The mayoral race in Tooele City enters its second phase next Tuesday, Sept. 15, when voters will reduce a slate of four candidates down to two via the primary election. The non-partisan race features incumbent Patrick Dunlavy taking on former Tooele police officer Becky Bracken, real estate broker Dan Egelund, and insurance claims manager Ryan Timmins.

The election is certain to be defined by topics like crime, economic development, management of city finances, pending litigation, and quality-of-life issues. To determine the candidates stances on these issues, the Transcript-Bulletin sent the following five questions to each of the mayoral contenders. Responses were limited to less than 200 words. In some cases, candidates were contacted and asked to clarify responses.

Becky Bracken

1. Explain how your education, professional background or previous public service make you qualified for this office.

As most of you know, I recently retired from the police department after 20 years. In those 20 years, I have patrolled every street in the city. I know where the problem areas are, from the potholes to the crimes. I have been in citizens’ homes, and I know their problems, their values and what is important to them. I was a new officer just as Tooele City started to grow, so I have been there to watch the new roads being built and the new subdivisions that seemed to pop up overnight. As a police officer, I have learned that you cannot listen to just one side of a story, or take things at face value. All the information needs to be gathered, and all the information needs to be considered before coming to an informed decision. Throughout my career, the decisions I made impacted people’s lives. I knew what a huge responsibility it was to get things right. I believe it is that quality that makes me uniquely qualified for this office.

2. What are your top three priorities? Please explain each in detail.

Openness in City Hall, public safety and infrastructure. Leaders work for the people, and therefore owe it to their citizens to have an open City Hall where the citizens know they can have their questions answered honestly. They have the right to know how their money is being spent. The “good old boy” system is firmly embedded in our history, but it no longer works in today’s world, or in our city. Also, Tooele City Police Department needs more officers. Officers have no time to be proactive, only reactive. They spend most of their time desperately running from call to call, with no time to actually patrol. In addition to more officers, a new building is needed. Finally, I will focus on our aging and deteriorating infrastructure. Some of our city’s sewer lines have not been replaced in years. We need to replace old, outdated lines, and create a schedule in which the old lines are replaced before they become major problems, causing our citizens serious damage and loss of property. Our streets need repairs, and there is no money in the budget to do it. A schedule needs to be adopted that will repair our streets that is budgeted for and followed on a yearly basis.

3. What would you do to reduce crime in Tooele?

Crime in Tooele City has risen 125 percent in the past 10 years. We need to ask ourselves why this has happened. The answer is simple: We do not have enough police officers. Our population has exploded in recent years, and our police department has not grown with it. It is expensive to fund even one officer — salary, benefits, the vehicle and the equipment necessary to go with it. Tooele City has a population of 30,000. We have 17 road officers. As a general rule, there are four officers working each 12-hour shift. That is 1.3 officers per 10,000 people per shift. It is really no wonder that Tooele City has the fastest growing crime rate in the state. (Above statistics are from the state Bureau of Criminal Identification). In addition to more officers, we need to implement more Neighborhood Watch groups. Neighborhood Watch groups work closely with police departments across the nation and have been proven effective in reducing crime because citizens take an active roll in protecting their neighborhoods. This is done by neighbors standing together, watching out for each other, and making others aware of crime prevention measures that can be taken.

4. How would you handle the city’s lawsuit with Tooele Associates over the development of Overlake?

I would not have allowed the situation with Tooele Associates to reach the proportion it has. An agreement was made, a contract was entered into, and it should have been honored. Now that the jury verdict is in, the responsible thing to do would be to explore the possibility of a settlement. It is foolish to spend millions more in tax dollars in appeals when a settlement offer has already been made by Tooele Associates, but refused to be considered by the city administration — as was explained to residents in the recent letter received from the city administration. Mayor Dunlavy explained that Tooele Associates demanded $170 million in various provisions, as well as giving up virtually all zoning, site design, and building design control in Overlake. My law enforcement background has taught me that you have to explore both sides of a story to come to an accurate, informed conclusion that can be proven. I have read the settlement offer made by Tooele Associates. There were no “demands” made. The offer made proposals that were to be mutually agreed upon, meaning that nothing would be set in stone until both sides agreed. It is irresponsible to not explore the possibility that the situation could be solved without spending more of your tax dollars. I would be happy to sit down with Drew Hall and work out an agreement that would be mutually agreeable.

