It hardly seems possible that it could be the end of February. It has been quite a month for me. Julie's surgery, my 87 year old mom falling, a car accident, fixing and repainting a wall at home (long story), removing about 10 inches of snow from my and my neighbor's driveway and sidewalks, and trying to navigate health insurance coverage issues have made it a month to remember (or maybe forget).
But all that being said, it is nice to be back in the office after a couple of weeks away!
UPCOMING CITY EVENTS
Lifehouse Performing Arts Academy Presents: It Started with a Mouse I February 22 - February 24
Best Books of 2021 I February 23 7:00 pm
MUOTeen 2022 I February 25 - February 26
No Pressure Book Club I March 1 7:00 pm
Coppelia by Utah Metropolitan Ballet I March 3 - March 5
Provo Women's Day I March 5
Provo Women's Day Y2K Afterparty I March 5 7:00 pm
More Than a Body with Lexie and Lindsay Kite I March 7 7:00 pm
Excellence in the Community presents: Mariachi Sol de Jalisco - tribute to Selena I March 14 7:30 pm
BYU Vocal Point I March 18 - March 19
Soundsation I March 15 7:00 pm
Steel Magnolias I May 5 - May 28
NEWS YOU CAN USE
- Gov. Cox ordered the removal of Russian products from Utah liquor stores.
- The Utah Legislature has a few ideas of how it plans to spend an extra $2 billion — part of the ‘largest budget in state history’.
- Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has shown his ability to lead his country under attack while hundreds of murderers-for-hire are hunting for Zelenskyy. Ukrainian citizens around the country have shown remarkable bravery and they are being joined by volunteers from around the world. The European Union and other countries have implemented no-fly zones and imposed stiff sanctions, sending the ruble into free-fall and causing Russia to hike its key interest rate to 20%. Even Switzerland broke its traditional neutral stance and has condemned Russia's actions. Protests are occurring around the world, including in Russia where thousands have been arrested. Some half a million refugees have fled to neighboring countries, countries that have thrown open their borders and welcomed them in. Right now, peace negotiations are underway in Belarus, one of the few countries aligned with Russia. There is a #StandWithUkraine rally at the Capitol tonight at 5 pm, with brief remarks from Governor Cox and Lt. Governor Henderson.
- Many Utahns are finding themselves in a new situation of being house rich and cash poor. They are finding different ways to cope with rising home values and property tax.
- Utahns in Congress call for severe sanctions, but not military action as Russia invaded Ukraine.
PROVO SOCIAL MEDIA
HOT-BUTTON ITEMS IN PROVO
My experience after working for about 25 years with the legislature is that ideas for legislation that impact cities start from one of three sources: interest groups and their lobbyists, national model legislation, or from constituents who have had a bad experience with some city somewhere. Frequently, cities are painted with a broad brush (if one city is a "bad actor," then all cities must be) and that often results in the "one size doesn't fit all" legislation. Frequently, legislation gains steam at the capitol when a sponsor shares anecdotal experiences which seem way out of kilter to legislators.
This year has not been an exception to these rules. We are seeing, for example, legislation around housing affordability that assumes cities are the ones that are regulating housing, or refusing to rezone for high density housing to a degree that it increases the cost of housing significantly. The truth is that city regulation accounts for around 6% of the cost of a home - just about the same as a real estate agent commission. City regulation includes things like utility connection fees, minimum lot sizes, setbacks, curb, gutter and sidewalk and other city fees like inspection fees, plan review fees and the like. With rapidly increasing housing prices, there is a push to get cities to be less regulatory and to reduce fees, which seems to make sense from the outside. The challenge is that if the new growth in a city doesn't pay its way, those costs of growth are passed on to taxpayers and existing rate payers. The costs aren't actually avoided; they are just paid for by others.
The key to avoiding these kinds of challenges with legislators is to tell our story at least as well as the lobbyists do. Thank goodness that we have talented city staff, quarterbacked by Deputy Mayor Isaac Paxman, and our colleagues at the Utah League of Cities and Towns and in other cities that can join forces to tell our story better. It is a monumental effort with a lot of moving parts, but it is done very well.
All that being said, every session we end up with new laws that often make our work a bit harder. But for every bill that makes life more complex for cities, we usually avoid another dozen or so bills that don't succeed because we tell our story well. So watch for updates after the session ends on Friday as to the new laws we will need to implement!
FUN STUFF
One of the things that I really did enjoy about February was the Winter Olympics. I thought you might enjoy this little video clip about which Olympics really rule - summer or winter.
I hope your day goes well. We will be back tomorrow on a city council day, and I will fill you in on what the Council is considering and how they decide on key issues tomorrow.
Wayne
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