Do Not combine Salt Lake County Surveyor and Recorder Offices

"But County Mayor Ben McAdams said Friday that he would push to eliminate the recorder position altogether and merge it into the surveyor's office in an effort to "save tax dollars and streamline services." Both offices deal with real estate and land issues."

This is a Bad idea. As someone that regularly uses the recorder's office, surveyor's office or website, and the assessor's office website, it is true that they need to communicate with each other. The Surveyor and Assessor websites function fairly well and are free to use. The Recorder's website might as well be non existent to anyone that doesn't work for a Title company. It however needs to be separate.

The Recorder's office has some really great staff, such as Rich (who knows how to do anything or knows who does) and the front counter staff.The computers that the staff use for most customers works much better than years ago.

If you are looking for an easement from pre-statehood, the 1/2 size record books with the large magnifying glass are a pain to use and see clearly. The Office has them on the computer (which you can see better zoomed in) which didn't work the last time I needed it. It was working for the out of office people. It can take a while to use the microfiche cards, but you don't need to use them as much as you used to. Gary, over the last 15 or so years has made things work much better. The reason I met Rich several years ago, was I came in to the office and asked Gary how to do something with an existing condo plat. He said Rich would know. Kenneth "Rich" Richmond is a rockstart in that office.

Chris Herrod is the best candidate for Utah Congressional District 3

I wore Chris Herrod and Deidre Henderson stickers at the special Congressional District 3 GOP Convention and so I was thrilled one of them won.

Chris Herrod supported Ted Crus for POTUS. He supports limiting Federal over reach and protecting our freedoms. He believes in the US Constitution and would support that over whoever is President of the US. He married someone from Ukraine and is not a fan of Russia as he lived under Soviet rule for a few years. He has been pro-legal immigration for years. His wife's family came from Muslim upbringing and he isn't prejudiced. I have a few friends that voted for Trump only because Hillary was such a bad candidate. I didn't vote for either. 

Chris Herrod is the best candidate running for Utah's Congressional District 3 "vacancy". I served with Chris in the Utah Legislature in 2011 and 2012. He cares deeply for this county. He has my full support and endorsement.

Remember that hundreds of thousands of voters came out to the 2016 caucus meetings including democrats. They elected the tens of thousands of delegates. Democrats picked their nominee using the delegate system. They have no primary. We get a couple of Buy My Ballot Spot candidates that could have just as easily gone straight to the general election if they didn't want to go though the caucus/convention system. That is costing us 3 months more not having 4 representatives in Congress. We could be voting among all candidates in August.

For more information for Chris Herrod, go to
http://herrodforcongress.com/

Background on 2016 HB 69 and why it is important now

Email sent June 2, 2017

 

SCC members. Sorry for this email. I thought it was important as we are not scheduled to meet in June 2017 anymore as a SCC.

Background on 2016 HB 69 and why it is important now. Violating our own party C&B may cause our selection on June 17th to be in question. Perhaps that is the intent?

https://le.utah.gov/~2016/bills/static/HB0069.html

See lines 78 to 83.

While 2014 SB 54 was being created and passing, I kept making fun of the concept that the party would need a hall for 8,000 delegates under the QPP status. 4,000 in the hall and 4,000 ready to step in if someone didn't show. As late as 2016 I was proposing to change our Party C & B so it would match the QPP for alternate delegates or change the law to match our Party C&B (Constitution and Bylaws). My attempt to change the law was hijacked and then failed.

In discussing this concern with Mark Thomas at the Lt. Gov. office at the time he said that they had determined, in consultation with the AG's office that the party having a deadline of 5 days or 8 days or 14 days to change out delegates prior to the convention was reasonable and they accepted the party as a QPP for the 2016/2017 elections. We wouldn't need a hall for 8,000 state delegates and alternates because we would know someone needed to be replaced if they simply told us in advance.

I also personally asked the 2014 SB 54 sponsor what his intent was just prior to a SCC meeting. He said he didn't like the last minute appointments and wanted to have as many vote as possible and mentioned what we do at National RNC conventions with delegates and alternate delegates. That might work fine for 40 delegates from Utah, that are not voting on different races but the party opted to create a process to replace delegates (alternate delegates) and it is in our party C & B

If we don't follow our C & B, which includes deadlines such as 5 days prior to the convention to replace delegates (alternate delegates) are we saying we were not a QPP for the 2016 elections? While the party may not have done what the original sponsor of 2014 SB 54 wanted re: alternate delegates, it seemed to be fine during his 2016 race. Does he want to invalidate his election in 2016 or invalidate our party's selection of a nominee to replace Rep. Jason Chaffetz on June 17th.

