One Person's Opinion Gerald W. Bischoff Questions needing answers This election of city officials will be the most critical in the history of the new city. Those elected will set the direction and tone for the city. We need to get answers to many of the following questions. What do you think the community's priorities ought to be? What vision do you have for the community? Next five years? Next 10 years? What approach do you intend to take with regards to community development and planning? What ordinances do you support for the new community? What ordinances do you oppose for the new community? What experience, talent or training do you have that will make a contribution to the community? What do you see as the challenges to the new community? Do you favor a name change? Will you practice the politics of inclusion or exclusion? How do you propose to treat those in a minority of opinion on issues? On what items or projects do you plan to vote to spend tax money? When a tax increase becomes necessary, what taxes will you vote to raise? Candidates for Election In a recent Standard Examiner article, the view was expressed that all candidates would do a good job in building a new city. I disagree with this premise. My experiences have shown me that: ? Some candidates are open to new ideas, others are not. ? Some candidates are willing to work hard, others are not. ? Some candidates are willing to rise above pettiness, others are not. ? Some candidates will take the time to become informed, others are not. ? Some candidates are willing to share their ideas, others are not. ? Some candidates will be fair, others may not be. ? Some candidates are open to growth, others are not. You, as a member of this community, have the obligation to become informed. A night to meet the candidates has been scheduled on January 15, 1999 at 6:30 p.m. at Pioneer Elementary. I urge you to attend the meeting, become better informed about the issues and find out which candidates represent your point of view. The candidates will make a short presentation followed by a question and answer session. If you are dissatisfied with the answers you get, press the candidates to provide answers to your questions. What's in a name? During the debate on incorporation, an argument was used that our neighbors were waiting to gobble our communities up. The ink had barely dried on the election results, when some of the supporters for incorporation began advocating a name change for the new city. So will we do to ourselves, what we accused our neighbors of wanting to do to us? Some of the candidates for public office would be satisfied if the new name for the community was Mill Creek or Pioneer City. As I listen to some of their arguments, I don't believe that a name change will either help or detract from unifying us as a community. Only good or bad leadership can unify or divide us. Are we going down the road to losing our unique historical heritage by throwing away the name Marriott-Slaterville? What does this say if we so willingly cast off the contributions of past pioneers? Will the name Marriott-Slaterville be relegated to history's trivia or buffs? Will only those who have a strong interest in history be aware that these two communities ever existed? For example, Bingham's Fort, Broom's Bench or Wilson Lane? I do not want to see the name changed. I know we can preserve the name and build a sense of community without a divisive battle. I do not want to casually throw away the past identity. I feel betrayed by those who pushed incorporation as a way of preserving our heritage and are now pushing for a name change in the next breath. 196