Todd's Platform

Orem is a modern city.

I believe in order to address the intricacies of this modern city we must adopt two priorities as pressing matters.

LAW & ORDER

As a citizen of our city I have found an urgent need for assistance with our first responders.  The following are direct quotes from the Operations Assessment performed by Citygate Associates LLC, 3/18/21

"Due to turnover in recent years, the experience level in Patrol is very low."

"A review of the Communications Center showed insufficient staffing levels and high demand for mandated overtime."

"The Department does not have a management analyst who can provide the required data to support the organization."

"The Department does not maintain a Department-wide training plan or annual Department-wide training calendar. There was a significant decline in recorded training hours in 2020..."

"The Department should consider an early intervention system to promote career longevity, enhance wellness, reduce organizational risk, and reinforce goals, values, and missions."

These are intrinsic problems for a police department, they are common and often a battle no private citizen has to deal with. When we see our peace officers out and about they are always so well presented, strong and authoritative. It is difficult to understand the daily challenges these brave officers face. As a fierce defender of the Police department, I believe in order to "have their back" we must do all in our power to support their work. 

As your City Council Representative I am prepared to make the hard decisions that make this city safe. Are you aware that our Law Enforcement professionals are paid less than $20 /hr? For someone in a position of such momentous consequence, a person who represents our city to all they come in contact with, whether they are on duty or not, should we pay them the same rate as a fastfood night manager? We must make this change immediately.

I propose a 30% increase to the overall budget so that we can start paying these officers what they are worth. This will help secure our current staff and attract other highly valued and accomplished candidates to our town.

This pay increase is not going to fix everything. There will be kinks we find along the way. However, when we are employing people to make life and death decisions on a daily basis, I do not want them to have so much on their plate, that their judgment is impeded by financial woes and personal problems associated with the lower income they are currently making.

WATER

Utah is the second driest state in the nation. Water conservation by individual citizens is an important part of making sure we'll have enough today and in the future. As an Orem City Council Member I will make it my priority to educate the citizens and advocate for greater water reserve. As it stands Orem City currently has 22,440,000 gallons of emergency storage. This storage will last the City about 48 hours during the winter, but will only last the City 11 hours in the summer with the higher usage by the public. We must do more to preserve this precious natural resource.

Did you Know?

  • Water covers 70.9 percent of the planet's surface.

  • 97 percent of the water on earth is salt water; the water found in the earth's lakes, rivers, streams, ponds, swamps, etc., account for only 0.3 percent of the world's fresh water. The rest is trapped in glaciers or is underground.

  • In a year, the average American residence uses over 100,000 gallons.

  • Since the average faucet releases 2 gallons of water per minute, you can save up to four gallons of water every morning by turning off the tap while you brush your teeth.

  • A running toilet can waste up to 200 gallons of water each day.

  • At one drip per second, a faucet can leak 3,000 gallons in a year.

  • A bath uses up to 70 gallons of water; a five-minute shower uses 10 to 25 gallons.

  • Grass that is overwatered will often exhibit some of the same symptoms as grass that needs water. If you notice the symptoms, but the soil is damp, hold off on watering.

  • Aerating your lawn once a year can increase the soil's infiltration rate (the rate at which it absorbs water) and reduce runoff problems.

It is up to all of us to get involved and care for our future.

Here are some things we can all do to help preserve this precious resource:

  • Fix plumbing leaks.

  • Take shorter showers.

  • Replace regular shower heads with low-volume heads. Remember, a bath takes about 36 gallons of water. A shower takes about 25.

  • Be conservative with toilet flushes. Don't use the toilet for trash disposal.

  • Don't leave the water running when shaving or brushing teeth.

  • Wash full loads of laundry and dishes, not partial loads.

  • Don't rinse dishes with running tap water. Instead, rinse dishes by dipping.

  • Keep a pitcher of cold water in the refrigerator instead of running tap water until it cools.

  • Water lawn, gardens, etc. in the coolest part of the day. Deep soak weekly instead of lightly sprinkling daily. Water the plants, not concrete.

  • Use a bucket when washing cars. Don't let the hose run. 
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These are letters and opinions of

Todd Linsley, a candidate for the Orem City Council.

From the desk of Todd Linsley, Candidate for Orem City Council 06/05/2021

A letter I got from an Orem City Resident regarding the Orem Family Fitness Center.

In Blue you will see their letter, in red is my response. I hope this gives you some insight into how I view my  duties as your future City Council Member. The questions in blue are exact quotes from the citizen's letter. I did not change a word.

Dear Todd,

I have a question that is dear to my heart so I would like to pose that to each of you.  I would appreciate a response and you can respond individually or in a group.The question that is dear to me is I believe that the management at the new Orem fitness center needs to be replaced.  I left out the term family on purpose as over 40% of the building cannot be used by kids so it cannot in my mind be a family facility.  There are a number of reasons, but the main reason is this facility is new and the management is driving away people from using the facility with their decisions they are making. 

