12/31/08 by the way, I work at Nu Skin Enterprises for the last 8 years. I am currently managing a business analyst group that works with PLM product lifecycle management.

01/08/08 I was asked by Mayor Billings to be on the Provo Parks and Recreation Board.

11/08/07 Well that was all a lot of fun. I made a lukewarm entry into the City Council race this year because several people asked me to. I neither had the time nor the resources to make a serious challenge this year but as was the plan, will reenter at a point when I can dedicate more time and effort to the City.

Right now I stay busy as President of the non-profit UC Strikers Soccer Club: www.ucstrikers.com and chairing the UYSA district board of directors www.uysadistrict5.com and sitting on the UYSA board of directors www.uysa.org

I'm also really enjoying watching Jens and Christian dance for Provo High School Ballroom teams.

_______________________________________________

on Sept. 11th and Nov. 6th 

...On Filing to Run for Provo City Council

Why:

• I have 3 young sons who have all played soccer for 8, 10, and 12 years now and because they are involved, I'm involved. I've served in the soccer community on state and local boards of directors for over 5 years simply because I thought I should take a turn to help causes bigger than I am.
• A prominent person, whom I greatly admire, once said to a leadership group: "government needs good, interested people to take a turn and be involved." Well, I try hard to be good, and anyone who knows me knows I cannot say no to becoming involved in something good when asked. So because my kids are a part of Provo and having been asked to run by many Provo citizens, it tells me that it's time for me to try to take a turn at helping out with the city I've grown up in, gone to school in, and raised my family in.

Platform: If I were to have a platform, it would be structured around conservancy. 

• Ensure Provo does not spend frivolously, trivially, or blindly nor outside the public long-term interest.
• I will strive to preserve Provo as a place for permenant residents while servicing and providing for the transient population that is so prevalent.
• I want Provo to do better at preserving, maintaining, and using open spaces [green space] for our increasingly crowded city.
• I would like to continue to foster an educated city with high tech and entrepeneurial industry allowing us to keep the best and brightest Provo students working and raising their families here in Provo.
• I want my sons to play here, be educated here, work and raise their future families here - so I want to help keep this a great city for them while they're still young.

On My Own: Although I am very motivated against personal, private, & special interests on the council and in government generally - you won't find me joining in on any sides for or against any candidate during this campaign season and I clearly distance myself from any discussion pertaining to such.

I am running on and for my own platform, not against that of others. An active, concerned, registered voter citizen will do proper research on candidates whether incumbent, or newcomer and come to their own conclusions on character, ability, history, etc. and will make the right choice for Provo's next 4 years.

About me and my family: I consider myself to be a 'son of Provo' having attended Measer Elementary, Farrer Jr. High, Timpview High, BYU and countless Cougar soccer, football, and basketball games. I have been married to Wendi Harrison of Boise for 19 years and have 3 sons Jens 16, Christian 14, and Ty 12.

I work in Provo at Nu Skin Enterprises and previously with Novell. When not at work I serve in my church, in local party politics, I coach soccer and serve on state, county, and club soccer boards of directors and sometimes find time to be at home to read a book or two, play a little golf or tennis.

Qualifications: In my career as a Business Analyst it is my job to find out what people want, find the best process to make that happen, gain consensus, capture clear requirements, and shepherd stakeholder needs through project management to completion and on-going support.

I see my abilities in bringing disparate groups together to form a clear idea, creating buy-in, and marching orders as tools that will be a benefit to the public and the city council and Mayor.

Having worked on and presided over several boards of directors I understand the process of teamwork in government. I understand and have successfully mitigated special interests and conflicts of interest very well. I have experience in creating successful outcomes where none was expected going in. I have experience in managing budgets, income, & expenditures and keeping them well balanced on a large scale.

Along with the concerned residents of Southeast & Southwest Provo I am ready to work to make Provo the best it can possibly be.

