ST. GEORGE – Mark Boyer, 51, is seeking the Republican nomination for the Washington County Commissioner Seat A. If elected Boyer would like to accomplish more transparency in county government, sustaining minimum county budgets and conserving natural resources for future growth needs.
“We need more people in office at county level who are going to stand up for the county and the Constitution and are willing to push back against the federal government,” said John Kessler, a county Republican delegate.”We need to be able to stand alone as a county. County level is hard as a delegate because we have a lot of good people up for nomination.”
Boyer said that his work ethic and experience set him apart from the other Republican candidates. After spending 10 years working for Ameritech Library Services in Provo, the company went from a million-dollar annual growth to over 120 million dollars, Boyer said. At that point he was in a management position.
“When you go through a lot of growth, you have to work with other departments and coordinate,” Boyer said. “Part of the county commissioner office is working with other agencies, municipalities, there’s a lot that has to be coordinated.”
In 2006, with the inception of Vision Dixie, around 3,000 local residents and government leaders collaborated and came up with ten basic principles and four different scenarios about how they predict Dixie will grow. The scenarios depict predictions of growth patterns and how they would affect the residential and business communities. With the scenarios they presented, Boyer said his choice for implementing future growth in Washington County would be in between Scenarios B and C.
Scenario C would be a great scenario because of its value in preserving the ridgeline, scenery and spreading out the residential construction, which maintains open spaces, Boyer said. Whereas Plan B condenses residential and uses rich tops.
One of the issues Boyer sees facing Washington County involves supplying enough water to meet the needs the growing population. While Boyer toggled back and forth about whether the Lake Powell Pipeline should be constructed, he said that right now conservation is key and that unfortunately water rates will have to increase in the future in order to balance the cost and need.
While Boyer hopes that HP148 – legislation urging the federal government to turn over management of public lands to the state by the end of the year – goes through, he also recognizes that if it does there will be a lot of revenue that is lost in the following few years.
“If HP148 does go through we are going to have to either cut back some jobs or find another way to produce revenue,” he said.
The biggest challenge facing Washington County, especially St. George, is the infrastructure of roads, he said. If the county follows scenario C then by the year 2030 it would take an hour and 45 minutes of commuting time from one edge of the valley to the other side.
“Roads in the future should be designed so that people can travel without having to wait unnecessarily,” Boyer said. “To lessen the amount of time we have to travel will be beneficial to our future success.”
If elected, Boyer would be the first in his lineage to hold a seat in a political office. Originally from Springville, Boyer grew up working on a family farm and learned at a young age the task of putting in a long day of hard work. Through his experience in farming a connection with our land was instilled in him. Boyer and his wife opened a small business in Northern Utah, which specified in soldering and modifying keyboards. In opening a small business, during the time of the United States financial recession, Boyer said he gained an essential understanding of the undertaking of small business success.
Commission race
Candidates for Commission Seat A
- Greg Aldred – Commission Seat A: Greg Aldred draws inspiration from father, from youth
- Mark Boyer – Commission Seat A: Mark Boyer, conserving for future
- James Eardley (Incumbent) – Commission Seat A: Eardley seeks to retain spot for continuity, help new commissioner
- Slade Hughes – Commission Seat A: Slade Hughes of Veyo seeks to represent county’s future
- Zachery Renstrom – Commission Seat A: Renstrom says background as civil engineer, patent attorney will benefit county
Candidates for Commission Seat B
- Chet Hughes – Commission Seat B: Sheriff’s Sgt. Chet Hughes seeks to serve community he’s protected
- Victor Iverson – Commission Seat B: Victor Iverson seeks county commission nomination
- Daniel McArthur – Commission Seat B: Dan McArthur, ‘Dixie’s biggest cheerleader’ seeks county victory
Related posts
- Washington County Republican, Democratic conventions, details
- Republican caucus attendees tout value of caucus system
- County Democratic caucus focuses on issues, involvement; Republican caucus details
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