I have contacted two party officers on this issue. one agreed and the other said it was a moot point, potentially referring to someone posting 20A-9-101 at the last convention to justify not following our party C&B. I am more worried at this point at the 2016 elections and at the nomination of our candidate for CD3 in 2 weeks to replace Rep. Chaffetz.

If our Party C&B has a 5 day deadline to change our delegates prior to the 17th, we should follow it. Someone claiming we are violating the QPP status needs to remember those deadlines were specifically allowed by both the Lt. Gov office and the AG office for the 2016 elections.

If anyone questions my talking to Mark Thomas (Chief Deputy/Director of Elections, Utah) last year on this issue, re: 2016 HB 69, call him. I confirmed our conversation with him this week.

Fred C. Cox, Salt Lake County

2015-2017 SCC member and 2017-2019 SCC member

We do Not need the Buy My Ballot Spot system

We never needed the Buy My Ballot Spot (2014 SB 54) for someone to get on the ballot if they didn't want to go though the parties. Just get 300 signatures from their friends or 1000 signatures for a state wide race and go directly to the General Election as an Unaffiliated Candidate.

The Buy My Ballot Spot with paid signature gatherers favors the rich and famous. Why do they need State Mandated help?


My Poll Results from respondents. Survey was sent to all active voters in House District 30 in West Valley City in January 2016 (not just one party)

A federal judge has ruled that a portion of the law that passed in 2014, SB 54 Elections Amendments, is not constitutional for two political parties, the Utah Republican and the Utah Constitution parties. This part of the law requires the political parties allow voters who were not members of their party to select their party’s nominee. Because of that ruling, candidates of the Utah Constitution Party cannot use the optional signature route to get on the party primary ballot. (They don’t have enough members). They are OK with the ruling because they didn’t want the State telling their Party how to select its nominees.

Voters can only sign one candidate petition per race but might be able to sign a form to remove their signature, if they act fast enough, and sign someone else’s petition.

In some areas of the State, there are not enough registered Republican Party voters to make the signature party nominee route fair. Candidates using the signature route likely will have to register to do so prior to the legislative session and then all candidates will register after the legislative session. If someone decides to run for Party Nominee after the legislative session, there is almost no time to gather signatures.

The Utah Republican Party, who wasn’t part of the “compromise” is still contesting the law in court. A special legislative session to fix the law based on the court ruling was not called by the Governor.

30% The legislature should provide minor fixes of the current election law and see what happens in 2016.

53% The legislature should repeal this petition law because the court’s ruling has caused the law to become unfair to some candidates in some political parties.

17% It is too late for the legislature to do anything this election year, but I will not be signing any signature party nominee petitions this year.

(Disclaimer, I have personally fought the signature party nominee route because I believe it favors the incumbents, the rich and the famous. While I [was] an incumbent and plan on running for [election] after the legislative session though the neighborhood caucus and convention system, I am NOT also using the signature route because I do not believe that route is fair).

Do Not Sign Our Schools Now

Do you support Our Schools Now?

No, What was originally a 20% income tax increase, and then reduced to 17.5%, is now a 10% income tax increase and a 10.6% sales tax increase.

 A  tax increase is not the answer, especially when there is no limit generally to what is spent on Higher Education which can be spent by the same Education Fund. While OSN places new limits for new money, it doesn't solve the underlying problem.

If the Legislature doesn't fund Higher Education to the level the Regents want, (and put some more back for K-12 Public Education), the Regents simply raise tuition and blame the legislature. That must change.  

We also do not spend all the $4.84 Billion K-12 Public Education funds in the best way, with too much of it not getting directly to classroom teaching. 

Read what the proposed bill says. How much local control do you want taken from a school? See the bottom of page 6.

https://elections.utah.gov/election-resources/initiatives 

See how much of our State Tax Money for K-12 Public Education is going where:

https://le.utah.gov/lfa/cobi/currentCobi/cobi.html?cobiID=8&tab=overviewTab

click on the uses and also see where it comes from.

Take a look at the $1.81 Higher Education Budget as well.
 https://le.utah.gov/lfa/cobi/currentCobi/cobi.html?cobiID=6&tab=overviewTab

Voting Ratings for 2017

Note: I was not in the legislature in 2017.  (I will be running in 2018 and hope to be back in 2019)

 Below is what I posted a year ago. As the ratings/rankings come in for 2017 for my current representative, I will be posting them below. See the bottom of this post for additional links. 

