what’s the Federal Law on ___(such and such)? (US Code / US Laws)
Posted by Roger Brown in Civics, Uncategorized on January 18, 2012
Was happy to find this new (or relatively new?) site!
It’s great when you need to find what the federal law is currently on anything! 
P.S. i’ve been using http://thomas.loc.gov for years, since the mid-90′s and never saw a link to the one above till today.
P.P.S. On a related note, http://govtrack.us ROCKS for tracking your Representative in Congress and your 2 Senators!!!
City Council Meeting – Oct. 4th!
Posted by Roger Brown in Civics, council meeting, Provo, public hearing on October 3, 2011
Hi everybody!
Below is what’s up for tomorrow Oct. 4th’s Provo Municipal(City) Council meetings.
Remember if you have a question or a comment, try contacting a council member about it BEFORE the meeting — find their email address and phone numbers @ http://provocitizens.net/take-action/provo-city-council/ — click the link there to email them ALL at once.
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Work Session @ 12:00pm
LOCATION CHANGE – Provo City Library, 550 North University Avenue, Room 201 – Young Special Events Room
- Roll Call
- Opening Prayer
- Approval of Minutes from Sep. 20th 10:00 am, 1:00 pm and 5:00 pm Executive Sessions, and Sep. 20th Study Session.
- Discussion with the Landmarks Commission (11-212)
- The Municipal Council will consider a motion to recess and reconvene in Room 302 to consider a motion to close the meeting to hold a strategy session to discuss pending or reasonably imminent litigation, and/or to discuss the purchase, sale, exchange, or lease of real property, and/or the character, professional competence, or physical or mental health of an individual in conformance with § 52-4-204 and 52-4-205 et. seq., Utah Code Ann.
- discussion regarding the transfer of City owned property in the Mountain Vista Business Center to the Redevelopment Agency (11-206)
- discussion regarding the Provo Vision 2030 plan (11-202)
- Discussion on amending the General Plan to establish a policy that one-family attached housing is an appropriate land use in the general vicinity of 820 North Geneva Road. (11-214)
- Tour of the Provo City Library and Discussion Relative to Library Issues (11-213)
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Council Meeting @ 7:00pm
Municipal Council Chambers, 351 W. Center St. Room 200
- Roll Call
- Invocation and Pledge
- Approval of Minutes: Sep. 6th and Aug. 25th Council Meetings
- Public Comment — This time has been set aside for any person to express ideas, concerns, comments, or issues that are not on the agenda. ● Please state your name and city of residence into the microphone. ● Please limit your comments to three minutes. ● State Law prohibits the Council from acting on items that do not appear on the agenda. ● In this form of government, all City administrative personnel are under the direction of the Mayor,not the Council. Please discuss any concerns you may have regarding administrative staff with the Mayor, Chief Administrative Officer, or Department Directors. The Council respectfully requests that citizens help maintain the decorum of the meeting by turning off electronic devices, refraining from applauding, and being respectful during the proceedings of the meeting.
- A resolution requesting the recertification of the Provo City Justice Court by the Utah Judicial Council (11-200)
- A resolution declaring the intent of the City to issue up to $2.5 million of revenue bonds on behalf of Friends of Coalition for the purpose of refinancing an existing construction loan that financed costs of the existing Food and Care Coalition Building (see http://foodandcare.org) and related matters (11-208)
- A public hearing regarding an ordinance amending approximately 11 acres of property generally located at 371 South 1100 West on the Zone Map of Provo from FC-1 (Freeway Commercial) zone to the M-1 (Light Industrial) zone Franklin Neighborhood (11-0002R)
- An ordinance amending Chapter 6.14 of the Provo City Code pertaining to beer license regulations, to permit the sale of beer for off-premises consumption on Sundays (11-180)
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P.S. did you skim above?
Main point is to contact the city council with any feedback or ideas you have about tomorrow’s items –
do so via http://provocitizens.net/take-action/provo-city-council/
Thanks!
Roger Brown
ProvoCitizens.net
801-356-1032
Planning Commission Meeting – Sept. 14th, postponed till after Oct. 12th!
