Spencer Rands' Platform

Accessible Councilors

For our city government to be effective it is important that our city councilors understand the concerns and needs of the residents. For this to be possible councilors need to be accessible outside of city council meetings. They need to be prepared to listen and seek a real understanding of what is going on in the community.

Communication with residents is at the core of a city council’s responsibilities. Without input from Orem’s residents, they cannot represent your interests. With large projects, like our recreation center, Library Hall, the city's new ten-million-gallon water tank, and the new city hall, we need to create forums for residents to not only share ideas but also concerns with projects. I intend to schedule meetings to be held with enough time for residents to review plans and express their concerns. As your city councilman, I will work to ensure that your voice is heard on city council.

To ensure your voice is heard I will be accessible by phone, text, email, and Facebook before and after the election.

Call or text me on my cell phone: (385) 200-1204

Email me at Spencer@VoteRands.com

Message me on Facebook: facebook.com/VoteRands

You can also message me with the contact form at the bottom of this page.

If you would like to meet face to face just let me know and we can make that happen too.

First Responders

In 2019 when I ran for Orem City Council our first responders were in bad shape. They weren't receiving the support they needed from leadership or in their paychecks. Many expressed plans to leave and many did. Since then, the current city council has done much to improve the situation but history will repeat itself if we do not stay vigilant in supporting our first responders. Every year, every budget, every major leadership change we need to evaluate whether we are doing enough for our First Responders.

We all hope to never need our First Responders but if we do we want them to be experienced, qualified, and well equipped to do what they do best. Our Orem First Responders make Orem Family City USA, without them, Orem would not be the wonderful place to live that it is today. I have served on the Orem Public Safety Commision from its creation in 2022 to make sure they have what they need to do their jobs. As a City Councilor you can count on me to continue to support and look out for our First Responders.

Responsible Spending

Business Friendly

I believe that one of the keys to keeping taxes low in Orem is economic growth. The best way to obtain economic growth is by making Orem business friendly, and we don’t need to give huge tax incentives to do this. We need to make sure that the process of starting a business and running a business in Orem is a smooth and efficient process.

When I moved to Las Vegas to build our Papa Murphy’s Franchises we had several jurisdictions we could put our first store in; Las Vegas, North Las Vegas, Henderson, or Clark County. We were excited to roll up our sleeves and get to work on building our first store, so we decided to go with the City of Las Vegas. The mayor had publicly been pro-business and wanted Las Vegas to be more business-friendly. Her goal was to bring more jobs to the town, our new store would bring 15-20 new jobs to Las Vegas. We found a location and secured the lease, contingent upon getting city approval on the site.

This is where the rubber met the road and we discovered that being business friendly was easier said than done. After delivering the plans and waiting weeks to see if the city had any revisions, we finally got them back. Our building permits were denied unless we were willing to make substantial changes. They wanted us to add more bathrooms to a take-out-only restaurant and add a $40,000 grease trap. These were the requirements of a large full-service sit-down restaurant they were requesting. To make a long story short, the city council had recently passed a new building code that had huge impacts on small businesses like ours. After months of communications, we finally got a meeting with a city councilor. When we met with her, she was surprised to find the new building code had affected us so negatively. In that meeting, the head of the building department was there and agreed that the grease traps and bathrooms were not needed for our operation but the “code was the code.” Several months later we finally got the building permit but only after the city ordered environmental studies to come to the same conclusion, our operation in no way needed the requested items. Our original building plans were approved but the whole project was delayed almost 8 months. That’s 8 months of jobs that residents could have had and 8 months of taxes the city could have collected.

Having been on the other side I know I can prevent stories like this from taking place in Orem. As city councilmen I won't just vote for polices without understanding how they affect Orem's businesses, residents, and families.

Traffic

Anyone who lives in Orem knows that traffic is a real issue. Most roads are as wide as they are going to get, which means we must be as efficient as possible with the roads we have. Ensuring that our traffic light systems are calibrated and running correctly is important. Also important is making sure road lines are clear and visible and that all road signs clearly indicate the appropriate actions. There is not one single big solution that will fix the problem but a combination of smaller ones like those mentioned here.

Keeping Orem Family City USA means making our streets safe for our kids and families. Families need to be able to safely walk to our beautiful parks without fear of being hit by cars. Some neighborhood arterials have become very busy and better markings and/or crosswalk lights are needed. Near the UVU campus, a very effective crosswalk lighting system called a HAWK Signal was installed. This has been great for UVU and I will work to make sure signals like these are put in place where needed to help our families stay safe.

