and it was for farmers on ATVs to be able to license their four-wheelers and go irrigate their fields. And so it's evolved into a circumstance where we have off-highway vehicles that are designed for use off the highway and city streets.

And there's obviously some tension because they're loud and people have issues with that. It's also important to acknowledge how important OHVs are to the economy, how much revenue is derived from those. The OHV businesses, I think, should really play a major role in that.

Trailering OHVs to the trails is something that's been commonly discussed. How we get there is really important. I think there was attempts to amend the law to require trailering or to disallow OHVs on city streets.

That's a really heavy lift at the state legislature, obviously, with the OHV lobby. Finding some compromise and balance is going to take, frankly, a mayor that has a level of influence to really move the needle on that. And so I have a track record of getting things done on really difficult issues, and that's something that I provide as mayor is there is a difference, frankly.

And my opponent and I, and the level of influence and relationships that I can provide the city and bring about solutions for all the citizens. So I'm not afraid to take on tough issues. I've shown everybody that in the community.

You can't always make everybody happy. I don't know that status quo with OHVs is that we're there. I don't think anyone really agrees entirely that we're there, but the way we go about addressing that is really important.

I think it's going to take all the stakeholders. And I think my background, you know, as kind of a pro-access person, that I think I understand that issue and those machines better than my opponent and the economies related to those that I can contribute to that.

[Moderator] (1:55:34 - 1:55:36)
Thank you. Ms. Laganese, you have one minute.

[Joette Langianese] (1:55:37 - 1:56:42)
Right. The OHV community is very important to our recreation economy. Four years ago, when I was out talking to people, they were very unhappy.

OHVs were running rampant around town. In the last four years, we've made some big changes in that regard. And I feel good about that.

We haven't solved all the problems, but I'm not hearing as much concern. I really want to give a shout out to our outfitters, our OHV outfitters, because one of the things we did was really put an educational campaign out there and our outfitters stepped up to the plate and really took the opportunity to educate their folks on how to be respectful to our neighborhoods and how to access the backcountry where they really want to be. They don't want to be downtown riding around.

So I think that we've got more work to do. I feel confident that we can work towards that end, but I think that we need to really understand that our OHV visitors are very important to our economy and that we need to work to overcome the challenges.

[Moderator] (1:56:43 - 1:56:45)
Mr. Wells, the time is yours. You have 30 seconds to respond.

[Curtis Wells] (1:56:46 - 1:57:12)
I mean, I've received communications from a list of 500 people that are really unhappy with the city's responses to those issues and they don't feel like they're being heard. I think the business community is obviously very defensive, you know, of further regulating that issue. But again, we have to bring everyone to the table to get somewhere good with that, and I'm very confident that I can do that.

Thank you.

[Moderator] (1:57:12 - 1:57:13)
Thank you.

[Moderator] (1:57:15 - 1:57:38)
Ms. Langenese, this question is for you. You have two minutes to respond. The mayor has executive and administrative responsibilities like appointing the police chief and city manager.

Given the distinction from city council members where and how would you create value in the mayoral position?

[Joette Langianese] (1:57:40 - 1:59:36)
Actually, the city doesn't appoint the police or the mayoral position. The mayor doesn't appoint the chief. So there's three things.

My job as the mayor is to facilitate and work with the city council to implement our goals. We work every year developing our strategic plan and coming up with the goals that guide our budget. My job is to help make sure that those goals are implemented, those policies are put in place, and I work directly with the city manager, who I do appoint, to make sure that what the council wants accomplished, he can take back to the staff and make sure those goals are accomplished.

We also need the other thing that's really important as the mayor is I'm the face of the community. It's really important for me to show my face out there and to work with our community, with our business community, and let them know that the city really does care about their businesses, about their lives. So working with the city council, as I mentioned, we do come up with a strategic plan every year.

We come up with those goals that guide our budget. We work with the staff to make sure that that budget is meaningful and fiscally responsible so that we can accomplish a lot of these goals. A lot of times we can't.

