“Like, there’s a way that we can actually make this work without continuing with the vitriol and all the negative talk, you know?” he said.

Dysfunction on the commission was the first reason Adams cited when explaining why he’s running for the Seat A spot, being vacated by Bob Stevenson.

“It’s almost like when you have parents that are going through a divorce or something, you know, and here the kids are trying to decide, like, who do we support?” he said. “And right now, you’ve got a commission that is that way, and because Davis County commissioners aren’t just a legislative body, they’re the administrative body as well, when you have the three administrators … bickering and fighting or visibly, palpably upset with each other, that trickles down.”

Adams said he’s spoken to department heads and employees who have noticed, and he believes that what sets him apart from the other two candidates in the race is his ability to bring people together.

Ryan Comer, Standard-Examiner

“And it’s a leadership style that is unique,” he said. “It’s not a type A, like, ‘Hey, you’ve got to do this … or else. Fall in line.’ That doesn’t work with a commission because you guys all have the same power, really, and so you have to approach it a totally different way. You have to say, like, ‘OK, you’re really good at this. My word, you’re really good at this. Can you help us do this part?’ And, ‘Hey, you’re really good at this. Can you help us do this?’ … I believe strongly there’s very few people that can do that and do that effectively, and that’s one of the gifts that I possess.”

Government experience

Adams cited his government experience as a plus for him. He’s served for seven years on the Kaysville City Council.

“So, I feel adamant that if you haven’t served on a council, then you have no business running for this position,” he said. “The way government works, the way a government budget works, the way that government employees work are so different from anything else that you could experience in the private sector.

“For example, it is near impossible to fire a government employee, which sounds insane, but we have run into this time and time again. You cannot fire somebody. And, you know, when I hear people say, ‘I’m gonna clean house,’ and, ‘I’m gonna do this and this,’ and I’m like, ‘Boy, you have no clue what you’re talking about.'”

Transparency and tax increase

Adams spoke of transparency, saying it was “a big deal.” He tied it to the recent property tax increase of 14.9% from the Davis County Commission.

Adams recognized the importance of paying for services and that the cost of services goes up, but he said the biggest thing was how those costs are being shared with the citizens.

He said the current County Commission hadn’t held truth-in-taxation for nine years.

He said the meeting should be held yearly or every other year, “if anything, just to tell everybody where you sit and where you’re at and hopefully be able to tell them, ‘We’re in a good place. We actually don’t need to do anything.'”

Speaking more about the property tax increase, Adams said it was frustrating to see 30% as the original possibility and then have it go to 14.9% without clarity on details.

“If the recommendation was 30% and you’re going to go to 14, what did you just eliminate to do that?” he said. “And the true way you should do that, really, is you should say, ‘What can we cut? What can we do?’ And you take this or this or this out and you say, ‘OK, recalculate it. What are we at now?’ ‘Well, now we’re at 24%.’ ‘Well, that’s still too high for all of us.’ ‘OK. Take this, this, this, this, this, now where are we at?’ ‘You know, 15.’

“You don’t just come with a number and then say, make it work, right? And so … that’s essentially where we’re at right now is they came in at (15). We don’t know how they’re going to cover the other 15% that was recommended. And that’s a tough position, too, to put any department head in. It was just a really, really bad way to process it. I don’t agree with it at all.”

Davis Park Golf Course

When talking about balancing development with preserving open space, Adams talked about the Davis Park Golf Course, which he said makes money.

He said there was some chatter about Fruit Heights being obligated to come up with a plan for moderate-income housing. One of the options, Adams said, involved updating the general plan and on the general plan saying where there could be moderate-income housing. According to Adams, Fruit Heights is in a bad position because it’s 95% built out.

The golf course is within Fruit Heights’ boundaries, and so it was put in the general plan that if the golf course was to be redeveloped, that would be where the moderate-income housing would be, Adams said.

“Well, for a lot of people, once they saw that, they felt like, ‘Hey, even though it’s a general plan, and even though it’s just a plan, once that seed’s planted,’ and I tend to agree,” he said. “I think that once you plant that seed, you know, you have developers calling like, ‘Well, it’s in your plan.’ And then all of a sudden you get just two commissioners who say, ‘Yeah, we could sell this land for a healthy sum and really make a lot of money.’ Then you lose the golf course forever.”

Adams said he is adamantly opposed to losing the golf course because if lost, it can never be brought back.

Housing

The golf course discussion highlighted another element of Adams’ candidacy. He wants to stand in between the state and cities and tell the state not to put pressure on a city that can’t do anything because it’s in a bind.

Talking more about housing later, Adams said the county commission doesn’t make any housing decisions, but there is something he can do, which is be a mediator, which is needed because there’s conflict.

“And there needs to be a mediator that comes in and helps these two entities start to work together and not butt heads, and that’s going to be, like my main mission with the housing situation, because the state right now wants to tell the cities, ‘You have got to do this type of housing,’ and the cities are saying, ‘Don’t tell us what to do. We know our city best,’ which is ironic because the state says to the Feds, ‘Don’t tell us what to do,’ then when it gets down to their level, they try and tell cities,” he said.

“So somebody needs to come in and say, ‘Hey, you guys, let’s work together, how about, and solve this problem?'”

Economic growth

Adams talked about bringing “the right types of businesses to Davis County.”

He said sporting activities and events like ice skating or ice hockey would do very well in Davis County. He also highlighted concerts and plays as being popular.

He said bringing in the right type of businesses does two things: provides entertainment and sales tax.

“And when you bring in sales tax revenue, you eliminate the need for increasing property tax to pay for goods,” he said.

Sheriff’s office

Adams highlighted a concern from the Davis County Sheriff’s Office, which was too much overtime.

Adams said this was a case where another person may need to be hired.

“So that’s something that I would look at – really, really analyze it – because paying overtime can sometimes just exacerbate the situation,” he said.

Adams likened it to a situation he said he faced when he first joined the Kaysville City Council. He said the city was spending a lot of money outsourcing legal counsel and he thought a city attorney should be hired.

“And so that initially seemed scary, because, again, you’re adding an employee, but you got to see, like, did we just save the city money?” he said. “And also, maybe future lawsuits? Because this person’s in-house and has a vested interest in the city over somebody (who isn’t).”

Concluding statement

Adams said in his closing statement that his biggest priority is making sure Davis County continues to feel the way everyone wants it to feel and be the county everyone has grown to love, as well as keeping the taxes low while providing services.

“One of the things I will say is that I was given talents and one of my talents was in sales, but I wasn’t utilizing my God-given talent of bringing people together and solving problems,” he said. “And this provides me the opportunity to be able to use that talent. The last five months have been the happiest of my life. interviewing for a job with thousands of people, for a job that I know I will do so, so good at.”

For more on Adams and his campaign, visit https://www.electjohnadams.com/

Contact Standard-Examiner editor Ryan Comer at rcomer@standard.net.