Additionally, part of the solution is making sure we don't make the problem worse. What do I mean by this? Apartments, large developments, and other new buildings all need to have a heavy focus on how they will affect traffic before being approved or ultimately not being approved of the negative affect is too great to mange.  

Affordable Housing

Whether we like it or not, Utah County is growing and Orem along with it. It’s important that we manage this growth in a responsible and intentional way. It’s also important that we have diverse types of housing and a full range of affordability levels. However, we do not want this growth to come at the cost of safe neighborhoods and streets. The growth should and can be managed in a way that keeps Orem “Family City USA”.

As we grow, high-density housing or apartment-style dwellings are becoming an ever-increasing issue in Orem. Between UVU and the population growth of Utah County, the demand for these types of housing is only going to increase. With that said, there is an appropriate way for the city to allow such housing to be built, but it must be well planned and in areas that make sense for our city and its neighborhoods.
What do I mean by areas the make sense? I mean areas that have the appropriate infrastructure in place prior to construction. Appropriate infrastructure means the roads must be large enough to handle the increased traffic and burden on the area. When large high-density housing is built, it adds significant amounts of cars to the road. Based on current traffic, some roads can handle this but most cannot. Particularly small single lane roads built in neighborhoods designed for single-family dwellings are not a good fit for these kinds of projects. This means that neighborhoods designed and built for single-family dwellings would not and should not be candidates for high-density housing projects.

While small single lane roads are clearly not the place for large high-density complexes, some large roads may not work either. Some of Orem’s larger roads are already overburdened and cannot handle the large amounts of traffic these complexes bring; however, other larger roads still have the capacity and would make ideal locations for such types of housing. If the infrastructure is in place and the roads have the capacity, we still need to make sure the site plans also make sense. For example, if an apartment building builds insufficient parking to meet its tenants’ needs, the result is extra cars spilling out into street parking and other parking areas becoming a burden on the surrounding area. These are just some of the things that need to be weighed and considered before approving any kind of large housing projects. When the impacts are not clear or may be significant, public meetings need to be held to ensure all stakeholders positions are considered and taken seriously. I firmly believe that if all the right elements are not in place, Orem City Council should say no to a project or zoning change.

Orem is a fantastic place to raise a family, and I believe it is very important that as we grow, we ensure that there continues to be affordable housing for young families. At the same time, we need to ensure that the beautiful and safe neighborhoods Orem has enjoyed for so many years are not compromised by overburdened roads and insufficient infrastructure. I am committed to making sure Orem grows responsibly, planned, and without hurting existing communities.

C.A.R.E. Tax

The C.A.R.E. Tax helps to fund many of Orem's wonderful cultural arts and recreation programs such as the SCERA, the Hale Center Theater, Utah Shakespeare Festival, Utah Symphony & Opera, Roots of Freedom Foundation and many more. It has been my pleasure for the last four years to serve on the CARE Advisory Commission. On this commission we hear from each and every applicant who applies to receive CARE funds. Once we understand how and for what they would spend those funds we decide how to best allocate those funds. Sitting on that commission I have seen it as my duty to make sure that these taxes, fund organizations and projects that benefit Orem. As a city councilor I will take this same attitude with all of the taxes that Orem collects to make sure they are being spent efficiently and beneficially for Orem's benefit.

Families First

As Orem grows, it’s important that we not forget, people move here for the family friendly environment that makes Orem “Family City USA.” As city council makes crucial decisions about the future of Orem, families need to be a top priority. Each decision made needs to be weighed and considered by asking questions like “Will this be good for Orem families?” or “How will this affect new families’ desires to move to Orem?” As the father of three young boys, a little girl, and a second little girl on the way, I will approach city council decisions with a family first mentality. I truly believe with the right leaders on city council, we can keep Orem family friendly.

2nd Amendment

While the 2^nd amendment in Utah is mostly affected at state-level politics I believe it is important to have a city council willing to protect it if needed. The right to bear arms is an essential right that I am very grateful we have here in America.

It is critical to make sure that Orem’s laws and ordinances do not infringe on our resident’s right to own firearms and to protect themselves and their families. I want to make sure Orem stays friendly to second amendment related businesses such as Gunnies, Get Some Guns & Ammo, Utah Airguns, and Ready Gunner. I will make sure Orem remains a 2^nd Amendment friendly city.