5. What would you do to increase economic development in the city?

Economic development is about increasing a community’s wealth. The basic idea is simple: attract businesses, which creates jobs. Jobs attract people. People buy property to be close to their jobs. New jobs, new people, and the property tax base increases, thereby providing more funds to maintain and improve infrastructure, which, in turn, attracts more businesses. Right now, Tooele City has the reputation of being difficult to work with. Changing requirements in inspections, high fees, and contradictory actions between and within departments causes confusion and frustration in people who look to Tooele as a place to build, or expand existing businesses. We need to streamline the process to make it easier to work with the city. We need to find ways to lower costs and provide incentives to attract businesses to Tooele that will provide long-term career opportunities. We also need to provide incentives to employees of these companies to buy homes in Tooele. How? With clean, safe streets, well-maintained parks, and appealing neighborhoods. All of this can be done with a well-developed plan that will encourage growth while still maintaining and protecting our community values, which is very important to me.

Patrick Dunlavy

1. Explain how your education, professional background or previous public service make you qualified for this office.

Serving as mayor for the last four years during one of the most difficult times in the city’s history, due to the recession, by itself qualifies me for the office of mayor. However, I also have over 30 years of experience and knowledge in management and leadership involving municipal government. I have a record for review. I’ve been able to manage a budget of over $40 million and 170 employees in the most challenging economy anyone could imagine. As each of you adjusted your way of life, I was adjusting city government at the same time. Necessary reductions in expenses were made, just as we all had to do, and I did it without asking citizens to pay higher taxes or fees for the services they deserve. At the same time, the parks in the city are much better, over $6 million dollars in road repairs and upgrades to our water and sewer lines have been completed, the wastewater treatment plant was expanded, and an agreement with Kennecott — insuring future supply sources for water for many years to come — has been signed. My knowledge, experience and record qualify me for the office of mayor.

2. What are your top three priorities? Please explain each in detail.

Management of the city’s finances is, and should be, everyone’s top priority. How the citizens’ tax dollars are being managed, maximizing our resources to be able to provide quality public services, is the primary reason you must have a proven course of action. My ability to efficiently and effectively manage your tax dollars has been vitally important given the current economy we live in. Managing our growth must also be a top priority. The city must be able to provide water, wastewater treatment, plan for and provide for transportation needs, in addition to the other city basic services. Public safety was a top priority when I was elected four years ago and is still extremely important. The quality of life in any community is what attracts us to a community and keeps us here. We have some of the best of the best in our police and fire departments. My continued support of them has not diminished. As this special city continues to move forward, the mayor must lead in these areas. I’ve done just that.

3. What would you do to reduce crime in Tooele?

The easy answer you’ll probably hear is more police officers. That’s easy to say but in the current financial situation it’s very difficult to do. I’ve added six new officers in the last four years, so obviously I agree that more officers are needed, but that alone will not reduce crime. Parents’ involvement in their children’s lives is essential in the beginning to set a standard of behavior and respect for others. How does the city assist in that important area? We currently have a wonderful program called Communities that Care. It’s a wonderful results-based program that provides assistance through classes for parents. We are also very involved in the schools with youth to assist them in dealing with challenges they all face. More participation from neighborhoods in our Neighborhood Watch program is needed. Our police department is anxious to provide training so neighbors can be more proactive in reducing crime in their areas. When it comes right down to it, each of us, individually, must become more involved. Working together has proven to have a positive effect on crime in other areas. Tooele City can and does provide the tools needed. A commitment to our families and our community will make it happen.

4. How would you handle the city’s lawsuit with Tooele Associates over the development of Overlake?

As I came into office four years ago, the lawsuit had been underway for four years. I’ve met with Drew Hall on four occasions and Bill Perry on two occasions trying to come to an agreement. Some of the issues we were able to compromise on. Unfortunately they were not willing to agree to many important issues involved in the lawsuit, even though those issues were a part of the original development agreement. We agreed to a formal arbitration meeting with a professional mediator. It’s important to know Tooele City made very significant offers and they refused them. It was apparent to us, given our very significant offer of settlement, that they were not willing to seriously consider dropping the lawsuit. Much has been said concerning why Tooele City hired outside attorneys. Our city attorneys are trained in municipal law and prosecution. The council made the right decision to get attorneys with expertise in civil cases. It was the right thing to do to protect the city. The answer to the question now is in the hands of the judge. Every attempt since the verdict to come to an agreement has been made impossible by the other side because of their unreasonable demands.

