South Jordan town hall covers wide range of issues

By Susan Palmer | [email protected]

South Jordan officials hosted a town hall meeting at the Public Safety Building in SoJo on Nov. 9. The representatives organizing the Town Hall were: Lincoln Filmore, Utah State Senator District 10; Susan Pulsifer, Utah State House of Representatives District 50,  South Jordan; Kim Coleman, Utah State House of Representatives District 42,  West Jordan; and Candice Pierucci, Utah State House of Representatives District 52, Herriman (replacing John Knotwell).

At the beginning of the meeting, each representative gave a review of what he or she was working on. 

Pulsifer  is sponsoring a bill that addresses some of the issues of vaping, specifically targeting vaping by minors. The vaping apparatus can be taken from students using them in public schools and not returned to them. If there are suspicions of uses that included controlled substances by the student, it would be turned over to proper authorities for evidence. But otherwise, the e-cigarettes could be destroyed. The second part is to increase the information given to students regarding the risks and health concerns of vaping. The third part of the bill is determining why students choose vaping as well as working to change this growing trend.

Pierucci is new, and she was appointed by Gov. Gary Herbert to replace John Knotwell. She is a long-time resident of Herriman. She is working on a bill that has to do with busing students in Herriman.

For Coleman, it’s about protecting her community. “There are people outside of our communities that have designs on what we should do in our communities on the west side,” she said. “I hate that, and I am always trying to fight against that.”

She is fighting back against outside interests in the state that are trying to control how the west-side communities are growing. She feels it is up to the communities themselves to decide how to grow and how much. She is reticent to accept outside interests trying to control the west side. She said these parties think they are smarter or they do not want things to happen in their community, so they are pushing to send these things to the west side.

Filmore is working on lots of smaller bills. 

• The age of delivery drivers in Utah is 19; he is trying to lower it to 18. 
• Working to change a regulation that schools require a background check for employees, but if you are below 19 no one can look at the background check.
• The federal government has eliminated the definition of a dependent so Utahns saw a tax increase. He’s working to restore that.
• He’s working to change a tax on businesses that locate in Utah, manufacture in Utah but sell everything outside of Utah.
• He’s working to try to protect individual land rights against government land grabbing where the land is held in limbo for years at a time.
• He wants to change the law so people can have little free library boxes on their property if they choose.
• Landscapers are classified as builders in Utah, and they are required to pursue the same continuing education as builders; the education is not related to them. He’s working to change that.
• He’s working to change solar panels from personal property classification to real property classification for business interests.
• Mosquito abatement must notify where and when they are going to spray in your area so you can take appropriate action.
• He’s working so expired prescription drugs can be refilled for short term if there are issues where physicians cannot be reached immediately to prevent health issues and deaths.

The meeting was opened to questions and remarks from the attendees to give feedback to the representatives. One of the main areas of discussion was traffic.

The last portion of the meeting was devoted to the new Utah Tax restructure. This is a tax cut for most Utahns and it will give an exemption to residents on social security, as Utah is one of only two states in the country that still taxes Social Security benefits. 

The disadvantages of the bill are that the tax on food will be reinstated. There will also be a higher gasoline tax. Also, some services will also be taxes such as landscaping services and others.

These representatives want your feedback on the tax bill so they know how to vote.

All of these issues affect South Jordan residents. Representatives are asking the people of South Jordan and other South Valley cities to let them know how they can help.  They want to know the best way to represent the people who elected them. 

The next Town Hall will be Jan. 18 at the South Jordan Library (10673 South Redwood Road).