Winder 2017 Votes for the General Session are at:

Unlike what I have always done, there are no public postings yet for all votes together, but you can look up each bill vote at le.utah.gov

Cox 2016 Votes for the General Session are at:

 http://www.fredcox4utah.com/2016GenSessionVotes.pdf 

(2011, 2012, 2015 votes are also shown on this blog. Look in March of each year)

Winder 2017 Utah Grassroots, 38%, tied for 39 of 75, Average House 44%)
Winder: 38% lifetime average.
http://www.utahgrassroots.org/annual/

Cox: 2016 Utah Grassroots, 57%, tied for 11th of 75, (Average House 36%)
Cox: 69% lifetime average. 
http://www.utahgrassroots.org/annual/2016/index.html
http://www.utahgrassroots.org/annual/2016/GrassRoots2016.pdf

Winder: Libertas 2016, 59% rating.  

 http://libertasutah.org/resources/legislator-indexes/the-2017-libertas-legislator-index/

 Cox: Libertas 2016 Defenders of Liberty Award, 94% rating.   

Winder 2017 Floor Voting Attendance 14 missed of 727 votes. 1.93%

http://adambrown.info/p/research/utah_legislature/absent?year=2017

Cox 2016 Floor Voting Attendance 2 missed of 657 votes. 0.30%

Winder: 2017 Utah Taxpayers Association, 83.3% rating, tied for 33rd place
http://www.utahtaxpayers.org/?p=7992
 http://www.utahtaxpayers.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/2017-Scorecard-Final.pdf

Cox: 2016 Utah Taxpayers Association, 100% rating, tied for 1st place
http://www.utahtaxpayers.org/?p=7594

Winder: 2017 Heal Utah, 100%, A rating
http://www.healutah.org/2017-legislative-grades/

Cox: 2016 Heal Utah, 92%, A- rating
http://www.healutah.org/2016grades/ 

Winder: 2017 AFP-Utah, 84.48%, B rating, #38 in the House
https://utahscorecard.com/
https://utahscorecard.com/results/?leg[]=UTL000295&dist=30 
(no 2016 rating)

Winder: 2017 Salt Lake Chamber Business Champion. 
Cox: 2016 Salt Lake Chamber Business Champion, 89% rating (Also 2015, 2012 Business Champion.

 Winder: 2016 UEA, 78% rating,
http://www.myuea.org/issues_action/uea_under_the_dome/legislative_voting_records.aspx 
http://www.myuea.org/sites/utahedu/Uploads/files/Politics/2017%20Under%20the%20Dome/2017-HouseVotingRecords.pdf
Cox: 2016 UEA, 50% rating, 
http://www.myuea.org/issues_action/uea_under_the_dome/legislative_voting_records.aspx
http://www.myuea.org/sites/utahedu/Uploads/files/Politics/2016%20Under%20the%20Dome/2016-HouseVotingRecords.pdf
 
 

Winder Number of "No" Votes on the Floor, 28 votes or 3.9% #63 in the House (2017)
Cox: Number of "No" Votes on the Floor, 61 votes or 9.3%  #19 in the House (2016)
http://adambrown.info/p/research/utah_legislature/nay?year=2016

Winder: Party Line Voting 79.6%, 66th in the House (2017)
Cox: Party Line Voting 70% 68th in the House (2016)
http://adambrown.info/p/research/utah_legislature/party_support


------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
These I am still looking up or they haven't been released

Cox: 2016 Sutherland Institute Legislative Scorecard, 94% rating.
http://sutherlandinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/2016-legislator-scorecard-f.pdf


Cox: Utah School Board Association, 75% rating
http://usba.cc/
12 of 16 votes matching USBA stand on several bills.

Cox: UACC, 62% rating, tied for 12th of 75
http://www.utahnsagainstcommoncore.com/
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1kOCUhwFq2DX9ZJY49Jq9ieZ56YQ1RHOIPR9Qjk3-kM8/edit#gid=0


Cox: 2016 Utah CLI Index 70% rating. 
http://utleg.blogspot.com/

Cox: Utah Chapter, Sierra Club, 50% rating 
https://utah.sierraclub.org/content/utah-legislative-scorecard 

Links for Cox, 2016 Ratings/Rankings:
http://fredcox4utah.blogspot.com/2016/03/rep-fred-cox-voting-ratings-for-2016_12.html

For 2015 Session Ratings/Rankings and votes for previous years, see:
http://fredcox4utah.blogspot.com/2015/03/rep-fred-cox-voting-ratings-for-2015.html

The Utah Republican Women's Liberty Caucus Q and A

The Utah Republican Women's Liberty Caucus Q and A

What is the proper role of government?

