April Update

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Hello friends,

I thought it’s about time to give a little update. Just to be clear, I will be noting some things about my service on city council, but this is not an official page of the city. The things I say here are my personal notes and reflections, not official representations of anything from the city. (I hope I will remember to say this in all posts that mention city stuff, to be crystal clear.)

I have now served on the city council since early January. We have passed a code to comply with a state mandate that we follow their wildland urban fire code, known as the WUI code. This basically means the state wants smaller government entities to help in making sure properties are safe, and that there are ways to help ease dangerous fire situations through code, especially when cities are near open land that can have wildfires.

We reviewed, discussed, and then adopted the Washington County Conservancy Ultra Water Efficiency Standards. This basically means that if new construction subdivisions follow some very strict rules, they can get cheaper impact fees. Those homes will have to follow the water saving rules going forward. I think this policy is a win for affordability as well as water wise practices.

The new council has continued to follow up about the West Field Park project, and we were recently sent the schedule. I just want it noted that the new members of the council are not responsible for this park happening on our watch. The council and previous mayor have been working on that park for a long time. A season of intense building demand made costs extremely high, and a significant amount of money has already been spent to do the improvements there. As a town of fewer than 2,000, the council and mayor opted not to raise taxes to fund the development of the park, but have carefully budgeted and done what they could as they went. The current schedule is for completion in June. Please know that in my experience with local builders, it is wise to set expectations that a plan doesn’t always go exactly as outlined. Usually it takes longer than they initially state.

This week I attended the Mid-Year Conference for the Utah League of Cities and Towns. I learned so much, and toured our reservoir. I attended a workshop on conflict competence, classes on rural taxation and caucuses on rural and rapid growth areas, both of which focused on water.

Here are some of my big idea takeaways.

  • I want to focus on interests, not positions, in trying to solve problems for our community.
  • I want to be a good listener who focuses on understanding problems thoroughly before trying to solve.
  • I want to listen well and help our community solve its problems together rather than think I or the council can solve things for “them”.
  • I think we should celebrate America 250 more creatively. I have celebration envy of all that is going on in Santa Clara.
  • I want to talk about water conservation more as a city council. I will bring this up. We talked about needing to make plans for if the district has to restrict water, but we haven’t made it more concrete. I would love to involve public feedback on this. I loved how Brian Steed talked about how solutions can be better from the “ground up,” which means it’s better when our own local communities create ways to solve problems instead of waiting for things to come down from the state.

A favorite quote from the Keynote Speaker, brought to us by Abraham Lincoln: “We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection.”

That is my hope for our city – that we will be bound together by affection for one another in a way that we always speak to each other with respect and hope to solve problems together.

Last note: I have been at my new job as a technical writer for just over two years now. This is my little pot of succulents. I bought one when I passed a 60 day review, and another at one year. I will probably get another one to add to it to celebrate. I enjoy my work and my team there, and I’m grateful to have a variety of meaningful forms of work for myself right now.

Hello 2026

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I just want to give a little update on starting my work for City Council. This is my personal page and blog, so I want to state upfront that nothing I say here is an official statement from Toquerville City. The content here is just my thoughts and represent me, not the City of Toquerville.

My awesome Dad
I think I look a little scared here. I take the role very seriously, so it’s probably appropriate.
Everyone new getting sworn in

I was sworn in on Wednesday of last week with my friend Valerie Preslar from Planning Commission, our new Mayor Dan Catlin, and incumbent Wayne Olsen. I participated in my first meeting as a city council member. My parents came to support me, and I was really grateful for them and my friends who did so as well. One of the personal reasons I ran is because my dad served the City of Hurricane on the planning commission, city council, and as mayor for many years. After seeing everything that Mr. Catlin now has to do, I don’t know that I would ever want to follow that full path, but it warmed my heart to have family support.

At the meeting, the mayor made some assignments, and I did not receive any assignments in the meeting. However, I did volunteer to serve with some housing organizations. I have already served on the Advocacy Committee for the Housing Action Coalition, and I will be joining the Utah League of Cities and Towns group who monitor housing legislation.

As a report to my wonderful supporters, here are the classes I have attended since being elected in an effort to become skilled at serving our city.

  • Budget and Finance 101 and a Budget information-focused luncheon given by the Utah League of Cities and Towns and the City of Santa Clara
  • City Council Overview Training by the Utah League of Cities and Towns

I was not able to attend Conflict Competence, but I did receive the educational materials and have reviewed them. I do believe it is important to learn skills to make conflict productive rather than destructive, and I have studied this topic in the past for other applications.

I also attended a Legislative Preview session about bills related to housing that will be coming up this legislative session.

The amount of trainings and meetings I need to attend may preclude me writing extensively here, but I will update when I can. I encourage anyone who is interested in the goings on of the city to attend city council and planning commission meetings. They are always open to the public. Additionally, we are fortunate to have excellent staff serving our town, and they are happy to answer questions at the city offices any time.

On a personal note, this year our country turns 250 years old, so I have started making a patriotic quilt. If we are so lucky as to have another town quilt show this 4th of July, I hope we will have a few celebratory pieces to commemorate the United States. I acknowledge that we are having a hard time uniting right now at a national level. This pains my heart deeply. I hope to be a voice of civility and bridge-building at a local level.

Shout out to Claudia Young and her tireless efforts for quilt displays past! I have left quilts at her house after the 4th for an embarrassingly long time before, and she has always been kind to me in spite of it.

Affordable Housing Update Stats 2025

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It’s the time of year when I want to check in and see the most recent data on affordable housing in Washington County, so here is a little update.

According to the Department of Workforce services, the median income in Washington County, Utah for 2020 was $71,904. The Census said the median income was $76,411 in Washington County in 2023. The median home price was $535,000 for Washington County in September of 2023 according to the Board of Realtors data website. When I ran the numbers in the MLS myself, I got $520K for September of 2024, which tracks with the board’s data showing that the median has come down a little since last year. Knowing all of this, I emailed my friend Scott Stout from Guild Mortgage to ask what kind of income is needed to buy a median home price, and what the median income could buy. This is what he told me:

To buy a $520K home with 7% interest rates and 5% down, a family would need about $102K in income. These numbers also assume low or no car payment, credit cards, student loans, etc.

With the median income of $71K, same assumptions, a buyer could shop for a $375K home. In our current market, that is essentially priced out, or extremely competitive. Many properties at that price point are scooped up by investors as rentals.

As discouraging as some of these numbers are, I see a glimmer of hope in the fact that year over year the median price has come down just a bit. I definitely believe that the drop results from the high interest rates which put downward pressure on prices.

September Housing Acceleration Workshop Re-cap

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https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-tj42g-16e94a0

This episode is a recap from my attendance at the Housing Supply Accelerator Workshop that was recently presented by the Southern Utah Land Use Task Force. The target audience was Mayors, city councils, city staff, planning commissioners, county commissioners, and builders & developers, but I think all of us can benefit from knowledge about how our government works and how it could work to serve the public.

If you are interested in learning more about how to help with affordable housing challenges in our county, check out the Housing Action Coalition’s Fall Forum this year. Tickets are free, but we recommend you get one because they have sponsors for food, and we like to have a good headcount.

Click HERE to sign up to attend on October 30 at Black Desert Resort.