There's a lot of things that we want to do that we're not able to accomplish because we don't have the funds to do that, and we put that on our long-term plan. Working with the city manager, it needs to be very clear that we do not direct the staff. I direct the city manager.

The city council works with me to make sure that their issues are given to the city manager and that he carries them out. It's a very good system. It's worked really well for us at the city.

I'm not seeing that happen so much at the county. They've got a little bit more work to do, but I think it's important for people to understand that the mayor's role is to work with the city manager, with the council, and make sure that the policies that the council puts in place are achieved and implemented. Thank you.

[Moderator] (1:59:37 - 1:59:41)
Thank you. Mr. Wells, you have one minute.

[Curtis Wells] (1:59:41 - 2:00:43)
Thank you. I think the interaction between my office's mayor and the city manager is something I'm really much looking forward to. As mentioned before, everyone should be offended that the city manager will not take calls from Doug McMurdo and that all of those communications have to go through Lisa Church, the public relations office.

I'm going to keep pointing that out. That is very wrong. The city manager should be integrated in the community, and when change is needed, it should be getting done.

As mayor, I've been talking to you for months. I'll continue to talk to you about dramatic changes that we need to see in the level of service in our facilities. If the bathrooms aren't clean, if implementation of resources is not going well, then I'm going to be working with the city manager to make sure that these things happen.

I'm not doing this for a platform to be a politician. I've been through that. I'm doing this for real change, and I will be as good as my executive, and so that's very, very important to me.

[Moderator] (2:00:43 - 2:00:47)
Thank you. Ms. Langanese, the time is yours. You have 30 seconds.

[Joette Langianese] (2:00:48 - 2:01:21)
Well, I have to say my opponent is wrong. My city manager works very closely with the news. He responds to all of their questions.

We do have a communication manager who primarily is to put information out on social media, respond to any emergencies we might have and make sure that the community is aware. So I totally disagree. Our city manager does a fantastic job in reaching out into the community and meeting with people.

He's meeting with people all the time, and sometimes I worry that he can't get his real job done because he's out in the community.

[Moderator] (2:01:21 - 2:01:22)
Thank you.

[Moderator] (2:01:24 - 2:01:35)
Mr. Wells, for this question, we will begin with you. You have two minutes to respond. How will you use your relationships with the state officials to benefit and or protect Moab's interests?

[Curtis Wells] (2:01:36 - 2:03:38)
I think one of the things that the community will get with me as mayor is I have brought in a significant amount of state resources that have gone into roads. And again, the paved roads and the improvements that you're seeing around town, the majority of that is resources that I worked and took the lead on to bring in as a 30-year-old county councilman in his first term. So I'm closing in on 10 years later, and my role as CIB chairman is we oversee the deployment of somewhere between 50 to 100 million in infrastructure funding every year.

And that's big for a town like Moab that is stressing their locals with property taxes for infrastructure that's not going well. And so if you're infrastructure, I'm your guy and it's not even close. I've been your guy and I will be even more your guy if I'm mayor because mayor does carry weight.

The mayor of Moab is really important. Now, this is supposed to be nonpartisan. That's kind of something that we pretend is nonpartisan, but I have a track record of working across the aisle.

I will put it up against anyone. If you go to my website, I'm endorsed by Mayor Dave Sackerson, Jalyn Hawks, who was a Democrat county council chairwoman that I served with, Karen Guzman-Newton that was on the city council. You don't see that in Moab politics.

You don't see Democrats endorse Republicans and you don't see Republicans endorse Democrats publicly. That's how much respect I have and that's how hard I've worked. And that's how, frankly, that's how much I've gotten done.

And so as your mayor, I'm not here to represent my interest as a business person or my interest as, you know, my position in community. I represent everyone. I have a strong background of being very accessible.

I will talk to anyone. And by the way, I talked to the Times Independent editor this morning and that's not the case. The city manager is not accessible.

[Moderator] (2:03:38 - 2:03:40)
Thank you. Ms. Laganese, you have one minute to respond.

[Joette Langianese] (2:03:41 - 2:03:46)
Will you please, I believe you're, I don't want this to clear. The question was about how we work with our state officials.