We specifically limited Government by the US and Utah Constitutions, but there are obvious areas where we need Government. Driving from our home to downtown, wouldn't happen without it. It has to provide basic infrastructure. There needs to be basic security. We have the option of deciding we do or we do not want something, such as a county theater in Taylorsville, or proving basic safety and having enough jail cells available vs a "catch and release" policy. We get to decide and we may not all agree. That is OK.

How do you plan to help candidates?

Candidates need some money and lots of volunteers. Over the years, I have primarily helped by volunteering. The Party organization should be a great source of volunteers and has been in the past, but not as much recently. That needs to change.

What are you going to do to improve the caucus registration and check in system? (Some people believe it takes too long. Many people have to re-register to vote, even if they have already recently registered?)

The Counties and the State Party have not been cooperating re: data. Salt Lake County tried something in 2016 that simply didn't work. I still do not have a list of the attendees for my district.

I was very involved when the SCC set up pre-registration for caucus night, along with Same Day Ballots for Fire Fighters, Police, Mom's with Sick Kids, etc. We can use simple methods and not a one size fits all method.

How can we ensure that party election results are more accurate and mistakes are avoided?

Mistakes can easily be avoided when we make counting simple. I was 2 votes shy of getting out of convention last year for the Utah Legislature Primary, but everyone knew the results at the same time as they were counted in front of us. We were able to find the "extra" delegate prior to the voting and remove their ballot, by simply counting off prior to voting. Jake Parkinson ran my House District election. It worked for 70 delegates. We make things too complicated when we don't have to.

How do you plan to protect the privacy of voting registration records and personally identifiable information?

There has to be a balance between getting information to voters and protecting privacy. Changes have been made in the last few years.

What does party loyalty mean to you?

Party loyalty is based on good principles and should not void voting our conscience. Normally I get to the bottom of the ballot and had voted for all R's, but sometimes a D. This was the first year I had to go for write-ins, unaffiliated candidates, and 3rd party as well as D's to fill up my ballot. Yes, the majority of my votes were for Republicans, but I was not impressed with some of the options. 
I voted for or against thousands of bills for 4 legislative sessions. I didn't vote yes or no because of the sponsor or their party.

Do you support the caucus system? 

Yes. I have been on the front lines for several years for fighting to protect it.

For more info:

http://fairelectionsutah.blogspot.com/

Do you support SB54 in its current legal form?

2014 SB 54 was a bad bill to start with. I was not in the Utah Legislature the year it passed but spoke against it for months prior to passage.

Was the original version of SB114 an acceptable solution to the perceived problems with SB54? 

No! 2017 SB 114 sailed through the Senate and was scheduled to be voted on a Monday morning prior to my writing the House Committee Sunday night. It was off the agenda within hours.

Some problems of the bill passed by the Senate I sent to the House Committee: Under SB 114, the filing deadline will move from March, a week after the end of the legislative session to the 5th working day of January. Obviously there are pros and cons to this change. I believe there will be a public backlash about the change of the filing deadline. It takes away any accountability from the legislature. If members of the House voted to do one thing and the voters didn't like it, the deadline to file to run as a candidate against an officeholder has passed and you will see voters cry foul. Perhaps that is the intent.

No Majority winner. 35% ?  The whole point in dealing with plurality is to get a majority winner that a party could stand behind. This doesn't do that.

Do you believe that the lawsuit should continue until SB54 is repealed in its entirety?

The lawsuit has caused heartburn for those wanting to raise money for the party, but most of that money has been spent and pulling out now would leave us in a worse position. Having an outside group deal with any more costs helps. People forget that one of the main pieces of SB 54 was struck down by the Court and has been repealed. Others are still in the process.

Do you support Our Schools Now?

No. A 17.5% income tax increase is not the answer, especially when there is no limit to what is spent on Higher Education which can be spent by the same Education Fund. If the Legislature doesn't fund Higher Education to the level the Regents want, (and put some more back for K-12 Public Education), the Regents simply raise tuition and blame the legislature. That must change. We also do not spend all the $4.84 Billion in the best way, with much of it not getting to the classroom.

If you have held this (or another) party office in the past, how was your meeting attendance and did you help with the party work?

I have been a member of the SCC since 2011 and have had perfect attendance since 2010. I also have one of the best attendance records for the Utah Legislature in the years I served.