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Democratic Party Platforms

We've compiled the Party platforms for the national party, state, and counties for they could be located for your review. 

Platform of the Wasatch County Democratic Party

We, the Wasatch County Democratic Party, promote and support effective implementation of good local government based on the principles of the Democratic Party. Our primary goal is to sustain or improve the quality of life of all residents in our County. While we subscribe to the issues and principles set forth by the Utah and National Democratic Party platforms, we also subscribe to a unique set of positions that are local to Wasatch County. These issues and positions are summarized as follows:



Preservation of the rural character of the valley



The party seeks to preserve the rural character of the valley primarily through the support of zoning changes that result in lower housing densities. We support legislation that preserves open space like the North and South fields through zoning, conservation easements or other methods that don’t increase densities elsewhere in the valley. We oppose development that would saddle valley citizens with higher taxes and demand that developers pay fees that cover the full impact of their project.



We support the creation of green belts around the towns and oppose annexation projects that result in higher densities or continued sprawl. We also stand opposed to city incorporations without the support of a significant majority of the residents.



One of the delights of rural living is the dark skies at night. Accordingly, we oppose new development that results in additional light pollution.



Recreation

The Party supports additional recreational infrastructure such as an increase in the number, quality and maintenance of city and county parks and a network of interconnected hiking, biking and equestrian trails. All new developments should be required to create and maintain new parks available to all citizens. Publicly inaccessible recreational facilities should be legislatively discouraged as should attempts to privatize existing public recreational facilities.



With the resurgence in interest in biking, we support the widening and marking of selected roads to create safe bike lanes.

We are especially supportive of a trail corridor parallel to the Provo River connecting Deer Creek Reservoir with the Jordanelle Basin trails.

Downtowns



The Party strongly supports the creation of vibrant, pedestrian friendly, attractive downtowns. We oppose the creation of satellite malls that pull retail sales from the city downtowns. We support a western bypass road that limits traffic on Main Street in Heber.



Economic Development

The Party supports quality commercial development within existing zones that brings high paying jobs to existing residents without the need for subsidies or tax holidays. Where residential large scale development is inevitable, we support legislation to encourage high end second home construction to provide the purchase of open space and, under state law, quality affordable housing. In all cases, large developers should be required to inform the public on the full fiscal and environmental impact of their project.



We discourage gated developments that isolate new residents from the community at large

Government



The Party supports legislation that keeps taxes low by restricting irresponsible commercial or residential growth that results in a higher demand for services. We demand policies that result in full, timely and internet accessible transparency in both city and county government. This includes live streaming and pod casts of all meetings and a requirement that a council cannot vote on a matter until it has been presented to the public on an appropriate website for at least a week.



We demand that a comprehensive summary of the city and county budgets be communicated to all taxpayers showing both the totals and the amounts that the specific taxpayer is contributing to each specific budget item.



We also support a stronger set of ethics requirements that eliminates even the appearance of a conflict of interest in all elected and appointed officials. This needs to be coupled with changes in the nominating, term of office and attendance requirements for all appointed officials.



We support informal agreements with Republican County Council candidates to limit campaign expenditures and individual contributions.

We support an increase in citizen involvement in all aspects of local government including: participation on committees, boards and commissions; running for office; attending meetings; and, of course, voting

Other Democratic Party Platforms

 

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