Thanks for your email and your interest in Orem City.
I new to politics. I do currently serve as a Republican County delegate, but was registered independent before that. Most my views are conservative, but I have opinions that cross are not always easy to label and assign to a specific party. I try to thoughtfully review any decision I am faced with.
I have had an interest in Orem City Council before, but signed on as a candidate just before the filing deadline. I am still preparing literature and trying to raise some funds to run an effective campaign. My web site is in progress and will be VoteVanCott.com. I have admired several former council members. Doug Forsythe was a good friend and I worked closely with him in our church young men and scouting organization. Stella Welsh (former mayor) helped our family solve some flooding issues when I was young and I saw the impact one involved person could have on a neighborhood
I am a resident of Orem since childhood, (I am 45). I am married to a lifelong Orem resident Katherine (Fehlberg) VanCott. We have 5 kids from high school age to toddler.
My roots are here. My grandfather was an Orem resident and professor at BYU in Botany and Zoology. My father taught at Vineyard Elementary for nearly 30 years until he retired 2 years ago. I have a vested interest in the future of Orem.
I do not have any agenda or special interest I am running on. I do have strong opinions though, and want to see more citizen input into the decisions facing Orem. Most of the votes the council makes now are 7 to zero. There often seems to be little debate or research into issues. I am not trying to be a dissenting voice, overall I think Orem has been run very well over the years, But am willing to work hard and study the issues so my vote is informed and rational. Most council issues currently come from a single complaint to the city. I would like to see the council take a more proactive approach to issues.
I am a fiscal conservative. There are many good places a city needs to spend money to benefit community citizens. However the city should avoid financial exposure and cost in areas that should be left to private enterprise. UTOPIA is one example I see as being a problem. The internet fiber optic product is fine, but Orem and 10 other cities are bonded for 33 years to an amount of $500,000,000 (YES FIVE HUNDRED MILLION). That is a lot of risk for a city to back a company who has many competitors in the private sector doing the same job without public money.
I am a real estate agent dealing with residential and commercial property. I have been involved in real estate for 20 years and know the private property and zoning issues that come before the council. I am a strong advocate of private property rights and understand the balance between preserving the past and planning for future growth. On most new development projects I side with common sense use that does not infringe on the property rights of good neighbors who own nearby property.
I also am an antique dealer and have been self employed my entire life. I know the hard work it takes to earn a living as an entrepreneur or small business owner.
I look forward to talking with you anytime. You may call me ANYTIME at 801-836-4795 with any questions or concerns. Thanks for the email.
John VanCott
801 836-4795
On Tue, Aug 30, 2011 at 11:43 PM, Bryan Kingsford <bkingsf@yahoo.com> wrote:
Thanks for your response. I've started doing my research on the candidates -- you're welcome to review this on my public wiki at: https://sites.google.com/site/bkingsf/elections/2011-city-of-orem-municipal-primary-candidates
My primary concern with government at any level is when it oversteps its proper bounds. The Utopia issue you mention concerns me along with Midtown Village and CEDO activities in general. I don't believe any level of government should compete with the private sector or grant incentives to one business over its competitors.
I'm concerned with conflicts of interest when it comes to having real estate people on the city council. I understand there have been issues with this in the past. How would you deal with that?
-Bryan
Please don't paint all real estate agents with a broad brush. Mary Street is on the council now as a commercial Realtor, she strongly favors UTOPIA. I have been against the municipal funding of fiber optic since 2001. I don't like city investment with UTOPIA or IPROVO. It is a private sector business. It should never have been city wide infrastructure paid for by tax dollars. The product itself is great for IT businesses. Some business owners locate only in cities that have the fiber optic networks, but the businesses should bear the risk and cost, not the city. The city should not assume risk the private sector will not. I have helped spearhead an education initiative by the Board of Realtors in Salt Lake and Utah County that should roll out in a few months, maybe sooner. UTOPIA has full liens on property in Brigham city that are very problematic for homeowners and were deceptively placed. Orem has a better handle on the contract and liens. I like Orem's approach better, but still would love to turn back the clock and not have the bonds we have for UTOPIA. I also would not have supported the parking garage bonding for Midtown Villiage even though the city is in a strong first position there. Again the risk should have been taken by the private sector or not at all.
As a Realtor I feel the experience of watching development and working with cities does qualify me for the council business. My opponents in the race do not have the background I have in protecting property rights. I am not pro development, I am not anti development. I think the city needs a well thought out plan for growth. Any exception to zoning should be carefully considered, and the rights of the property owner as well as surrounding property owners should be strongly weighed.
Most of the issues faced by the council concern either zoning or spending budget money. I am a fiscal conservative and will do my best to protect the financial interests of Orem and the property rights of the people.
My big concern with the current council is near unanimous voting. If all opinions mesh, someone is not thinking. I am also concerned big decisions like UTOPIA are made with little public knowledge or input. It is hard to increase peoples involvement, but I always answer phone calls and email. I will communicate.
Call me anytime to discus these or other issues.
Thanks
John VanCott
801-836-4795
Allow me to add a few remarks to my email after reading you wiki.
1.) I personally voted against the CARE tax, my wife voted for it, she thought it all would benefit SCERA. I think many people believed that. I do support art programs, especially for youth. I was against it simply because it was a new tax. It did pass however and money is there to be used for the arts. The bright side to the CARE tax is that it did go on a city wide ballot and was voted on. If it had been a council decision or unilateral tax decided on by a study group or political committee I would have been livid. At least the tax was placed by a citizen vote, even if I don't like it. UTOPIA was put in place just by the city planners and city council. That is a huge issue for me with the amount the city has bonded for. It should have had much more public discussion and input at the very least and would have been better as a ballot issue because of the amount and length of bonding.
2.) I am very much in favor of revisiting the accessory apartment issue. I want a clearly defined process to be an accessory apartment with reasonable requirements to be met. It was a problem 10 years ago when investors would buy a split entry home, add two doors and call it a duplex. The reaction was overkill. There are ordinances to deal with that already.
If the city does not allow proper accessory apartments they happen anyway. Most the ones I see now are in $700,000 homes where the kids move on and the owners start to rent basement rooms to students. It will happen no matter what the city does. There should be a very rational way to be able to meet any concerns like parking and safety and be allowed to have a legal accessory apartment.
P.S. Anietje is male. You have him down as she. He is a political science student and I believe accountant. He is very naive on what the city council does. He talks about improving schools and education. The city council is not the school board. He is likable, but not a serious candidate in my opinion.
John VanCott
801 836-4795