Subject: Questions from the Standard Examiner
Issue: General
Date: September 18, 2004
Author: Roger I. Price

Questions from the Standard-Examiner of Ogden asked of county commission candidates.

Answers by Roger I. Price.

Should the county's tax burden on residents be lessened? If so, how would you accomplish that? Be as specific as possible.

Yes! The tax burden in Weber County is heavy. Too much tax revenue is funding special interest programs. Citizen needs are the business of government, while citizen wants are the business of private parties. The general well being of all residents is of primary concern. The answers to all problems within the county lie with the residents themselves. This is the land of self-government. Every individual, teenager to centenarian, needs to become involved and participate.

I call upon all residents to become active and begin reviewing all current expenditures to find those items that are burdening the many while benefiting the few, excepting those specifically earmarked for special needs assistance (i.e. physical or mental challenges). As county commissioner, I will see that all facts and figures are available for public scrutiny. I will bring matters that I see as special interest projects before the public for their consensus of opinion. These will include how to deal with the RDA cost problems that are beginning to build upon the citizens without being of benefit to the majority. All meetings will be open, no exceptions. There is no government business that is not the public’s business.

I will post all future items, soliciting public input and I will search for a way to eliminate expenditures on items or studies that the majority disapprove of up front (i.e. Eden township incorporation).


Evaluate how the county does on balancing the sometimes competing priorities of its rural and urban residents. Is that rating satisfactory? What would you do to improve it?

The question of balancing rural and urban resident’ concerns is misleading. Rural is not a location, as much as it is an attitude. It is associated with independence, self-reliance, and the other basic tenants of Liberty upon which our democratic-republican form of government was founded. Many of our citizens have been lured into thinking that they must be dependent upon the “government” for sustenance and safety; that the government is some great entity separate from themselves, when, in truth, it is each and every individual. It is from the people that government gains power and collects revenue. It is by the efforts of the people that it provides services and protects their interests. The people are the government!

There are those in sparsely populated areas with a rural attitude, and there are those in dense urban areas with the same attitude. The question deals with providing services which are much more expensive in sparse areas than in dense. Urban sprawl is the culprit. When users are condensed; water, sewer, transportation, fire and police services, etc. are easily provided; when scattered, the difficulty increases greatly and thus the cost almost exponentially. Individuals need to understand the added costs of living in sparse areas and having all urban services. Many of these costs belong with the cost of development, not on the backs of taxpayers. Again, the answers lie with the citizens.


What is the most pressing issue facing Weber County and how would you address it, if elected?

The lack of public participation in self-government is the most pressing issue. Each and every resident has needed insight to the problems facing Weber County. Experts on certain subjects have the know-how, but they perceive issues from only one point of view, their own. The public can provide three dimensional coverage and carefully managed, that input will not miss any detail. Culinary and secondary water, sewage, storm runoff, the lack of opportunity to contract better employment, and tax relief are priority issues that have sound, lasting solutions if planning is focused and future generations needs are considered.

The earth belongs to the living! What will posterity receive as our legacy? The solutions to problems lie with the residents of Weber County. The county recently abdicated the problem of storm runoff, leaving it to the cities which consider only their own entities. That problem is general, in some places it is inter-city and even inter-county. Like all public issues, it requires cooperation and careful study to see that the proposed solutions do not create new problems, or worse. “Where will mother nature choose to claim passage?” is a better question than “where can we make the water go?” Zoning, development planning, etc. need to reflect wisdom but not arrogance. I will hold small meetings in all areas to address county issues by asking the right questions, achieving public consensus and making decisions from an informed position without bias thus carefully managing the public trust.

Roger I. Price, candidate for Weber County Commission