It will not be long before this facility just like the old one will become a ghost town.  The management at this facility is the only management in the western united states that can kill pickleball.  Think about that, if they can kill the fastest growing sport in America, just think what else they can kill.  During the rebuild of the facility, I attended Prove fitness center and it was a completely different environment. they actually wanted people in the facility, they never tried to run people off.  So which of the candidates, would get behind a management change at the Fitness center?

Thanks.

Dear Orem Citizen,

This is a matter of great importance to my wife and me as well. There are many activities that have tried to insist that we attend without our two boys. (under 9yo) As a matter of fact I have taken them to every remote meeting and convention I have attended as their father. I don't look for opportunities to leave my children behind. They are well behaved and we have regular communication about their behavior, whether it is appropriate or not.Based on that premise I believe the children should have as much access to the Orem Family Fitness center as I do. I enjoy the free-weights and as you probably already know, there is a 14-year-old age limit to the participants in that area. I too agree that if families are willing to supervise their children for their own safety that would suffice. If there is some kind of safety waiver that may have to be implemented that should certainly be considered. As an Orem City Council Member, I would suggest that a policy change is in order. 
I will do an investigation into the policy as well as have key conversations with the management to make those changes. 
As far as terminating a person's employment? I believe termination is the absolute last possible option to any conflict. After an investigation into the efficiency and compliance of the persons responsible, we may only need to have that conversation. I believe a person's job is sacred. it is the one thing that takes us away from our family, the most sacred of responsibilities, so that we may provide for them. Since I consider both our relationships and our time to be the most sacred of possessions I would not take termination lightly. 
Since I have made a sincere promise to listen to the people of Orem, What other things must be considered in this scenario? please get back to me.I hope my answer will suffice in giving you the kind of comfort and consideration I could give to you and our city. if this is the case, I would like to challenge you to vote for me in the primaries and the final election.
Sincerely,

Todd Linsley

toddfororem.com

From the desk of Todd Linsley, Candidate for Orem City Council 06/20/2021

A letter I got from an Orem City Resident regarding what I would do to help stabilize the real estate market.

In Blue you will see their questions, in red is my response. I hope this gives you some insight into how I view my  duties as your future City Council Member. The questions in blue are exact quotes from the citizen's letter. I did not change a word.

Hi Todd,

In the next 30 years, it is estimated that an additional 30,000 people will move into Orem. My wife and I would love to continue living our lives here and hopefully raise our children. Our issue is that we cannot afford to live here and will be driven away by extreme housing prices. I understand that we are in a very unique situation with housing prices but I don’t see much of a change happening any time soon especially with so many people moving to this area.

My question for you, as a council member, what policies would you support to help ensure that Orem will become an affordable place for anyone to raise a family? I know that Orem has a strong potential and hope that if you are elected, you will support policies that will encourage smart growth and development.

Thanks for your time,

Dear Orem Citizen,

Thank you so much for your very well thought out question. 
Congratulations to yourself and your wife for your achievements in advancing your education. It is a well established principle that education is our greatest defense against poverty and low quality of life.  
Your question is a major concern for my family as well. 
Here are some of my ideas.

1. We must level the playing field. At this moment there are several large hedge funds purchasing up property in the area, inflating the cost of the homes by 20% to 40% over the asking price. They are then renting these homes to new residents. We must pass a resolution, consistent with the community master plan, which will restrict large corporations from swooping in and over bidding on home purchases. This will allow single family residents a priority placement. This may not be popular with some home sellers because it means cutting into their perceived return, but I believe it is appropriate to not artificially inflate the market.

2. Establish a housing finance agency. An HFA is a government entity designed to promote affordable housing by issuing tax-exempt bonds and using the proceeds from the sales to offer low-cost mortgages to affordable housing developers and single-family homeowners. The cool thing about an HFA is, like the Orem Fitness Center, they will pay for themselves. 

3. I will seek public-private partnerships. Several tech giants have announced initiatives to promote affordable housing, partially in response to criticism that well-paid tech industry employees have driven up housing costs in these markets. Apple for example, has pledged $2.5 billion to help address housing crisis and Google has pledged to invest $1 billion. Some are creating below-market-rate loan programs for developers, and others are creating lines of credit available through the state. I see public-private partnerships as a good solution to support moderate-income workers, such as teachers, police officers, and nurses, who are struggling to afford homes in high-cost markets. These are some ideas being discussed amongst myself and my colleagues. What kind of action would you like to see taken? I would love to listen to any ideas you may have. Thank you for reaching out to me it means a lot to me that you would take the time.