5. What would you do to increase economic development in the city?

I have been very successful in the four years I’ve been in office. Hard work, learning the process, making contacts and having the exceptional experience and skill of Randy Sant has made us successful. Tooele City is very fortunate to have Sant with us. Over the many years he’s been with the city, he has been a great partner, getting the city millions of dollars in grants and exciting new commercial businesses, most recently Conastoga Wood Products, Carlisle SynTec and Syracuse Castings. Sant is held in very high regard around the state of Utah, and by the Governor’s Office of Economic Development. I have, and will, continue to diligently pursue economic development opportunities. They are vital to job creation and tax base. The contacts I have made will provide us those opportunities. When the economy recovers sufficiently, we have companies waiting to come to our city.

Dan Egelund

1. Explain how your education, professional background or previous public service make you qualified for this office.

Besides my formal schooling, I can happily say that much of my education came from unexpected places. While earning my Eagle Scout award, I studied, learned and have since tried to live by the Scout Oath. I’ve almost always had a job, ever since I was 10 years old. Through my various jobs, I learned several lessons, including how to work alongside a variety of different personalities, and enjoy it. While serving in the United States Marine Corps Reserves, I learned every life lesson military service can teach a young man. The lesson that had the greatest impact on me was the importance of unity. In any organization, without unity you will never enjoy success. During my religious mission, I met people who represented numerous cultures and countries. I learned bits of their languages, and learned many of their customs, and I quickly learned to respect them for who they were. Now, through my business endeavors, I’ve learned the principles of success, and have applied them to all aspects of my life and have used them to enrich the lives of others. This is my hope as mayor, to use my unique experiences and skill set to enrich the lives of everyone in Tooele City.

2. What are your top three priorities? Please explain each in detail.

First, unite the citizens of Tooele City. Civic clubs, youth athletic groups, religious organizations and businesses have to be united for the common good of Tooele City. Through unity, pride in our community will increase. With pride, a sense of ownership will prevail. And with a sense of ownership, the ills that affect society will dissipate. Second, avoid the mistakes of the past. Hindsight is 20-20 and we would be foolish not to learn from that. We can avoid entering bad development agreements, we can avoid growing beyond our capacity and ability to manage the growth, and we can avoid replicating the other development mistakes that have already occurred. Likewise, success leaves clues. We can look to other municipalities that have encountered many of the same issues we have and see how they have been successful in avoiding mistakes, while encountering successes. Third, focus on quality economic and residential growth. By maintaining a focus on quality growth rather than quantity growth, we will see our city truly begin to prosper. A naturally occurring higher tax base will come into being without actually having to raise taxes. This will equate to the city being able to provide a higher quality of service to each of its citizens.

3. What would you do to reduce crime in Tooele?

As much of the crime in Tooele right now is property crime, we simply need to have more eyes and ears on the job. Of course, this means more trained and certified officers, but it also means citizen involvement. I would like to facilitate a way for neighborhoods who want to organize themselves into Neighborhood Watch Groups to be able to do so. In addition, we need to continually foster the relationship between law enforcement and the citizenry, and everyone involved needs to realize that a 911 emergency call is not the only form of communication between the two parties. Crime will happen, but we need to be certain that the penalties and fines for committing a crime are reason enough to deter some crimes from ever happening. For those that are apprehended and prosecuted, hopefully the maximum allowable punishment will deter them from being a repeat offender, and enlist them in sending a message to their associates that Tooele City is tough on crime. Crime reduction is essential if we ever hope to have quality growth. People simply won’t choose to live in a community where the safety of their family is always in doubt.

