Turner C.

Bitton for Ogden City Council, District 3

Vision 2018
My name is Turner C. Bitton and this is my progressive vision for our neighborhood. We need a representative with the boldness to reclaim our neighborhoods and clean up our community. I have the experience to work with every stakeholder to rebuild our great city.

More at: www.turnerbitton.com

Contents:
Pg. 1

Introduction

Introduction:
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Restoring Our Neighborhood Educating Our Children Building Ogden Businesses

Dear Neighbor, Like you, Im concerned by the slow erosion of Ogdens neighborhoods and often wonder what can be done to reverse the cycle of decline. In this document you will find a detailed vision for what I believe is possible if we harness the ideas of our citizens and unite our community in common goals. When I am elected in November I will use every tool at my disposal to work with our neighbors to foster citizen involvement in the important tasks ahead. I believe that representative government calls all of us to a higher level of service and I would like to challenge all of you to continue to be a champion of Ogden and to join my winning campaign to take our neighborhood back.

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Concerned about education?

Included in this brief you will find concrete and detailed ways that I will work to improve Ogdens education system by being a partner to the school district. I will work with teachers, parents, and students to do my part to improve our schools.

For more on education, visit Pg. 3

Community Reinvestment Councils

As your councilman, Ill work to rebuild our community councils so that neighbors can restore our neighborhood. Heres how:
Our neighborhood desperately needs a champion. Using the existing community council plan, I will create Community Reinvestment Councils. These councils will essentially act as a desperately needed triage unit to identify properties and houses in three categories. The first type of property to be improved is one where all we have to do is use our existing Own in Ogden program to pair the property with the right homeowner. Second is a property where we need to use our Home Sweet Ogden program to repair the property in order to get a responsible and committed owner. Third is the worst of all. This is a property that is a blight on our neighborhood and one where we need to phase out ownership and remove it to make way for new development. By encouraging historic preservation, we can preserve neighborhood character while improving the quality of housing at the same time. If we are going to restore our neighborhoods we need bold progressive leadership. We must break the cycle of decline.

Our neighborhood can look like this (above), not this (below).

Investing in Ogdens Youth

We need a councilman willing to do his part in improving Ogdens education system. As your city councilman, my ability to affect education is indirect but important. I will be a voice for the children in our schools, teachers in our classrooms, and parents in our neighborhood.
A district in need:
Ogdens School District has long suffered from many problems outside of its control. Schools are over capacity because of a rising population, federal funding has decreased in recent years due to the recession, and redevelopment projects (while desperately needed) put strains on tax funding entering the district. Engage Youth: Our youth are important stakeholders in any discussion of policy and as a representative I will create meaningful youth engagement programs to bring youth into the fold. In doing so we create citizens of the future and learn from the unique perspectives that youth have. Reduce Poverty: We must boldly confront the elephant in the room that is the economic position of our neighbors. As your councilman, I will spearhead efforts to reduce the cost of living, improve wages, and create an economic climate conducive to entrepreneurs. By supporting parental involvement and working to build wealth in our neighborhood we can tackle the underlying problems in our district. Immigrant Integration: The unique cultural makeup of Ogden also contributes to unique challenges for our district. As your councilman I will work to integrate new Americans into our community. Promoting citizenship and involvement improves opportunities for the children of Ogden.

As your councilman I will work every day to be a meaningful and responsible partner to the School District. By being a vigilant watchdog of taxpayer dollars and working to improve our neighborhoods I can work to improve funding for our community schools and engage our neighbors in overcoming the unique obstacles our schools face.

Teachers should be valued and given fair contracts to educate our children.

My plan: 3

Build Ogden:
As a city that is constantly building and redeveloping we should be awarding significant contracts to the local businesses that have been vested in our community for years. Build Ogden: As a councilman, I will create a Build Ogden program that will serve as a one-stop source of information, training, and education to local businesses seeking contracts with the city. Bidding Fairness: It is my firm belief that when a business provides fair wages and benefits it should be rewarded for doing so. It is with this in mind that I will craft and pass an ordinance that will award bidding preferences to businesses that invest in Ogdens incredible workforce. When we support good wages we support education because in the State of Utah, income taxes go directly to education. When workers in Ogden have a better bargain, we all benefit and the companies that lead by example should be rewarded. Infrastructure Bank: No one doubts the importance of improving Ogdens infrastructure. Being a homeowner myself, I understand the incredible cost of improving infrastructure. Under the citys current 50/50 program, homeowners can split the cost with the city to improve the sidewalks in front of their home. For our neighbors this is still unaffordable. As your city councilman I will create an infrastructure bank, funded by CDBG (Community Development Block Grant) funds that will allow citizens to pay monthly payments toward the improvement of their sidewalks. By doing so we can balance homeowner responsibility and affordability to create a program that is fair and works for everyone.

We cannot become an outdoor capitol when our streets are not walk able and unsafe. I will champion affordable measures to improve our infrastructure.

Our city must be accessible to all ages and abilities. As a developed city we must find alternatives to automobile travel to clean our air and reduce congestion. As your councilman, I will support efforts to create comprehensive plan for accessibility.

Thank you for reading! Please contact me anytime for more information.
Undoubtedly this packet does not answer all of your questions. Please feel free to visit my website at www.turnerbitton.com for more information. As the campaign develops you can join me on Facebook and Twitter for daily updates.

Below are my contact information and a list of supporters.

Turner C. Bitton
(801) 564-3860 turnerbitton@weberdemocrats.org 960 E. 21st Street Ogden, Utah 84401

Endorsements: