Responses from Kent B. Petersen, candidate for City Council Municipal Ward 4
[no response]
2. The UTA and the Wasatch Front Regional Council have proposed a streetcar or bus rapid transit system for Ogden, which would connect downtown with WSU and McKay- Dee Hospital via Harrison Blvd. The present administration favors instead a gondola line over a similar route. The administration has also proposed streetcar routes in other parts of Ogden and neighboring cities. What are your views on these competing proposals?
I favor relieving the traffic conjestion in the city during drive times. We will need mass transit to link Frontrunner to the rest of the city. I am committed to researching the feasibility of some type of mass transit system for Ogden. I will ask questions, review the costs and the benefits and use my experience as a business owner to find the best answers.
3. If elected, would you favor or oppose the sale of any city-owned open space along the benches for private development? Please explain.
City owned property and the sale of it for private development is an issue that I would look at very carefully. Mount Ogden Park is a great asset to the City and as a former member of the Ogden City Parks and Recreation committee I am well aware of both it and the Golf Course. I am concerned with the financial condition of the Golf course and it need some attention. The Park must stay intact and even be improved. As to unimproved city ground, what is the proposal and how does it benefit the city? As an elected representative I would look to see a city benefit in all our transactions. However, I will look and listen before taking a position and I will always defer to the needs and wishes of the voters who elect me.
4. Should you be elected, do you plan to recommend changes in the way Ogden deals with waste, recyclables, water conservation, and/or protecting our aquifers and watershed areas? If so, what changes will you recommend, and why?
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5. The current administration supports rewriting Ogden's Sensitive Area Overlay Zone ordinance in such a way as to eliminate the current ban on construction on land sloped at 30 percent or more, and to increase the density of development that is permitted on other steeply sloped lands. What are your views on these proposed changes?
[no response]
6. Ogden's urban and foothill trails are a valuable recreational asset for residents and an important factor in drawing visitors and businesses to Ogden. If elected, what changes (if any) would you propose to the city's trail system?
I recently spent time in Switzerland and was impreessed by their use of an extensive trail system. Hikers are everywhere and their summer economy thrives on hiking. My position is that we need to balance necessary growth with the need to maintain Ogden's trail system, our vistas, our open spaces and world class recreational facilities.
7. Do you favor designating a portion of the National Forest lands above Ogden as federally protected wilderness? Why or why not?
[no response]
8. The current administration has recently reduced the city's energy and carbon footprint by buying renewable energy credits and hybrid vehicles and by initiating the Fresh Air Fridays program. Do you support these programs? Would you favor expanding them? Why or why not?
I am all for reducing the city's energy and carbon footprint. I was very impressed by Paris's "rent a bike" program which is just underway in France. With our new river project from Washington to Wall we could have a "Must Do" attraction and reduce the traffic in the city. I personally own a Hybrid Honda and am looking to put one into service with our company.
9. What other environmental issues would you address if elected?
You haven't asked about quality of life in Ogden but I am very concerned with our Police and Fire protection and how we return to the comfort of knowing that we are not prisioners in our own homes. We need to give our police and fire departments the tools and resources needed to lower crime and protect our environment.
You didn't ask about our taxes but if you are a property owner you must have seen the difference in your assessment. We need to broaden our revenue base by increasing our business sales tax income to the city. As we attract quality, community minded businesses to locate back in Ogden, we will have the ability to even lower taxes to each of us and still increase our ability to provide services and perform badly needed upgrades to our water, sewer and water runoff systems. They need help in many areas of the city and we need to find the answers to these problems.