--Brian J. Smith

 _______________________________________________

August 23rd 2007

Dear City Council Candidate,

To better inform our neighborhood about your, and your fellow candidates' platforms, we have the compiled the following questions concerning the future of Provo and our neighborhoods. Please answer the questions as soon as possible, and send the answers to marlenescoville@gmail.com. We will post the answers on our neighborhood website (http://timpneighborhood.wordpress.com) as soon as we receive your replies.

Thank you for your participation and good luck!

Sincerely,

Marlene Scoville
Timp Neighborhood Co-Chair

______________________________________________________
Marlene,
Thank you for this opportunity to share a little about myself and views on some key issues in Provo.

Questions:

Tell me your practical ideas about Provo's Future--how should she grow and why. What is your role as a Council Member in that process?
Legally, who has the burden of persuasion in a Rezoning?
Provo's position in a small mountain valley does not allow it to sprawl as a larger metropolis might want to do. Our finite land means that we have a finite amount of development that can happen and still maintain healthy green space and open space which keeps Provo the beautiful place that it currently is. We need to grow smartly and not worry about becoming a city of 200,000 but rather, the BEST CITY in the nation of 150,000.
As a council member, my job will be to support the majority interest of my District 3 constituency while conserving as much of Provo as possible both in green space as well as keeping neighborhoods from blight and neglect.
I am no lawyer, but in my eyes as a councilmember I would place the burden of persuasion in rezoning squarely on the shoulders of the developers and special interest groups. No neighborhood should have to stand in fear while their limited access roads become overburdened and their neighborhoods endangered by big development.

How do you see Provo's Downtown neighborhoods? By what process do you see them becoming stronger and why? What is your role as a Council Member in this process?
Provo's downtown neighborhoods are the center of it all. As the south central neighborhoods go, so goes Provo. If we leave it to blight, renter neglect, and poor zoning enforcement we encourage the gradual downgrade of property values and eventual vacancy and/or high crime areas. We discourage intelligent business and our educated sons and daughters move away from Provo to live in beautified areas.
Through programs such as Neighborhood Housing Services, Community Development Block Grants, Special Improvement Districts and others we curb the downgrade of our central Provo blocks. A prime example being the new homes around Measer Elementary, and on 5th west and 4th or 5th south I believe.
As a council member I will ensure that the south Provo areas are well represented, cared for, and fought for when it comes to moneys. Not only the east bench or the Grandview and north west areas of Provo are worthy of beautification but all of Provo. Especially our legacy districts in central and south central Provo.

Do you have land holdings in Provo?  Do you represent others who have land holdings in Provo?  Where are these properties?
I own a modest home in south west Provo with a grandfathered residential/agricultural zone on .25 acres and not sidewalk or curb & gutter. As a Business Analyst for Nu Skin I work a corporate job and have no interests, holdings, nor aspirations for land, development, or any other type of holdings in Provo or elsewhere. Nor do I represent any at all.

How do you see Provo's neighborhoods in general?
This is a broad question. But one that is easy for me to answer with a fair amount of accuracy having lived in Provo for over 28 years since I was 12 yrs. old attending Measer Elementary. I've witnessed the neighborhoods in Provo, generally,  thriving, bustling, and ever changing. With charter schools being built where parks once were, beautiful homes going in where school playgrounds once stood, some smart development going in where needed, responsible homeowners swapping homes with student populations, our neighborhoods are healthy. We have great neighborhood chairs. Great Community Oriented Policing programs held in place by concerned citizens and an involved police force.
That does not mean that they do not need careful management in order to keep them that way and take a step further in the direction of beautification and upkeep. I love to see a new homeowner take pride in their older home by fixing it up inside and out. I love to see the young renter students strolling the central city with their young kids feeling safe and secure as they do. It's all a sign of a healthy community and I'm going to do my best to keep it that way and make it even better!

