Utah County Political Shtick

Scott Phillips Last Friday I had the opportunity to sit down and chat with incumbent Payson City Council candidate, Scott Phillips . I have posted the full transcript on my voter guide. My intention, after presenting the first portion, that covers questions I normally email to candidates, is to provide commentary and analysis. So, I'm copying the format from when I presented the Letter from Taresa Hiatt last month. Sean: What inspired you to get involved with the City Council? Scott: Hmm. Probably at first, wanting to improve on our roads, I guess, has been one of my biggest - the roads,the infrastructure, seeing where the money has been spent, I guess. And I've learned a lot in the 12 years that I've been there, you know. But, we're gaining on the roads, we have bought equipment in-house, so now we do it in-house rather than hire it out, so now we're getting close to 3 times the amount done. Now, I'm not saying that it's the perfect scenario bec

Fall leaves on the Grotto Trail Two items I found interesting hit the news recently. The first thing that caught my eye was a blog post from the Libertas Institute entitled "Hate civil asset forfeiture? Here's a court case in Utah to follow..." . Now, I do hate Civil Asset Forfeiture, so this really caught my eye and it was sufficient in and of itself to prompt me to start writing. However, I then noticed a story posted about the firing of detective Jeff Payne , who had been put in the public eye for having arrested nurse Alex Wubbels for having refused to comply with his illegal demands for a blood sample from an unconscious patient. It makes for a week of news highlighting why we should be wary of police power in our modern society. The Libertas Institute's blog post detailed the case of one Kyle Savely who had some bundles of cash in his possession confiscated by the Utah Highway Patrol. Under Utah law,  prosecutors have 75 days to file forfeiture paperwork o

Bull Thistle It seems that John Curtis was in the dog house with some RINO voters in Utah, after some of the foaming-at-the-mouth anti-Trump crowd pointed out that he advertised support for Trump's border wall. (I don't claim to be Republican, but I have no respect for either the uneducated masses who insist on voting in ignorance, or the unabashed statists that have done so much damage to the party. I also don't like Trump and didn't vote for him, but knee-jerk reactions to every little idea he shares are not good for society.) John Curtis had been doing his best to convince voters that he really is a believing Republican, but apparently his efforts had the the adverse effect of causing some of his supporter to actually believe him. So, he did what any principled and courageous politician would do and pulled the ads. Now, Mitt Romney, a true icon to appeal to the heart of statist liberal Republicans , has been mustered to the cause. Mitt Romney, who recently off