Thank you,

Todd

toddfororem.com

From the desk of Todd Linsley, Candidate for Orem City Council 07/20/2021

A letter I got from an Orem City Resident regarding some of what I would call "Third Rail" issues.

In Blue you will see their questions, in red is my response. I hope this gives you some insight into how I view my  duties as your future City Council Member. The questions in blue are exact quotes from the citizen's letter. I did not change a word.

(1) Would you support replacing mail-in ballots (except for absentee ballots) with paper ballots voted on in person with Identification verification?

Funny you should ask. I worked the poles in the 2020 National Election. Election integrity is a huge concern for me. I want to know that the people who are put into office are the people who we voted for. I would do a thorough investigation of our system and make absolutely certain there are no gaps or possible security concerns. I want the people of Orem to know they are being protected. I like paper ballots. I always asked for ID. As for mail-in ballots, I have no problem with them. I have full confidence in their innate security. They are certified and cannot be duplicated. Mail-in ballots make it easier for the majority of the population to vote. If that is how the people want to vote, then I think we should accommodate that.

(2) Do you believe in freedom of choice or that it's ok to mandate vaccination of teachers and First responders (police and firemen) and city employees? 

Without question, I believe in the freedom to choose. I am a teacher and I chose to be vaccinated. I have many colleagues who have chosen not to be vaccinated. I don't believe in the condemnation of the unvaccinated. Whatever you choose we should not have enmity between us. Love and kindness must always be our action. We don't know the context by which others have come to their decisions. However as a policy maker, we must not allow our personal fears to infringe on our individual freedoms.

(3) Would you approved of an ordinance to make Orem a Second Amendment Sanctuary City? 

Are you suggesting we make Orem a "Gun Sanctuary"? I was raised in predominantly urban settings, as I grew up I learned that "if you see a gun, you run." this is not a popular opinion locally, so as a policy maker this is my answer. We have enough laws to protect gun owners. On February 26, 2010, Governor Gary Herbert signed the Utah State-made Firearms Protection Act. Do you feel there should be more protections? Are the U.S. Constitution and the state law not enough? All 29 sheriffs in Utah have signed a letter expressing their support for the Second Amendment. This, in my opinion is quite a resounding answer to me that gun rights advocacy is prolific. I don't see where we would need any further policy making on the subject.  I'm not aware of a statute that threatens any of the already established laws. Please respond to me on that issue if you have any further questions.

I believe in the right to bear arms, however I have personally experienced great losses by the ignorance and neglect of legal gun owners. I am fully behind background checks and other common sense gun laws that protect our children and their schools. It is important to keep guns out of the hands of the mentally and morally incompetent.

(4) Do you favor free-enterprise transportation (cabs, uber, private busing) or do you want socialized mass transit like city-buses and city-supplied-scooters? 

I want to see private businesses thrive in Orem. I would love to consult with any private organization that thinks they know how to do things better than UDOT. I have lived in communities where public (not "socialized" a very loaded and inappropriate term) transportation works exceptionally well. If we are to truly move into the next 20 years carefully, we must look to cities  who have gone through the same growing pains that we are facing and learn from them. I believe the City Council Members job is one of constant question and investigation.

(5) Do you believe Orem has a systemic racism problem that needs to be addressed by hiring an equity/diversity/inclusion director? 

Is Orem Racist? No, diversity is a value we embrace. I don't think Orem is consciously racist. Are we learning every day that we are not living up to the ideal that "all men are created equal"? Yes, we all have improvements to make. I have resolved to always find myself doing better. However, until I have further defined the depth to which we could be doing better it is imperative to put good people in public office.

(6) Do you think creating CIVILIAN REVIEW BOARDS (a communist project in the 1960s) is a good idea now to monitor local police? 

"Civilian Review Boards" are another loaded term that falsely argues "Because the Commies did it, it's bad!" Commies also sang national anthems, Commies also ate sandwiches. Should we stop singing "The Star Spangled Banner" or stop eating at Subway? Should we put together a group of volunteers from both Law Enforcement and the community? That's a great suggestion! I think anytime we can increase communication between government entities and civilians it is a good thing. Do I want the police to do their job? Yes! Do I want the police to feel the great support we have for them? Yes! Do I want to increase the pay of every Police officer so that they value not only their job but the people they protect? YES! Do I want Orem to feel reassured that the police are there to protect them? YES! I'm glad we had this talk.

(7) When it comes to unconstitutional regulations, orders/mandates, and bills coming from the Federal Government, do you support Utah's applying the principle of nullification (nullifying and refusing to comply) to protect Orem residents from federal tyrannical overreach?

Yes. Any government overreach is a violation of the city's ability to govern. I will use every tool in my toolbox. Nullification is one of many options.

I hope these answers will suffice. If you would like me to expound further on any policy you are welcome to contact me here
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