[Moderator] (2:03:46 - 2:03:52)
Yes. How will you use your relationships with the state officials to benefit and or protect Moab's interests?

[Joette Langianese] (2:03:53 - 2:04:55)
I think we do that very well. We've built a very strong relationship with our state officials. It's more than just our legislature.

It's more than just our past elected officials. It's with our state agencies, with UDOT, with the Department of Environmental Quality, with our emergency management state officials when we have floods, with our AOG, our local association of government. We have a fantastic relationship with the state.

And granted, the CIB has provided us quite a bit of funding for a lot of the projects you see around town. Most of them my opponent was not involved in. So I do feel like our relationship with the state is great.

We also need, not only with the state, we need to have positive relationships with our local non-profits, our local businesses. And that's going to help us advance the things that we need to get done in our community to make our community where we want to live and thrive, not with people that have done things in the past that are leading us to where we are today for why we have to spend the money we have to do the projects done.

[Moderator] (2:04:56 - 2:04:58)
Mr. Wells, the time is yours. You have 30 seconds.

[Curtis Wells] (2:04:58 - 2:05:32)
Yeah, so to clarify, I mean, I brought in a lot of CIB money, again, as a councilman, as CIB chairman. We funded a few projects with the UDOT Hotspot funding that's being used all downtown. That was my effort.

The city opposed me at the time and I still went and got the funding. Once a month, I had a cabinet meeting with the governor's chief of staff, the head of the DNR, the head of long-term planning and budget, the chief advisors to the governor. I will remain in that position as mayor.

You've not had a mayor in a sitting governor's cabinet. You will have that with Chris Wells.

[Moderator] (2:05:35 - 2:06:01)
Before we begin this second round, I would like to ask both of you to bring your microphones a little bit closer. I've been reported that in the back, they are not able to hear you quite as well. Thank you.

Ms. Langanese, this question is for you. You have two minutes to respond. How will residents know whether you've advanced, excuse me, how will residents know whether you're advancing MOEB's interests versus special interests or self-interests?

[Joette Langianese] (2:06:03 - 2:07:24)
That's easy. I don't have any special interests. I don't have any conflict of interest.

My job is to make sure that what I do know, what I do bring forward to the community is that I care for this community. I've got a background in healthcare and aging. That is something that I really think is important, that we make take care of everybody, including our aging population, our immigrant population, our workers.

You know, I don't have any special interests. And I think everybody in this room knows that. I'm here for the community.

I'm here about the community. I've dedicated all my time here to the city and to the county for that matter. I started the MOEB Area Partnership for Seniors, which is a development that includes our hospital, includes our long-term care facility, includes the Grant Center and senior housing.

And we're getting ready to move forward with a senior housing plan for that property. That's something that I've done. I've worked on the UMTRA project for 20 years.

I've done this work for a long, long time. And I think everybody here knows that I'm here for this community. I'm not here for anybody else.

I'm not here to try to get a bigger position upstate at some point. I'm here to stay here and I'm going to be here and I'm going to take care of this community like you guys have seen me do over the last four years. Thank you.

[Moderator] (2:07:25 - 2:07:29)
Thank you. Mr. Wells, you have one minute.

[Curtis Wells] (2:07:29 - 2:08:27)
Yeah, thank you. My opponent just went and listed off prior stating that she didn't have special interest all the special projects. So UMTRA site, pursuing a federal lobbyist to improve UMTRA, run water and sewer under the Colorado River, that's not environmentalism.

Number two, with the plan to annex UMTRA for a city interest, that's a definition of a special interest in a special project. I don't think that's doing anything for the streets that are falling apart. I don't think that's doing anything for the citizens and the facilities that are unhappy.

I don't think that's doing anything for the working class people of Moab. We need somebody that understands the economy. Being a business person does not mean you're conflicted.

I've been in business and I've had a seat at the table in public office for 10 years. I've never had a problem. I've never been accused of it.

I've never had a problem and I never will because that's not why I'm in government. I'm running for mayor because I am concerned about my city. I'm a frustrated resident and I'm here to do something about it.

Thank you.

