Regional Industry & News

Iron County commission candidates discuss property rights, transparency ahead of GOP primary.Iron County’s only county-level election needing a primary this year is for Iron County Commission’s Seat A, where incumbent Mike Bleak is being challenged by fellow Republican Bruce McDonald.Both candidates appeared at the Iron County Board of Realtors luncheon on Wednesday, where they took turns answering a series of questions from Realtor Mari Eddy, who is also the Iron County Republican Party chair.In her comments before starting the Q&A session, Eddy said, “I think in a lot of these debates and questions we hear, you know, like the hot button topics that are like in the news right now.” Nevertheless, she added, the Board of Realtors decided on a slightly different approach.“It's just more to focus on, you know, not on one specific issue or project, but rather designed to better understand each candidate's philosophy on governance and your understanding of the role of the county commissioner and the principles that will guide your decisions,” she explained.“Because, you know, the issues and the decisions will change, so I think it's just important to see where you stand.” Eddy then went through several questions, with the candidates taking turns answering within a time limit of two minutes.The Q&A session was streamed live on the board’s Facebook page, where it can be rewatched in its entirety.Click here to view the post.Bleak, a Cedar City native, and his wife, Amy, have been married for 30 years and have three grown children.Bleak has an extensive background in law enforcement, having retired from the Cedar City Police Department, after which he has worked for the police departments of both Enoch and Parowan.He’s served for the past 10 years (2.5 terms) as Iron County Commissioner.McDonald said he grew up in Las Vegas, Nevada, until moving to Cedar City during high school, where he graduated from Cedar High.A political newcomer, McDonald has a background in construction, property management and business ownership.He owns and operates The Vault pawn shop and adjacent laundromat in Cedar City.He has been married for 40 years and has four children, including three daughters who are all school teachers.The first question for the candidates was about the importance of property rights.McDonald shared a story about a conflict he once experienced regarding a fence he constructed on his own property, to which a neighbor objected.“I really appreciate that I ended up successful in that, but I was very disappointed that the city wanted me to take it down in the first place,” he said, adding, “But we need to all stand up for all property rights, no matter how big or how small they are.” Bleak expressed similar sentiments, saying that personal property rights “take precedence over just about everything in government.” Nevertheless, Bleak said, “You have to make some balances.You have to balance those rights by water drainage; you have to look at the public health and safety.” In response to a question about how input from the public and from county staff, Bleak noted that recent public hearings were conducted by the Iron County Planning Commission as they considered a conditional use permit for a proposed data center project “Those public hearings resulted in a conditional use permit with 53 conditions,” Bleak noted.A lot of those conditions were brought (about) as a result of issues brought up by the public.” Added Bleak: “We have to follow the rule of law, and when those things, when those things are contradictory to what's best that we feel, we work to change those laws and to bring those things in.Our job is to promote the health and public safety, make sure that everybody has their rights, but are also healthy and safe.We do our very best to balance those things.” Answering the same question, McDonald also stressed the importance of following the rule of law and having adequate public input on important issues.“That was great with the data centers to have lots and lots of input, more than they normally have, because they wanted to cover their bases,” McDonald said.“Now, also, you don't want to get sued,” he added.“Because by getting sued, you have problems.It's costing the taxpayers money, and we, as taxpayers, have to fund it through everything else.” Addressing a question about the role of a county commissioner, McDonald said one of the commissioner’s main roles is to find out the facts about an issue and then to make them available to their constituents.“They should be made to understand this is what's real, this is what's fake,” he said.“Then they can vote, and they can help people to make proper decisions.They also need to follow the law.” In his answer to the question, Bleak again emphasized the importance of striking a balance.“I think of so many situations where there's a lot of public outcry,” he said.“We have to listen to those things.There's a real thing about the silent majority.There's, you know, when you talk to people on the street, there's so many people that say, 'Look, this is my opinion, but I'm not coming to the meeting because I'm not going to get involved in the fray.’” Added Bleak: “It's so important to listen to both sides, but you've got to deep dive.You can't just take the opinion of the people that you're talking to, you've got to work with staff, you've got to work with other municipalities, other governments, experts in the field, and figure out what that is, and figure out what that best decision is.” Other questions fielded by the candidates included those covering topics such as the county planning commission, the general master plan, and how to best work with different municipal governments within the county.As the hourlong meeting drew to a close, each candidate was given two minutes to make a closing statement.Bleak said as he’s served as county commissioner, he’s tried to build relationships on the local, state and federal level.“Things don't work when there's contention,” he said.“Things work best when we can come together and work and have relationships.” “I really enjoy the relationship part of it,” he added.“I enjoy problem solving, and look forward to continuing that and providing that service that I've provided.” McDonald expressed his appreciation for the opportunity to run for commission.I'm not a government person,” he said.“I like small government.I like running businesses and making money.I like putting away for rainy day, and not going into debt.I love when government is transparent: the more that we know, the better.” Added McDonald: “We need to, as a government and as a people, elect people that are going to be very transparent, very open, not cause problems and headaches and bring us into debt.” At the close of the meeting, which was attended by dozens of people, Eddy thanked both candidates for their participation.“We look forward to our partnerships with whoever gets in office,” she said, noting that the Iron County Board of Realtors remains engaged in working with the county commission and other elected officials.“Our main thing is we value property rights, and we try to fight for our buyers and sellers, and just allow them to utilize their property within the constraints,” Eddy added.Iron County voters who are registered Republicans should have already started seeing their ballots arrive in their mailboxes last week.In order to be counted, ballots must be received by the Iron County Clerk’s office by 8 p.m.on June 23 (Primary Election Day).For a list of drop box locations, along with information about early voting and Election Day voting (including locations, dates and times), click here.In addition to the County Commission Seat A race, Republican voters in Iron County will also have the opportunity to vote in the U.S.House District 3 primary race between current Rep.Celeste Maloy and Phil Lyman.Also appearing on the primary ballot are two GOP candidates for State Board of Education District 14: Linda Hanks and Nichole Beecher Isom.Click here to