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Your ballot should have been delivered to your mailbox. If you did not receive your ballot, or if someone else’s ballot was mailed to your address, please contact the Davis County Elections office or vote.utah.gov. General elections will take place this month on Tuesday, November 21st. In addition to the Congressional Election for CD2, there are contested City Council elections in Bountiful, Farmington, & Kaysville (Centerville has only 3 candidates)
Thanks to the 60+ citizens who joined our Oct 6th town hall in Centerville to hear congressional candidate Celeste Maloy. They had great questions and thoughtful comments. I came away even more convinced that future Congresswoman Maloy is a problem solver who will do a great job representing Utahns.
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Early in my career, in 1999, I lived and worked in Israel building a digital mobile phone network. While I was there, I made close friends with my Israeli co-workers as well as both my Israeli Arabs and Palestinians neighbors. I frequently had the opportunity to travel in the West Bank (not something you can do now). The vast majority of both Israeli, Arab, and Palestinians I interacted with just wanted a peaceful safe place to raise their families. However, I also came to understand more about the deep hatred and traditional beliefs that some use to justify unspeakable acts of violence against others. It is saddening to see the horrifying loss of innocent life as a result of the unconscionable terrorist attacks by Hamas fighters against civilians. I mourn for the loss of so many innocent lives of both Israeli and Palestinians.
I still work professionally with both Jewish and Palestinian Americans. I pray for peace and the restoration of the rule of law. I don’t believe peace will be possible until Hamas is removed, and a different leadership can take hold that will protect and value the lives of both Palestinian and Israeli civilians. I feel a kinship with the Israeli people and I want to express my support for our Israeli brothers and sister. I am proud to say that Utah stands with Israel. We must fiercely oppose terrorism, vigorously support freedom, and always love peace.
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During this past month’s interim meetings, my colleagues and I were able to learn more about the needs of our state so we can better prepare our legislation for the upcoming general session. Click here to read the highlights. As part of the Interim Session, the “road rage” bill that I have been working on with my colleagues Sen Todd Weiler, and Rep Candice Pierucci, had a hearing. Working closely with law enforcement we are proposing increased penalties for road rage and aggressive driving. Our goal is to make our streets safer for everyone. This bill continues to get a lot of attention from the media.
Next month’s interim meetings will take place on November 14th and 15th. You can participate in person or online at le.utah.gov.
Utah has a proud history as the crossroads of the West, dating all the way back to the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad in 1869. To commemorate the famous driving of the golden spike and mark this momentous piece of our state history, a 43 foot monument has arrived in Utah and will be on display at the Capitol before its permanent installation in Box Elder County in May. Learn more here.
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Sometimes we don’t like to think about the reality of homelessness in Davis County, including teens in school that don’t have a safe reliable place to sleep every night. Thankfully, there are good people working hard to help these kids. It was a privilege to join Davis School District for the groundbreaking near Layton High for the Bergman Teen Living Center, Davis County’s first residential center for students experiencing crisis and homelessness. The center will be an incredible resource to help keep kids in need in school. Designed to prevent the cycle of homelessness before it starts by giving a “hand up” to students who need it most, it will be operated by SwitchPoint, an organization who operates the St. George homeless center as well as small businesses. Teens staying at the center will be expected to learn responsibility by working in micro-enterprises such as a drink/coffee shop.
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In my opinion, one of the most important jobs the legislature has is to plan for the future. Good planning requires good research and reliable data. Thanks to GSL Commissioner Brian Steed and the researchers at USU for the October release of the annual Utah Land Water, & Air report. It contains lots of really interesting data and good research to help us plan for the future of the GSL and growth throughout Utah. The full report is available online at ilwa.usu.edu. Fox13 did a nice video segment on the report here (including a short interview with your representative).
Thanks to Utah State University, Davis County Commission, and Kaysville City, Utah for the new Davis County Agricultural Heritage building at the Utah State Botanical Garden in Kaysville. It was nice to join local officials and our 4-H friends for the ribbon cutting of this great facility.
Congratulations to the Utah Marriage Commission on a silver anniversary (25yrs). I appreciated the opportunity to hear from former First Lady Jackie and Gov. Mike Leavitt on why support for marriage is good public policy. Thanks to the Governor’s office and Rep. Melissa Ballard for putting together a nice commemoration. I learned that more than 100,000 individuals have accessed the great resources at strongermarriage.org
Have you ever wondered what the Inland Port Authority is, why we need one, and what the controversy around the Inland Port is about? Then I recommend the latest episode of our House podcast, where Executive Director Ben Hart joins us to discuss their on-going projects and the long-term economic development plans for the state. Listen here.
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