[Moderator] (2:08:28 - 2:08:33)
Thank you. Ms. Langanese, the time is yours. You have 30 seconds.

[Joette Langianese] (2:08:34 - 2:09:09)
Well, in regards to the UMTRA project, that is not a special interest. That is an environmental hazard on the Colorado River that needed to be removed because if we didn't have, it was polluting the river. It wasn't just about Moab.

It was about 40 million water users in Southern California. So to use the UMTRA site as a special interest, I don't even understand how you could even say something like that. But anyway, I worked hard.

I brought in over $250 million for that, which has been a huge economic Thank you. for our community.

[Moderator] (2:09:13 - 2:09:26)
Great. Our next question goes to Mr. Wells. You have two minutes to respond.

What specific strategies would you pursue to grow the Moab economy and make sure the Moab economy works for all residents?

[Curtis Wells] (2:09:27 - 2:11:14)
Well, Moab's businesses aren't being supported. Revenue is down. And what the city has done is they have increased costs and increased taxes while revenue is down.

If you look at any trend in government, national, state, or local, increasing taxes while revenue is going down is suicide. The businesses are hurting. Go talk to them.

And so you have to understand that our taxing policies are as if City Hall is in a bubble and they have no idea what it's like for the people that are creating the value that we're taxing. There's a huge disconnect there. It's important to understand that.

So the taxing policies have to reflect what the businesses can afford. That trickles down to the working class. That affects everyone.

If the businesses go, the city goes. The city can't just pass the buck onto the people and the businesses because they want more projects and they want to do more things and they want to focus on going and improving UMTRA, even though it's not in the city. They need to focus on what's here, Main Street, the businesses.

We have to support tourism. We cannot shoot ourselves in the foot. We are a tourism economy.

We are going to be a tourism economy. As mayor, I understand the tourism economy. I participate in the tourism economy.

We have to make projects easier to approve. There's been a lot of discussion about the city everything's going well. Talk to a business person that's trying to get something done in the city that has to go pull a permit, that has to get through their engineer and planning department.

It's a nightmare. Nobody's having a good experience with the city. I'm sorry that sounds negative, but this is the reality.

This is what's at stake here. The city government's got to work for the people and having a disconnect from the businesses is it's not going to get us anywhere. We're moving backwards fast and we're going to go broke.

Thank you.

[Moderator] (2:11:15 - 2:11:17)
Thank you. Ms. Laganese, you have one minute.

[Joette Langianese] (2:11:17 - 2:11:19)
Please repeat the question.

[Moderator] (2:11:19 - 2:11:27)
Sure. What specific strategies would you pursue to grow the Moab economy and make sure the Moab economy works for all residents?

[Joette Langianese] (2:11:28 - 2:12:23)
Well, I think we're doing that by improving our infrastructure. I think in order for us to have in order for us to improve our economy, we need to make sure that the infrastructure is there to support it. One of the things that I think is really important also beside that is making sure that we have a solid healthcare system in place.

Without a good healthcare system, we have no good economy. We need to make sure that, like I said, the infrastructure is good. We need to support our local schools and our educational institutions.

We need to make that sure that our community development projects support our residents and our businesses first. And I believe we've done that. I believe that our budgets show that.

And I just feel as though what my opponent is saying is just not accurate. I don't know that... I haven't never really seen you at a city council meeting to know that you would actually know what is happening at City Hall.

[Moderator] (2:12:25 - 2:12:29)
Thank you. Mr. Wells, the time is yours. You have 30 seconds to respond.

[Curtis Wells] (2:12:30 - 2:13:04)
Well, city council meetings are available online. You haven't had... You've canceled a few meetings, but despite all the issues and all the things that need to get done, you haven't been able to fill up an agenda with stuff to do.

We should talk about housing. We talk a lot about needing housing, but we don't... The city doesn't like to approve housing.

The city's struggling getting housing projects done. People need somewhere to live if they are to work here. So I'm very well acquainted with the city.

And I think I understand how the city can support the economy very well. Thank you.

[Moderator] (2:13:10 - 2:13:22)
Ms. Langanese, this question is for you. You have two minutes to respond. What opportunities do you see to streamline the city-managed permit and licensing process?

