This Democrat is supporting Brent Wallis in Legislative District 10

A strong endorsement from one of Weber County Forum's most respected contributors

By Dan Schroeder

Utah House District 10 lies at the southern end of Weber County, centered on the WSU campus. With the retirement of Democrat Lou Shurtliff, the District 10 House seat is now open and strongly contested.

The Democratic nominee is Ed Allen: a dermatologist, former state senator, founding chair of the Lift Ogden Committee, father-in-law of Mayor Godfrey, and member of one of Ogden's most politically active families. On the Republican side is Brent Wallis, who recently retired after 36 years as president of the Ogden-Weber Applied Technology College.

Although I live just outside District 10, I'm interested in this race because I work at WSU and because of Allen's connection to Lift Ogden and Mayor Godfrey. I've also met Dr. Allen and found him to be both arrogant and dishonest. When he was on the WSU campus promoting the gondola in 2006, a friend of mine even heard Allen say "they're all idiots up here"-- referring to the WSU faculty and administration. I can only assume that this attitude, and his pro-gondola agenda, would carry over into his work as a legislator. I especially fear that he would use his position to pressure WSU into selling its foothill property for private development.

So even though I've been a life-long Democrat, I cannot support Dr. Allen.

But what about Allen's opponent?

I'm embarassed to admit that until a few months ago I didn't know who Brent Wallis was. But many people I trust -- Democrat and Republican -- know him well and have told me only good things about him. Obviously Wallis has demonstrated a lifelong commitment to education and to the economic future of Weber County. And after decades spent advocating for the ATC, he knows the legislature inside and out. Still, he's a Republican, so it's fair to ask whether he would promote the far-right agenda of much of Utah's Republican leadership.

For months I hoped that a clear answer to this question would somehow come my way -- but it didn't. So last week I finally picked up the phone and called Wallis, explaining that although I didn't live in his district I still had some questions. He invited me to his house the next day, when we talked for over an hour.

Wallis explained that his only specific agenda in running for office is to be an advocate for Weber County -- including WSU and the ATC. He explained how if we don't have a strong and effective advocate, our tax dollars will be spent in other parts of the state.

Wallis is aware of the problems with Utah's property tax system, but believes that the solution is to assess properties more often and more fairly--not to shift the tax burden from property tax to sales tax, as some Republicans are advocating. He emphasized the importance of funding our schools from the most stable revenue sources (income and property tax), rather than sales tax. He is generally against raising taxes, but seems open to the idea of indexing the gasoline tax to inflation, instead of diverting more money from the General Fund to highway construction.

Regarding land use, Wallis favors local control at the city and county level. He would oppose any further attempts by the Legislature to eliminate zoning restrictions in the name of "private property rights".

Wallis supports Utah's open records and open meetings laws; as president of the ATC, he learned through experience that everyone benefits when the public's business is conducted transparently.

Based on these and other issues that we discussed, I am convinced that Brent Wallis is a political moderate who cares more about good government than about partisan ideology. He deserves the support of both Democrats and Republicans, and I'm proud to endorse him in this election.