Emery County Commissioner Candidates, Lynn Sitterud and Danny VanWagoner took some time during the monthly Emery County Business Chamber luncheon on Wednesday, July 21 to answer questions that were submitted by email from community members regarding local issues going on in the area.
One of the questions submitted to the candidates was what are plans for diversification of the economy in Emery County? Sitterud stated that he is currently putting “feelers” to businesses that have come into Carbon to see if maybe they had an interest to extend further south to Emery, currently at this point he does have an investor from Utah County that is considering Emery as an option, but Sitterud did not give any further details.
VanWagoner spoke more about starting with what resources are currently available, “First of all we got to look at what we have in the county. We have agriculture, but we need to build that agriculture up. Second of all, tourism. We have everything. In fact, we are blessed with more in tourism than any other part of the state, more diversity and its very close by. Right here we are the epic center for 25 miles out we’re in the middle of the desert, 25 miles out we’re in the middle of lakes and pine trees. We need to put that out on the map.”
Currently the hot topic in Emery is the fate of the Recreation District. Both men were asked what ideas they each had to possible solve the issues. Sitterud stated that when we was raising his kids he was glad to see the sports there for them but that the recreation needs to take a back seat for the good of the people and that the Sheriff and Ambulance Services should take precedence. He compared it to his budget at home, pay bills to maintain his home and playing comes with whatever is left. If it’s time to start tighten up, then the recreation is the place to tighten first.
“Ok, now we are going to be a little bit different, the Rec District is very important. If we don’t give these children something to do, they are going to find something to do and it’s probably going to cost us a lot more than what it was costing us in the Rec District,” stated VanWagoner. “So I do believe the Rec Department is a very important part of what we can sell for our community as that we are moving forward, we are looking out for our youth and we have stuff for our youth. Yea, if we need to tighten our belt all the way around, I don’t believe in getting rid of something.”
Together candidates were asked why do they want to be county commissioner. “It just came a time in my life where I have the time to devote to something and I’ve just had a feeling for a number of years that I might be able to do some good and help the county out so the now was the best time to try it,” stated Sitterud. Opposing candidate VanWagoner was a bit more passionate yet simple with his response. He was mad as a Mayor of the city seeing what was going on in the county and to watch what was happening to the county was maddening to the point that he decided to turn his anger around and made the decision to get involved by running for commissioner.
One more question asked, was what do the candidates want to accomplish as commissioner on day one. VanWagoner stated that he has a list of county people that he would like to meet especially the ones who he would be working with. Sitterud’s response, “I don’t have anything that I’m looking at going into to change or put my finger on day one. I’d like to just be able to work with the other two commissioners and try to make the county operate smoothly and take the new challenges as they come. I don’t have anything that is the reason I’m running is to take on any particular issue on the day one.”
Both candidates were asked approximately 14 questions taking about 30 minutes at the luncheon. This was a great opportunity for members of Emery Business Chamber to get to know both candidates a bit more and to listen to their thoughts on local issues.