Meet Ben Smith for Cedar City Council 2011

Would you support an ordinance to protect individuals from being discriminated against by property owners?

Would you support an ordinance to protect private property owners from discriminatory measures pushed by special interest groups or Federal mandate?

I'm confused as to what you're attempting to get at. Would I support an ordinance saying no to a federal law? Of course not. That's unconstitutional. And are you saying that we should not allow any special interest group to ever make a case for anything? Of course not. This again comes down to what the individual issue being discussed is. And a decision cannot be made until we know the context.

How do you feel about impact fees?

Whenever land is developed there are inherent costs to the city and to the citizens. There can be social costs, the need for new police officers, fireman and recreational facilities to deal with the increased population, and then there are hard costs burdened by the city, for instance the costs of new water lines and roads. Impact fees are designed to keep the city from being forced to foot the bill on it's own.
As long as the burden of impact fees is not greater than the actual impact, I feel they are important for our long-term stability.

How do planning and zoning affect the property rights of property owners?

Zoning affects the property rights of all property owners, whether directly or indirectly. When doing city planning and establishing zoning laws, we have to look at what the consequences will be. 
There is such a thing as frivolous zoning regulation. Does it happen often? No. I think that the mindset we have when dealing with planning and zoning must be, "Who does this benefit, and does the benefit out weigh the harm."
If we cannot say whom it's benefiting, and if it is more harmful than good, we have to say no.

Why are you running for City Council?

There are a lot of great people with amazing ideas in Cedar. Unfortunately, many of them don’t have the time or resources to turn their ideas into reality. I’ve been thinking about ways I can help, and the one thing I keep coming back to is that I can bring ideas into the public square by running for local office. 
It’s easy to say that things should be different. I have a lot of respect for the men and women on our City Council, because they work hard to improve Cedar every week. However, many of the residents of Cedar that I talk to don’t feel like their concerns are being addressed. They don’t feel like they can talk to their local government. I have the time, energy, and support to reach out to the people who live and work here on their time, not just during City Council meetings. And I think that’s how local government should be run - with elected officials checking in regularly to make sure that they’re on top of all our local issues, not just the ones presented to them in chambers.
The job of the City Council is to steer us in the direction that’s best for everyone. Sometimes that means dealing with the technicalities of drainage pipes and water rights, but sometimes it has to mean listening and being available. That’s what I want to do; that’s why I’m running. I want people to use the City Council as a catalyst for their ideas. I want the average person to know that they are running the show.

Have you read the Ordinances of your City?

Are there any concerns with the ordinances?

As I currently see it, no. There are some house keeping issues that are being dealt with as we speak, but overall there is nothing that needs drastically changed.

How do you feel about the Lake Powell Pipeline?

I think that most people can agree that we need more water in Cedar. For years we’ve been taking more water out of the ground than we put back in, and that’s just not sustainable. 
Many people believe the solution is the Lake Powell Pipeline. The thinking goes that we own a large portion of that water, and as such deserve to take it.
The current estimate for the Lake Powell Pipeline is $786,500,000. That’s to get it to St. George. We in Cedar City would have to pay a large portion of that, plus the $114,900,000 cost to extend the pipeline to us. These are the upfront construction costs for the pipeline.
Nobody knows how much maintenance is going to cost, or what the long term pumping costs will be. St. George is actually below the lake, so they really don’t need to worry about pumping the water. We do not have that luxury. We are more than half a mile higher than St. George, and more than 2,000 ft. above Lake Powell. Who is going to burden the long-term costs of pumping that water? How much is the water actually going to cost us? What happens when the pipeline breaks? Will we have enough money to repair it?
We cannot seriously consider building the Lake Powell Pipeline until we know more, and until we know it is the only solution. I believe that we haven’t done enough research into our possibilities.

How do you feel about the Cedar City Aquatic Center?

There are a lot of things with the Aquatic Center that could have been done differently. We need to keep in mind though that it is done.
Instead of focusing on whether we like the Aquatic Center or not, I think we need to focus on what we can learn from the process of building the aquatic center.

What is the best way you feel we can attract businesses to the city?

Right of the bat I would like to say that no one thing is going to help us attract business to Cedar. It's a complex issue, and we will need to use a varied approach. 
If I had to pick one though, I would say it's personal engagement. No matter what the plan for bringing jobs to Cedar is, someone will need to tell companies about it. And who should that someone be? The city councilmen. A call from the Economic Developer is not the same as a call from an elected official.
This, in tandem with the other ideas for economic growth I've developed, will help us differentiate ourselves from all the other cities trying to bring jobs. If you'd like to know about more of my ideas, visit http://bensmithforcitycouncil.com/?page_id=24

Is there anything else you would like to say?

There are a lot of issues facing Cedar City. To solve them we will need to be pragmatic in our approach and sincere in our efforts. We will need to be creative, and above all we will need to listen. The people of cedar are the ones with the best ideas. Let's start talking.

What is the best way to contact you for more information?