[Joette Langianese] (2:13:23 - 2:15:16)
You know, many residents and owners, and as my opponent has pointed out, have shared how hard it is, as it can be, to get licenses and permits. I remember hearing from a couple of residents small business owners who spent months navigating the process and just to open their shop and time and energy that they could have gone into to having their business open and ready to go. I think that it's important to understand also that we have to have regulations.

We have to have a process. I, as the mayor, I will continue to make sure that no one has to face the kind of frustrations that my opponent has mentioned. We're doing a lot.

We're modernizing our system. We're allowing applications to be done online. We're using technology.

We're working very closely. I'm in city hall all the time. I hear what our staff is doing to try.

We don't like to say no. We like to say yes, but there is a process that you have to go through to get that done. One of the most important things we're working on right now with our planning staff is redoing our land use code and our zoning codes so that it will make the process more streamlined, that we can eliminate some of the duplications and some of the confusion.

Our land use code needs to be looked at. We're working on that right now with the planning commission, the planning staff, and I, as the mayor, will support that effort and hopefully we can get that done soon so that we can have our developments streamlined and that we can work for more, with get our attainable housing online faster. But I do need to say that we have, as I mentioned before, 800 units in the pipeline that are ready to go.

We're waiting for those developers to do their jobs. It hasn't, they haven't happened yet. And so as much as I'm hearing that it's so hard, how come we can't get those projects completed?

It's frustrating for us also.

[Moderator] (2:15:18 - 2:15:21)
Thank you. Mr. Wells, you have one minute.

[Curtis Wells] (2:15:21 - 2:16:26)
You bet. First off, local government goes down a rabbit hole of we need more permits and we need more compliance. For more fees to raise money, what it needs to do is get out of the way.

You can't have business people having to come down to city hall to get a permit for every little thing. Let business people get out and work and move and shake and so that they can make money and that's how you grow revenue. In terms of the approvals and the projects, I've heard this, we've approved 800 units, like we're doing these great things.

I mean, I've been personally involved as a real estate professional in helping originate pre-annexation agreements to get multifamily housing approved. I know some of the units that were annexed in on or up zoned on Cane Creek, but when you talk to the developers, nobody walks away from the process going, engineering was great, planning was great. They got us through quick.

It's very slow. It's very painful. They don't understand what developers are dealing with and development happens as the market goes.

If you haven't paid attention, the housing market's been dead for about three or four years.

[Moderator] (2:16:26 - 2:16:34)
Thank you. Ms. Langanese, the time is yours. You have 30 seconds to respond.

[Joette Langianese] (2:16:36 - 2:17:10)
Part of the reason that we have these processes is so that we can hold the developers to make sure that they're doing what they need to do and that their projects are in compliance with our ordinances. I know that's frustrating for our developers, but that's part of the process and it does take time, but the oversight is extremely important so that we don't have some of the issues that we're seeing in downtown and Moab right now with some of the housing that is a problem. Thank you.

Because of how it was managed in the past.

[Moderator] (2:17:14 - 2:17:22)
Our next question is for Mr. Wells. You have two minutes to respond. What are your plans for improving Moab's infrastructure?

[Curtis Wells] (2:17:24 - 2:19:22)
So one of the things that I think is real is I can enhance access to these resources that go into infrastructure. And so I think I'm really anxious to have a very thorough review of the infrastructure planning because what I'm seeing is overspending on segments of infrastructure. Cane Creek Boulevard had $2 million in landscaping and the city just paid, frankly, double to replace sidewalks.

I think it was earlier this week. And so we have to eliminate waste and that money can go a lot further. And so number one, it's being smarter with the money.

You know, that's not fair to the people that still have the sewer from pipes from the 50s and 60s. That somebody's getting, you know, really over the top landscaping that's gonna be washed out after the next monsoon rain. And so we really have to make sure that we're deploying the resources that we currently have access to well.

And it's a fact that that's not being done well. Number one. Number two, bringing in more resources for infrastructure.