How do you see Provo's Downtown Business District? Describe how and by what process you see it becoming more vibrant....and your role as a Council Member in that.....
I recall, as a youth, riding in a horse drawn carriage and at times, a double decker bus, down a snow-drifted Center Street taking in all the amazing Christmas lights, businesses with people running in and out of them, carolers out in front of what used to be Walgreens. I remember watching movies on center street and also in the University Avenue theater. I remember going into the Kress store and seeing all the amazing antique cars there as I waited in line for a sucker.
My more than fond memories of Provo's Downtown Business District would never allow me to give up on it in and give in to big box stores and high overhead mall properties. I will work with all viable business owners with a vision for success to succeed in downtown. I agree with the new method of feathering out the Business Alliance dues as you move away from university and center street businesses are not overburdened. But I do believe in what the downtown business alliance is doing in subsidizing new facades for businesses, beautifying downtown Provo with planters, light posts and signposts, and artwork.
As I look out my window from the Nu Skin building every day and see Center Street, I want my 3 sons to continue having the same great memories of downtown Provo as I had when I was their age. 

There are two major roles of a Council Member in our form of government---Budget and Landuse. How do you tie those two roles to your hopes and goals for Provo?
I am a fiscal conservative. I believe in not spending money one does not have. I believe in having a healthy rainy-day fund. I believe money should be appropriated and spent in wise investment that has clear and quantifiable return on investment. Budgeting should not grow automatically every year. But is should grow enough to pay city employees what they're worth. I DO NOT subscribe to the "we've got it, so let's hurry and spend it on something" theory which allows budgets to outgrow actual many sometimes. I will vote to appropriate funds, and spend moneys on things that I have been convinced without a doubt will lead to a more vibrant, educated, stable, safe, and viable Provo City now and 50 years from now.
Where land use is concerned, it is a difficult task ahead of me. With developers constantly looking to get their development in on that last parcel of land in the north, central, or southwest of Provo it demands that a careful council, attentive to their neighborhoods needs, makes good decisions based on community interests NOT ON SPECIAL INTERESTS! While we support necessary development which supports a growing economic tax base from continued business growth in Provo, we must be primarily concerned with existing neighborhoods, infrastructure, and quality of life before and after the development. Do it if necessary, but do it smartly, and for the right reasons.

What things would you like to see happen in Provo and why?
I want our young people to stay in Provo to be educated, to work, and to raise their families. People who have ties to, and history in Provo are people who will work harder to make it the best city in Utah in which to live, work, & play.
This means inviting scrupulous business with an ability and desire to employ well educated people and pay them market value wages.
More than anything, what I would like to see happen in Provo, is for my boys to have the great experience I've had growing up here, and for my grandchildren (in a few years) all live right here in Provo because we've made it a place they'll want to stay.

A City with our form of Government has a pragmatic reality. It is that almost nothing can happen or move forward with out at least 4 votes of the Council. Your ability to earn and deserve the trust of your colleagues will greatly affect your ability to be effective. How have you done this, or how do you plan to do this.  How and why do you see your ability to garner 4 votes for the things you'd like to see happen
in our City.
By trade, as a Business Analyst, I work with people who don't always see the same way to achieve something. It is my job to help bring consensus; sometimes among disparate groups. It is my job to help business entities understand the complete picture from the ground all the way up to the 20,000 foot view. And then create a level of buy in where business entities are willing and able to get on board with a decision because they had a part in the decision making. I have, and have had, friends on the Provo Municipal Council and greatly look forward to making new friends with all the members once I'm working with them. I am not a contentious person, but neither am I one to be pushed, prodded, nor pulled on the mere 'say-so' of others. I stand by and for my principles and my constituents. Relationships are a key in everything I do. I look forward to forming relationships that make it easier to be heard out respectfully, without contention, ego, pride, or malice on either side.

I thank you again for putting these questions out there for me to answer. They are great food for thought for every concerned Provo citizen. Please give me a call if you have any further questions or clarifications I can work through with you.

Kind regards,
Brian Smith

briansmithprovo@gmail.com
375-7644