4. How would you handle the city’s lawsuit with Tooele Associates over the development of Overlake?

There are a number of different scenarios that could play out in regards to the settlement and outcome of the litigation between Tooele Associates and Tooele City, and how these outcomes will affect the residents of Overlake and the rest of Tooele City. To be frank, many of these scenarios put Tooele City in a very favorable position. We need to understand that a jury did file a judgment and now we have to see if the judge is going to accept the judgment or if he will overrule it. Everything, until this is done, is nothing more than speculation. I will say this: In my talks with the residents of Overlake, the consensus is that they would rather see the rest of the development remain vacant than to ever see Tooele Associates be involved with any of the future development whatsoever. Obviously this litigation is one of the biggest concerns on the citizens’ minds right now, and rightfully so. What’s so unfortunate about the entire situation is that it could have been mitigated, if not prevented. Two hundred words can’t completely address this issue. For those who would like to discuss their concerns, I encourage them to call me directly.

5. What would you do to increase economic development in the city?

Most business owners/developers are reasonable people. They know how to “play by the rules” but in the past it seems that Tooele City has constantly changed the rules of development. The current administration may take offense at this and may state that it is not reality or fact. Fact or not, many developers make decisions based on perception. If they perceive that another city will be easier to do business with than Tooele City, they will take their development to that other city. Granted, we can’t allow businesses to dictate terms and demand unrealistic concessions, but too often we aren’t even getting to the negotiation stage with these people. I will personally spearhead an aggressive marketing campaign to target the types of projects that we currently lack in Tooele City, the types of projects that will have a positive impact on our community, the types of projects that we can all be happy to have in our community. I will do this without “giving away the store” so to speak. I would like to see a more concerted effort with Tooele County, the Chamber of Commerce, and the Economic Development Corporation of Utah to be able to maximize the effectiveness of our marketing efforts.

Ryan Timmins

1. Explain how your education, professional background or previous public service make you qualified for this office.

My education makes me uniquely qualified for the position of mayor. My bachelors degree with a major in history and a minor in political science leads to expertise that previous Tooele City leaders have often lacked. I am well-read and do not come at the issues confronting the city casually. I ran for mayor in 2005 with a detailed plan for the city and it has only become more precise and detailed in the last four years.

2. What are your top three priorities? Please explain each in detail.

My top 3 issues are jobs, quality of life, and stopping and preventing crime. Regarding jobs, a city of Tooele’s size needs a job base of its own. I am not happy or satisfied with Tooele being a mere suburb of Salt Lake County. There is no reason why the people of Tooele should have to commute to Salt Lake County to find employment. Tooele has all of the land given it by the Army and it is letting it go to waste. We need to encourage not just manufacturing jobs — which makes little sense in a country where manufacturing jobs are dwindling — but also encourage tech companies and other providers of service to locate their companies in Tooele. Regarding quality of life, it is time Tooele put the brakes on sprawl and start fixing up the older parts of the city. There is no reason why a town the size of Tooele should permit run-down and decrepit areas in its midst. We can and must rehabilitate the Broadway area and revitalize the eastern side of town with creative policies that would encourage new business to blossom in New Town. We also need to restore the south side of Main Street and stop the silly zoning rules that move all business to the north end of Main.

3. What would you do to reduce crime in Tooele?

It is frightening that crime has risen stratospherically in Tooele while it is being reduced throughout most of the rest of the state. This is a direct indictment of the current city leadership that leaves no room for excuses. We must expand the police force and change the way our police officers currently conduct their jobs. Get the bulk of police to move away from traffic duty and on to battling and preventing real crime. Maintaining a presence on Main Street is all well and good but the police need to start maintaining a more conspicuous presence in high crime areas of the city.

4. How would you handle the city’s lawsuit with Tooele Associates over the development of Overlake?

I would handle the lawsuit by Tooele Associates by cutting the city’s already high losses and admitting that arrogance on behalf of city leaders in thinking they could merely ignore a written contract was the reason the city lost in court. It is ridiculous and will end up costing us much more money if we appeal it all the way to the Utah Supreme Court like the current stubborn city leaders insist on doing. A jury found the city liable, and surely the city must see why the jury decided the case in that way. No one is above the law, not even the leadership of the city of Tooele.

5. What would you do to increase economic development in the city?

I would increase economic development by beautifying the city and fixing the areas of blight that cause the city of Tooele to have a run-down and seedy appearance. I would put an end to the city council approving one sprawling and needless housing development after another. My focus would be entirely on jobs and attracting business to Tooele with the use of creative tax credits and a locals-first hiring policy. We must insist that companies taking advantage of city tax credits hire locals first and foremost.