I am excited to kick off my campaign for City Council. Thank you to all the people who supported me when I ran 2 years ago. I am running to work for you to protect open space, create multi use paths and trails, protect our air and water and make Heber City a safer and better place today and for future generations. Here is what I wrote for my campaign summary for the ballot:

As a City Council member, I will work to protect open space, preserve clean air, and keep our water safe. We must grow responsibly by aligning our zoning ordinances with the general plan to preserve the majority of our natural lands as accessible open space.
Open Space – Follow Midway’s example and place a bond on the ballot to fund conservation easements and land purchases for preservation.
Clean Air – Expand mass transit and improve safety for walking, biking, and bus travel. Like Evanston, we should lower speed limits on side streets to 20 mph.
Clean Water – Strengthen our sensitive lands ordinance to better protect drainage areas and require developers to preserve more native vegetation.
Responsible Growth – Focus on building up, not out. Encourage clustered development and higher density downtown while protecting native habitats. Developers should be required to include multi-use paths and bus stops when installing roads and utilities.
Community – Continue the work of the current council by upgrading Main Street Park, creating more parks, and connecting the city with multi-use paths. I am committed to working with all citizens of Heber City to make living here better now and for future generations I want to expand on each of these concepts, why I think they are important and how we can go about getting the changes we want to happen.

I want to expand on the first 2 concepts in this blog post why I think they are important and how we can go about getting the changes we want to happen.

1. Open Space - There are many great examples nearby of protecting open space. Look at the 910 ranch purchase Summit County and right next door with the Midway's open space bondpassed with a 3 to 1 margin. The Wasatch county council just finished allocating the final bit of their 2018 open space bond Saving $60 million dollars worth of open space for only $10 million dollars. Thank you, thank you, thank you to the land owners and the county council, Mayor Heidi Franco and others for all the work that went into making that happen.

I plan to work closely with local land owners, the county, the state and the federal government and other organizations to protect open space. The best time to buy or conserve land was 20 years ago. The next best time is now.

2. Clean Air / Safe Transportation - You can see the inversion more and more every year creeping into Heber Valley. The negative effects of air pollution are well documented leading to increased incidences of respiratory issues, cardiovascular disease, and neurological problems. We need to expand mass transit and improve safety for walking, biking, and bus travel to reduce the number of cars on the road. Electrifying our homes for heating and cooking is another way to reduce air pollution. As a city council we can help by providing education and work closely with Heber Light and Power. I personally have heat pumps in my home and I love them. They are quiet, efficient, and cost effective great at cooling in the summer and heating in the winter. As a side note Heber light and power is switching everyone to time of use rates next year. I think everyone should prepare to see their electricity rates almost double. It might be cost effective to install solar panels and batteries, as the costs have come down significantly over the last few years.

Safety: We are well aware of the dangers of driving in Heber Valley. Too many times children have been hit by cars just trying to get to school or to lunch. Duchesne has lowered the speed limit of highway 40 in their downtown to 30 mph. I wonder if UDOT would consider allowing us to do the same, especially after the bypass gets built. Like Evanston, we could lower speed limits on side streets to 20 mph. We need to make Heber a safe place to walk and bike. Making sure we have separate bike lanes and better designed intersections. We have a great master trail plan that we should be working to implement now

Thanks for reading this far. I will be expanding on the other concepts in future blog posts. I would love to hear from you, you can text or call me at my google voice number (435) 315-2551 or email me at christen.thompson@gmail.com.