That's through the CIB. That's through UDOT. Putting plans together to go after that money.

The $10 million UDOT grant was pursued because it was discovered at the local level that we applied and we put together a really great effort that I led to go force our way into that conversation. We weren't supposed to receive any of that money. And we received $10 million, which today is the largest state grant that we've received in Moab because we were proactive and we were hungry and we went and got it.

And so that's something that you absolutely will get with me. I am very confident. I'm a one-term guy.

And in one term, I promise you, we will bring in a significant amount of state resources for infrastructure. And I would say that identifying the infrastructure that is the highest priority is important because the city's not displaying that right now. And it's not even close.

[Moderator] (2:19:23 - 2:19:28)
Thank you. Ms. Laganese, you have one minute to respond.

[Joette Langianese] (2:19:29 - 2:20:19)
You can go online and look at our capital improvement project list where every year we evaluate the list and add to it as we need to based on what our needs are in the community. So I encourage you to do that. I encourage all of you to do that.

We have $70 million of deferred maintenance from the last 30 years. We've got a lot of work to do and a lot of money to raise. Under my leadership as mayor, I brought in over $40 million in grants.

Some of them that were from CIB. Some of them are from the state. Some of them were from the federal government.

We're doing well. And with the grants and with our capital improvement projects, we prioritize them every year. We change them if we need to.

And we have brought the money in to make sure that they get done.

[Moderator] (2:20:20 - 2:20:22)
Thank you. Mr. Wells, you have 30 seconds.

[Curtis Wells] (2:20:23 - 2:20:59)
I think we have a difference of opinion on your record and the grants being related there. There's a lot of over-exaggeration with some of the federal appropriations that you take credit for, like UMTRA, but that's fine. If the capital improvements project list is being followed, it's not a very good list.

Because if you're a city resident and you're engaged right now in what's going on, there is not a lot of satisfaction with where the money is being deployed and how it's being deployed. And I just want to circle back to the city being so difficult to deal with that it's costing us more in bids.

[Moderator] (2:20:59 - 2:21:00)
Thank you.

[Moderator] (2:21:04 - 2:21:23)
Ms. Langanese, this question is yours. You have two minutes to respond. Parks, trails, plazas, and public spaces can contribute to the quality of life and draw visitors.

How would you expand or improve public spaces in ways that benefit both residents and local businesses?

[Joette Langianese] (2:21:23 - 2:23:17)
I think we've done a really good job at that. As was mentioned earlier by council members and candidates, the new playground at the park is fantastic. It's used every day.

It was well needed. That park there at Suwannee was old. The slide was 110 degrees when you wanted to use the slide.

That's great. The swimming pool, we need to upgrade the swimming pool. It's a great asset for both visitors and for our community.

I think it's important to understand that community development is economic development. And we want to make sure that we provide safe and enjoyable places for everybody to come and enjoy. We just help support with the county commission pickleball courts out at Osta, even though they're not in the city.

So recreation and amenities in our public spaces are very, very important to us. I think that we have a robust community where everybody wants to live and they feel like they belong here and they're proud. Then our businesses are going to follow.

It's going to entice people to want to come here and work and live and start a business here. So I believe the city's done an excellent job with our public spaces. We're getting ready to begin the design with a lot of community engagement because we do involve the community in everything we do.

We do not do it in a bubble. And you're going to see it coming right up. We have a great opportunity for us to upgrade that ballpark and put nets in, put new bathrooms in, put new seating in.

That's one of the things that we're going to be doing. We also, as we heard before, going to be looking at the state park. We're going to be looking at modifying all of our bathrooms to make sure they're accessible.

We've got a lot of work to do and our public spaces are awesome. And I'm very proud of what we've done and what we plan to do.

[Moderator] (2:23:17 - 2:23:21)
Thank you. Mr. Wells, you have one minute.

[Curtis Wells] (2:23:21 - 2:24:24)
Thank you. And, you know, again, you're going to continue to hear we're spending a lot of money. We're doing a lot of things.

