Clark Fawcett
For Hurricane Mayor
CANDIDATE Q&A
Question #1
Washington County’s rapid growth pressures both development and preservation of open spaces. What is your proposed zoning strategy to balance new housing and commercial projects with maintaining the region’s natural landscapes, and how will you address community concerns about overdevelopment?
I love the open space we have in Southern Utah...READ MORE
I love the open space we have in Southern Utah. I don’t want to see us loose this great quality of life. We have a current master plan that provides a variety of zoning. I believe if we stick with the master plan we can provide for the different types of housing needed and still maintain the open feel we love in Hurricane. I don’t want to get a lot of high rise apartments. I favor the 4, 6 or 8 plex apartments spread out through the community where they can be mixed with the people in single family dwellings. Some of our state and county officials favor the transfer of federal lands to developers. I feel that the open federal lands around us need to stay open to the public and stay in a protected state so we can always have these areas to escape to and recreate.
Question #2
Aging infrastructure, such as roads, water lines, and public facilities, requires ongoing investment. What is your plan to fund and prioritize maintenance and upgrades, and how will you balance these costs with other municipal budget demands?
I have always been a advocate for putting aside money...READ MORE
I have always been a advocate for putting aside money for replacement of infrastructure. While I was city manager I protected the depreciation funds that are set aside for this purpose. There are many who see this replacement fund and want to rob it for other things. I feel that we need to continue to protect this fund and add additional funds to it to cover the cost of inflation so we will have the money necessary to replace the infrastructure without always borrowing money. We need to always budget a balanced budget where current expenses do not exceed current revenues. We need to put aside some funds in a rainy day fund to cover unexpected expenses. The hard choices need to be made so we are not always expanding government so the taxes have to be raised to cover additional services.
Question #3
With rising populations, how will you ensure that police, fire, and emergency services remain adequately funded and staffed? Please specify whether you would reallocate existing budgets, seek new revenue sources, or implement other strategies to meet these needs.
Public Safety is always a high priority. With the health and...READ MORE
Public Safety is always a high priority. With the health and safety provided by the emergency services we would not have the quality of life we desire. Already the public safety departments take up more than 70% of our general fund expenses. While it is important to maintain these they have to be balanced with streets, park, recreation and other general fund expenses. I believe there is enough money to cover the increases needed for these services coming in through taxes to cover the needs most of the time. With the growth we are experiencing the sales tax and property tax increases should mostly cover these needs. If growth slows down or stops then we may to cover these expenses through reallocation of funds. I would always look at the services provided and see if there are opportunities to cuts costs or reallocate before increasing taxes. I am not opposed to increasing taxes if necessary, but I have to convinced of the need and make sure there is not another alternative before doing so.
Question #4
Large and even small scale development projects often spark community debate. How will you ensure that residents’ voices are meaningfully incorporated into decisions about zoning and development, and what specific mechanisms (e.g., town halls, advisory boards) will you establish or strengthen?
I have thought about this. Hurricane has a number...READ MORE
I have thought about this. Hurricane has a number of almost individual communities separated buy undeveloped land. Often these areas feel unconnected to the city and they feel their voices are not heard. I would like to go to them so they have a voice. I plan to spit the city into a number of areas. Lets say 15 for example. Each councilmember would be assigned 3 areas. In each area we would ask three citizen to serve as the area representative. We would provide them with training and link them to sources of information so they would stay up to date on what is happening in the city. The members of the area would be encouraged to take needs and concerns to these representatives. We would never discourage the citizens from seek help from staff, city council or Mayor but for future budget needs or for problems that would take time and resources they could talk to their area representatives and with their neighborhoods develop solutions to present to the City. We would encourage regular area meetings. If major projects were coming to the area the city would schedule a meeting with the area residents. On major city wide projects each area would be asked to hold a meeting and to provide feedback to the City Council.
I would also like to provide a weekly city report. This could be done on Facebook, Instagram, email or whatever works best. The citizens would be asked to sign up so they would get this weekly report. This report would provide information on current projects within the city. Public hearings could be announced here. Links would be provided to documents that would keep the public informed.
Question #5
To reduce reliance on tourism and construction, what specific industries or business types will you target to diversify Washington County’s economy, and what incentives or policies will you propose to attract them?
We are currently seeing a lot of building in...READ MORE
We are currently seeing a lot of building in the fairgrounds Industrial Park. These are small building and are great for small and moderate business. I like to see small business come in. Too many times we focus on large business. They are great to have but if one of these shuts down then your communities are hit hard by unemployment. I like a good mix. We need to continue to find and provide zoning for Industrial. In order to attract any industry you first have to have land zoned for them. All of the Cities would like to see the information technology fields come to Southern Utah. I want to be welcoming to all businesses but I am reluctant to provide large incentives. We will work with the County and State government offices of Economic Development to provide what incentives we can. It is hard for small cities to cover the costs of large scale economic development departments to make this effort so we work closely with the State and County
Question #6
Washington County is experiencing increased traffic congestion, particularly in urbanizing areas. What specific infrastructure improvements or policies will you prioritize to reduce traffic delays and improve road safety, and how will you fund these initiatives without overburdening taxpayers?
I believe the city has a good streets master plan...READ MORE
I believe the city has a good streets master plan. The adjoining city have worked together to connect to each other. We need to continue to pursue funding for these roads so we will have them when they are needed. This is an area I feel is underfunded. The state highway in Hurricane has a plan and it is getting time to implement the next step. I will work with UDOT to push forward the installing of grade separated intersections where lights exist from 3400 West to the freeway. This will help the flow of traffic and reduce accidents. The need has come quicker than UDOT planned but we must get their attention and move this project ahead. 600 North needs to be completed to its full width so it will take additional traffic. 1100 West needs to be designed and completed to provide another north south corridor. We need a connection between Dixie Springs and Hurricane proper to carry additional traffic and reduce the traffic on the state right-of-way.
Question #7
Given the ongoing drought concerns in Southern Utah, how will you prioritize water allocation among residential, commercial, agricultural, and recreational (e.g., golf courses) users? Please provide a specific plan or framework to ensure equitable distribution while addressing conservation goals.
I would like to continue to prioritize...READ MORE
I would like to continue to prioritize agricultural use for as long as there is a need. I do not want to force this water into other uses unless the farmers are ready themselves. The Water Conservancy District is working on a policy that will limit sizes of swimming pools, water parks, golf courses, etc. These uses should be reduced or eliminated. The future of water use in Washington County is reuse. We need to push forth the the reuse plan to replace culinary water with reuse on landscape and golf courses. This will provide water for continued development. Residential use will be reduced by limiting the amount of grass that can be planted and using efficient landscape watering, and plants. New Industrial users should be vetted to determine if they right for the area if they use too much water. Most businesses do not use a lot of water and should have less impact than homes but they should be required to use water efficient plumbing. I am not sure how to allocate between the different uses, but there needs to be a balance. Housing usually comes before the commercial development. If we get to where the water is limited a certain reserve needs to be maintained for additional commercial and for drought years.