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Sentinel News Staff Former City Councilman Proposes Citizen Involvement, Belt Tightening
by Managing Editor
At the February 9th Pleasant View City Council meeting, Former Pleasant View City Councilman Kevin Bailey spoke during the Public Comment Period and proposed allowing and encouraging more citizens to volunteer in the Pleasant View Community, stating that it is time “to tighten our belts” financially. Mr. Bailey’s proposal was to utilize citizens’ involvement more in Pleasant View’s Founders Day and to combine fireworks and parades with North Ogden on Independence Day. Mayor Clifford indicated that would be something to consider since money at City Hall is going to be budgeted more tightly. The Mayor said that the initial downside to combining celebrations is that some people would view it as a threat to Pleasant View’s sense of identity. Mr. Bailey responded that he was only proposing the combination of the two most expensive parts of the celebration. He said that should be a win-win solution for both cities as expenses for those parts of the celebration often go as high as $25,000. Mayor Clifford seemed to think the combination idea had merit.
Although there were mixed initial reactions from the Pleasant View City Council, Mr. Bailey said that when he had talked with North Ogden officials, he was met with a positively enthusiastic response. Sentinel News reporters observed firsthand that “Council Member Bigler provided immediate support, and Mayor Harris offered to call Pleasant View Mayor Clifford to follow-up.”
Regarding the money that could be saved, Mr. Bailey later told the Sentinel News that Pleasant View City should save at least $10,000.00 by combining just the two parts of the North Ogden and Pleasant View Cities celebration. He suggested keeping the unique parts of Founders day, like the Salmon Bake, a Pleasant View City only event. Fiscal necessity was also brought up by Melanie Shelton, Director of the Ms. North Ogden Pageant. Ms. Shelton proposed combining North Ogden and Pleasant View efforts for the pageant also due to fiscal constraints.
Mr. Bailey says he believes that increased citizen involvement and service is the right thing to do, and that the citizens will step up to make the community celebrations bigger and better for less cost while still preserving the uniqueness of each community, and honoring long standing values and traditions. The City officials at the meeting heard and commented on doing a citizen poll regarding this proposal. Citizens can also call Mr. Kevin Bailey at 1-801-782-2589 to express their feelings and/or support for this proposal. Citizens can also call Mayor Clifford at 1-801-782-8176.
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