Name: Richard L. Lenz
Age: 56
Occupation: President/Owner of RealAcoustix LLC
Family: Wife: Tamara, Children: Brittany Hunkin and Brady Lenz Grandchildren: Brooklyn and Memphis
Hobbies: Music and singing, playing with my grandkids.
1. Name some of the qualifications you possess that makes you the best choice to represent your city?
I have been a businessman and entrepreneur for over 30 years. I understand what it takes to budget and how to make the hard decisions. I also understand how important it is to listen to others, assess their needs and balance those with what's best for everyone involved. There are things in life that only time can teach us. Time has taught me a lot of lessons. I am also wise enough to know that I don't know it all. We have a city full of experienced, intelligent citizens. I look forward to working with them to keep Kaysville the fine city it is and improve it where we can.
2. What political ideals and philosophies guide your decision-making process?
I believe in the ideal that Thomas Jefferson gave us when he said, "The government that governs best, governs least". We live in a time when it seems that we have been regulated and intruded upon in all facets of our lives, personal, financial and family. Government needs to not only be transparent but it needs to get out of the way sometimes. It seems that local, state and federal governments want to use their power to right every wrong and finance their personal agendas, whatever they might be. I don't agree with that theology. Government needs to provide the basic necessities of infrastructure that is the expectation of every citizen, police and fire departments, streets, building and safety issues etc. A good government knows its place and does not venture beyond what should be its intentionally limited scope.
3. What is the most important issue facing your city?
As with most cities right now I believe it is our decreased revenues, now and in the near future. There has been a call from within Kaysville City to raise property taxes 5% per year for the next 5 years for a net 25% increase. This need to raise taxes has also been echoed by certain City Council members. There are those who argue that we have put it off for too long and that we need to do it. However, my assessment of this is different than some of these individuals. There are many cost-cutting measures that have been put into place by a lot of companies in Utah and the United States during this recession. Our implementation of some of these measures would save the City more than the proposed tax increase would bring in. We need to start from the inside and work our way out rather than always looking to the taxpayer to solve our financial woes. It does not mean that some tax increase might be necessary in the future, I just firmly believe we need to do all that we can before we burden our citizens with the bill.
4. Name some qualities that you possess that make you a good team worker and able to bring consensus among city leaders.
The qualities that make a good team is that everyone brings different talent and experience to the table. In my case I bring a wealth of business knowledge, hard work and an ardent desire to research ways to solve problems. One thing I am known for is knowing the issues and having a grasp of their background and how we got where we are. That is the beginning of building a consensus, knowing what the issues are and how best to solve them. The great thing about teams and listening to others is they may bring a perspective I hadn't thought of. When we meld all of these perspectives together it gives us a more complete picture and then we can have consensus. When we take a look at issues from all sides, physical, financial, social or whatever, we can better solve the problems that face us.
5. What do you think will be some major issues your city will face a generation from now?
I think that we will begin to grow again in a few years, capping out at around 40,000 residents. When that happens we will have infrastructure issues such as water and power to deal with. I am concerned about creating a cohesive business corridor that serves, but does not interfere with, residential communities. We are on a track of determining some of those issues now with our economic development committee, but there's a lot of work to do. We need to attract good, viable businesses that will serve the community for many years to come. It will require us to be more business friendly to do so, but we can get there.
Kaysville is, and will continue to be, a "bedroom community". I feel that is appropriate given the history of our town and its reputation for being a great place to live. The citizen's need to feel that the City is listening to their concerns and responding to their needs. That will be the case this year, next year and 20 years from now. The work we do now will pave the way to creating that kind of environment.
Richard Lenz
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