Meet the Candidates Night

On Tuesday, October 11th you have the opportunity to meet the candidates running for City Council positions that you will be deciding next month.  Candidates for District 4, Jim Pettersson and Kay Van Buren, which is our council district, and for the City-wide positions, Gary Garrett and Yancee Hardy, will be at Lakeview Elementary School beginning at 6 PM.

Stop in after you celebrate the opening of the Lakeview Park (see the earlier post).

Open City Council Seat

Mr. Steven Turley resigned his seat as the City-Wide District II Council Member on September 27, 2011.

Any registered voter whose principle residence is within the City of Provo and is interested in being appointed to fill this vacancy through January 3, 2012 may submit their name and a letter of intent for consideration by the Municipal Council to Matthew Taylor, Municipal Council Executive Director at:

Mail: P.O. Box 1849, Provo, UT 84603;

Email: mtaylor@provo.utah.gov; or

Fax: (801) 852-6121

Letters of intent submitted later than October 27, 2011 will not be considered by the Municipal Council.

The Municipal Council will hold an initial public meeting on November 1, 2011 to select two applicants for final consideration. The Council will then hold a public meeting on November 15, 2011 to consider the final two candidates and select one to fill this vacancy through January 3, 2011. Both meetings will be held at 7:00 p.m. in the Municipal Council Chambers, 351 West Center Street, Provo.

Your Views Wanted Regarding School Fundraising

Kristine Manwaring, our representative on the District School Board reports the following:

The School Board is trying to pass a fundraising donation policy.  Our current draft is posted on the website. It is a great policy that puts into place protections for students - like not being required to fundraise, not having quotas, and not tying fundraising to participation and playing time. 

We have one last sticky issue - what to do with fundraising by outside booster groups.  These groups are usually run by parents, not employees and they are not usually legal entities with tax-exempt status or public reporting responsibilities.  They raise money to support school programs like sports teams and musical groups (marching band, choir, etc.)  I would like input and feedback about how the community sees this issue.

The question is what happens to the money these groups raise when they use students (to sell things like coupon books), school property (for banquets, selling fireworks, etc), the school name ("we are raising money on behalf of Provo High school or Timpview" and the name of the school is clearly printed on their materials), and school staff (when coaches, teachers and directors help organize the fundraiser and raise and handle money.)

We have policy language for basically three options.   Please let me know which you prefer:

1.  Any fundraising efforts  that use students, school property, school employees and/or the school name should be approved by the principal and the money should be deposited in a school bank account earmarked for that purpose.  The money should be handled according to district financial procedures and any parent or community member involved in the fundraising should be able to find out how much money was raised and what it was used for.

2.  These groups should have more freedom.  They should let the principal know what they are doing, but don't need to get permission.  They should be able to keep the money in their own bank accounts.   In exchange, they should be required to report to the school to show how much money has been raised, what it was spent on, who has access to the bank accounts.  (I guess they would need to show their bank statements.)

3.  These groups are completely independent.  They should be able to do anything they want with the money they raise - even if students and paid employees help them raise it and they claim to be raising money on behalf of students.  As long as they rent the school facility, any money they raise is theirs to control.  They do not need to provide any accounting to the public or the students for money they raise.   They should be able to raise as much money as they want for whatever they want.  The school can always turn down their donations.

The policy draft posted on the website is a version of option #2.  However, there are board members/staff who would rather have option #1 and others who would rather have option #3.  The dilemma is that some people claim that the more oversight that is required, the less money these groups will raise.  On the other hand, think about what you expect when you donate your money to students and your expectations for how that money will be accounted for and used.

Please let me know what you think.

Kristine Manwaring

Provo School Board

You can contact Kristine Manwaring at this email address:  kristine.manwaring@gmail.com

Celebrate a new Park

There will be a ribbon cutting ceremony to mark the opening of the Lakeview Park, located at 2825 W 1390  N.  The celebration will be held on Tuesday, October 11th at 4 PM. Refreshments will be served.

Downtown Developments

The exciting news about what will become of the fire-damaged Tabernacle is well known by now. You may also be aware that NuSkin has announced that it will build a second tower nearby.
Tonight the City Council will be hearing a request to remove the George Taylor Jr. home from the Historic Landmarks Registry so that it can be demolished and the land used to construct a low income housing project. This may affect the ways that the downtown area changes.
The public meeting by the Landmarks Commission is today. I apologize that I have given no advance notice but I have only just become aware of this.
You may also want to attend the City Council meeting this evening, where public input will be heard. It will provide you with more information about the project and what it will look like.

IProvo Decision

After a public hearing on September 20, the Provo Municipal Council voted on a method for charging all electric utility customers for the bond payments associated with the city's fiber optic network, also known as iProvo. The method selected is a combination of flat rates and percentages. All residential customers will be charged a flat rate of $5.35 per meter. Commercial customers will be charged a flat rate of $10 and an additional 2.3% of the electric portion of their utility bills. The charge will appear as a separate line item on utility bills labeled "Telecom Debt Charge" and will begin November 1. For more information, residents may visit www.provo.org or call 801-852-6000.

The COP on the Beat

The Provo City Police Department is beginning to operate what they call Community Oriented Policing (COP). The City is divided into three districts and each district has a Lieutenant and two Sergeants assigned to it.  The patrol officers are also assigned to a specific district so that they become very familiar with the community in which they serve.  In emergencies or when needed, they can assist in other districts but their primary concerns ill always be centered in their own districts. Even the school resource officers will serve under the command of the officers for the district where the school is located. 
The Grandview South Neighborhood is in the First District, which on the west side includes everything north of the Provo River, also all that is north of Bulldog Blvd and BYU. The rest of Provo is divided east and west  into the other two districts. 
One of the goals of this policing practice is to reduce crime by encouraging community members and police officers to work together. Don't be surprised to see them drop in at community events or local businesses.
Next time you see a police officer in your neighborhood, wave and get to know them. They want to know you and the needs of our community.