A year of weekly meetings working toward a common goal has a way of bringing people together.
When seven members of the Tooele County Government Study Committee gathered this past week for a photo, you could hardly tell some of them had only met in 2017. There were plenty of smiles, laughs — and goofing off for the camera — during the shoot.
Of course, the study committee meetings were only part of a process that began more than two years ago. While the study committee submitted its final report this February, the process didn’t end there.
Many of the study committee members were involved in supporting the ballot initiative through the November election. The committee’s recommendation — a five-member council elected by district and an appointed manager — was approved by Tooele County voters with 11,284 votes in favor, and 10,120 against.
For their hard work to generate a change of government recommendation and see the ballot initiative to a successful conclusion, the study committee received the Tooele Transcript Bulletin’s 2018 Person of the Year award.
The study committee was made up of citizens from around the county and everyone from lifelong residents, to those who only moved to Tooele County two years ago.
Committee Vice Chair Erik Gumbrecht, of Tooele City, was a co-sponsor of the petition for the government study and organized signature gathering efforts. He applied for the committee after discussing the time commitment with his family.
“I felt a sense of responsibility toward the community to assist in helping the study be as fair and accurate of an assessment as possible,” Gumbrecht said.
A sense of frustration with the direction of state and national policy fueled Robin Douglas’s desire to join the committee. The Tooele City resident said she saw the government study committee as an opportunity to be involved, without running for office.
“I wanted to know if there was a way we as a community could make things better for all,” Douglas said.
Community involvement also motivated Maria Sweeten, of Erda, to participate in the committee.
“I felt it was the most important issue facing our county and that we — the citizens of the county — needed to have individuals who would have the best interest of the county as their driving force,” Sweeten said.
Despite the different backgrounds and perspectives, the final nine committee members managed to get along, even beyond the mission of the committee — as the photo shoot showed.
Committee chairman Richard Mitchell, of Rush Valley, highlighted the citizens and committee members as the best part of the experience.
“I had the pleasure of meeting and witnessing what great people we have living here in Tooele County and the power that their goodness can do,” Mitchell said. “I have a deep love for so many people that were only strangers two years ago.”
Committee member Kent Sagers, of Vernon, passed away earlier this month. His son, Jared Sagers, said his father enjoyed the camaraderie he felt with his fellow committee members.
“It was a good committee and they were not afraid to talk out and debate issues,” Jared Sagers said.
While the new friendships and relationships were highlighted as bright spots of the experience, there were also more practical benefits to the experience, according to Silas Smith, of Grantsville.
“The best part of being on the study committee was that it increased my understanding of the issues faced at the county level,” Smith said. “…Often we hear ‘get involved’ in politics and now I see that there is a need for ordinary citizens to have input to governmental decisions.”
As with any complicated process, however, it wasn’t all smooth sailing and feel-good vibes for the government study committee.
The study committee and other volunteers contributed more than 2,500 hours in labor, with an equivalent market value of greater than $312,500. With the shear volume of work to complete, sometimes life got in the way.
Brenda Faddis of Stansbury Park, said the biggest challenge of the study committee was exactly that — finding time.
“It was a great deal more than I anticipated,” Faddis said. “There were times I could not be as involved as I wanted to be but all in all, I was all in.”
Over the course of a year, the committee members also faced unrelated difficulties in their lives outside the study, which wasn’t lost on Rob Clausing, of Lake Point.
“Each and every person helping with the study, both committee members and non-committee members, had to overcome challenges in their personal and professional life,” Clausing said.
Beside the inexorable march of time, and personal and professional difficulties, some committee members felt there was conflict with the current Tooele County Commission over the objectives of the committee.
Daniel Pacheco, of Tooele City, said the committee faced backlash once the committee made its recommendation to change the county’s form of government from the current County Commission and their supporters.
“The push back from the current commission was disheartening from the beginning and carried throughout,” Pacheco said.
Despite the criticism, the committee members felt they approached the process by setting aside outside influence, analyzing the benefits and downfalls of each form, and weighing factors such as future growth and representation.
Mitchell said he didn’t approach the process with any opinion of the five different forms of government reviewed by the committee. As the process continued and more information was gathered, he said the choices for best form began to narrow to three, then two, and finally one.
“The unanimous vote of all committee members to recommend the five-member elected council/appointed executive in the final selection was extremely powerful,” he said.
Pacheco said it was eye-opening to learn about the details of the various forms of county government during the committee’s process.
“There was good discussion and debate on the pros and cons of each option and the ultimate decision was made in the best interest of Tooele County’s unique operations,” he said. “I am totally confident the right decision was made.”
For Faddis, her thinking on the county’s form of government changed several times during the year of meetings.
“You begin going down one path and then something pops up that makes you go down another path,” she said. “I was for not changing when I started. It was speaking with the other counties and other members of the team that helped me make my decision.”
All of the final committee members said they fell along the spectrum from satisfied to thrilled with the conclusions of their final report.
Gumbrecht said he didn’t imagine the committee would reach a complete consensus at the beginning of the process, with various options on the table.
“We truly recommended the best fit for Tooele County’s unique needs,” he said. “Simply amazing that a group of our size all concluded the same recommendations.”
Clausing fell into the camp of the committee members thrilled with the final recommendation. He said he believes the county and manager form of government is best for Tooele County’s residents.
“Not everyone is happy about the change but I feel the residents of Tooele County will start to see benefits of the new form of government quickly after the new form is implemented,” Clausing said.
Smith expressed satisfaction with the committee’s process, including the variety of options they explored, the consideration to community and county employee feedback and the opportunities for members to voice their opinions.
“Each option was compared to the current system and I think the recommendation will provide responsiveness and accountability without an increase in spending,” he said.
The committee’s faith in the form of government recommendation report was rewarded in November, when the change of government passed with 52.7 percent of the vote.
When asked if it was validating to have Proposition 6 pass, Sweeten answered in the affirmative.
“Yes, because the ‘win’ was about citizens being involved and having civil discourse,” she said. “And the ‘win’ took place on a shoestring budget of small donations from a handful of citizens versus the ‘No’ group, which was funded by one family with 10 times the amount of money the ‘Yes’ group was funded with.”
Douglas said it was humbling to have the support of the county’s voters — and other important people in her life.
“When you work that long and hard on something, it is a tremendous relief to have it supported by so many other people,” she said. “And it was extremely humbling to have my 15-year-old son look at me and tell me, ‘Mom, I’m proud of you.’”
Jared Sagers said he was thrilled his father, a long-long Tooele County resident, was here to see the voters approve the change of government.
“It made all the hours of meetings and discussions and traveling back and forth from Vernon to Tooele worth it,” Sagers said. “But above all, I think he took the most pride in the fact that voters were ready for a change and he could play a small part in facilitating an option for them.”