But one thing that's very consistent is the operations and the maintenance is very poor. And I think that's a focus of mine that my opponent and the city council hasn't really been willing to dig into is scrutinize operation and maintenance and make sure that the level of service and things are clean is up to par with how you're being taxed. There's a lot of room for improvement there.

I think we can really improve the recreation programs. You know, I have three little kids. We're in sports.

You know, I'm an intramural basketball guy, big sports guy. I've spent a lot of time between a little kid and now playing basketball, playing flag football. You know, I went to college.

I've traveled. I've lived in cities. I have a really good idea of where the level of service of the facilities and the cleanliness and the responsiveness of the programs.

And we've got a lot of room for improvement. I'm willing to do the tough job and have the uncomfortable conversations to make sure the bar is raised.

[Moderator] (2:24:24 - 2:24:29)
Thank you. Ms. Langanese, the time is yours. You have 30 seconds to respond.

[Joette Langianese] (2:24:30 - 2:24:50)
Yes. Part of the reason that we're having some of these maintenance issues and deferred problems is because previous councils didn't have the capacity or were not able to do that. I feel like we have the opportunity to do that.

We're going to take the opportunity to do that and we will do that.

[Moderator] (2:24:52 - 2:24:53)
Thank you.

[Moderator] (2:24:55 - 2:25:03)
That completes our question and answer portion of the debate. We will now provide each candidate with one minute for closing comments. Ms. Langanese, we will start with you.

[Joette Langianese] (2:25:04 - 2:26:07)
Thank you. As you've heard tonight, very obviously, there's some clear contrast between me and my opponent. I bring the proven track record.

I have created positive change over the past four years. I have rebuilt the city and the staffing levels there. I've adopted the fiscally responsible budgets working with the city council and the city manager.

I've been investing in critical infrastructure, upgrades and strengthening our community assets. I have no conflict of interest. My goal is to ensure that our residents and our businesses remain my top priority.

This campaign is not about me. It's about all of us. It's about making sure we have a strong foundation for the next generation.

I love this community and I've shown my dedication over the years. Tonight, I'm asking you to stand with me. Let's keep this momentum going.

Let's not change. Let's build on the progress we've made and let's make sure that we shape our future together. Thank you so much for your trust.

[Moderator] (2:26:08 - 2:26:08)
Mr. Wells?

[Curtis Wells] (2:26:09 - 2:27:13)
I agree that there's a contrast between my opponent and I. My opponent likes to celebrate herself for stabilizing the city after the previous administration. And while I do commend my opponent for that and I respect my opponent's career in public service, my track record speaks for itself and putting out a dumpster fire is great, but that's not good enough.

We got to go to the next level. I'm not the person here sitting reading off a script to my closing speech. I know exactly what needs to be done and that's why I'm here to do this.

I'm not doing this for myself. This is an ugly, ugly business in politics and Moab is tough, but I'm ready to go. So if you elect me, I can promise you change and I can promise you, unlike my opponent, after four years, you're not going to hear me say we're doing pretty good, but we have more work to do.

I'm going to get it done. I am not the status quo person. I see this very clearly and I'll look forward to seeing you in January when I'm sworn in.

Thank you.

[Moderator] (2:27:13 - 2:27:14)
Thank you.

[Moderator] (2:27:18 - 2:27:29)
We'd like to thank the candidates. We would also like to welcome our Chamber Director, Cora Phillips, with closing comments.

[Moderator] (2:27:39 - 2:27:41)
Yes, please, please.

[Cora Philips, Chamber of Commerce] (2:27:42 - 2:29:11)
After you. Now we can all take a breath. At least I can.

So on behalf of the Moab Chamber of Commerce, thank you again to our candidates for stepping up to serve our community by entering the race for city council and mayor. We deeply appreciate your commitment to public service and your willingness to engage with local businesses, with our local business community during this important election season. Thank you also to our chamber board members who helped this event run smoothly.

Thank you. We will have a candidate meet and greet on October 9th. So that's next Thursday from noon to one at the Element in Moab.

So we hope you can join us and get your additional questions answered. You can RSVP on our website, moabchamber.com under the events tab. And then let's give another warm round of applause to all of our candidates.

Have a lovely evening.