Posted by Roger Brown in Civics, Provo, zoning on September 8, 2011
This email is to notify you that the September 14, 2011 Planning Commission meeting is canceled.
Thank you,
Shannon Aders
Planning Secretary
801-852-6424
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PROVO CITY CORPORATION
DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
Planning Commission Agenda
September 14, 2011
NOTICE: This meeting is being canceled and these items are being continued to a Planning Commission Study Session on October 12, 2011. At the October 12, Study Session, draft copies of the proposed text amendments will be circulated and Staff will provide an overview of the proposed text amendments. The public is welcome to attend the Study Session. However, the Study Session will not be open for public comment and the Planning Commission will not make any decisions at that meeting. A public hearing will be scheduled at an up coming Planning Commission meeting, after the October 12, Study Session
ITEM 1* Provo City is proposing the creation of five new multi-family, residential zones consisting of Low Density Residential, Medium Density Residential, High Density Residential, Campus High Density Residential and Campus Mixed Use, together with Residential Design Standards that are intended to be applicable to each of these zones. These new zones will replace existing R-C (Residential Conservation), PRO (Project Redevelopment Option), and the R-2 through R-5 Residential zones when map amendments to rezone properties are approved at a future date. (City wide impact). 11-0009OA
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Stay tuned to http://www.utah.gov/pmn/sitemap/publicbody/1662.html for updates!
City Council Meeting – Sep. 20, 2011
Posted by Roger Brown in council meeting, Provo, public hearing on September 8, 2011
Stay tuned for the details on the upcoming Tuesday, Sept. 20th meeting.
The council has yet to publish the details about it.
Word on the street is that they’ll be discussing street Parking Permit programs with a Public Hearing about it, whether or not to allow beer sales in Provo on Sundays, and other good stuff.
You can also sign up on their email list/RSS feed at http://www.utah.gov/pmn/sitemap/publicbody/1600.html
We’ll post it here as soon as they release it!
P.S. thanks everybody, make sure to also sign up for general city emails at http://provo.org/mayorcurtis.signupforemails.html
City Council Meeting – Sep. 6, 2011
Posted by Roger Brown in council meeting, parking, Provo, public hearing on September 5, 2011
Regular council meetings tomorrow — work session at 12pm noon, study session at 5pm, and regular council meeting with Public Hearings at 7pm.
See the agenda at http://www.utah.gov/pmn/sitemap/notice/82893.html
Items of interest to me are the Parking Permit program(s) Public Hearing, the transportation master plan amendments, and various budget items.
Click the link above to see the details.
As always, email the council to give your feedback!
Thanks everybody!
Roger Brown
don’t let the City Council ignore you!
Posted by Roger Brown in Civics on September 5, 2011
Here’s a beautiful example of citizens that would not back down when their city council (Lehi, UT) abused their power — they got an expedited hearing before the Utah Supreme Court and forced the city council to obey the law:
Utah Supreme Court orders Lehi City Council to let the people vote — Utah Chief Justice Christine M. Durham signed an order last week demanding Lehi city get its citizens’ initiatives accepted and filed for the November general election, but that’s not the end of the story.
In spite of the Utah Supreme Court decision, there is yet another hurdle to clear for the initiatives to be on the municipal ballot.
City council members and staff are meeting Sept. 6 to decide whether they will let the initiatives go to the voters in November or adopt them as law. They may opt to create their own measures for voters to decide, in addition to the citizens’ initiatives at the polls. The citizens’ initiatives limit city administrator salaries and benefits and requires city staff to live in Lehi.
“I am opposed to these two initiatives outright,” Lehi Councilman James Dixon said.
… Lehi City Recorder Marilyn Banasky had refused to file the petitions when they were received and declared them legally insufficient, following advice from legal counsel.
source: Daily Herald – Aug. 31, 2011
Such outrageous abuse was rightly smacked down by the state supreme court! Let citizens and city council members everywhere take note!!!
Tax increase public hearings TONIGHT Aug 4th and TUESDAY Aug 9th!
Posted by Roger Brown in budget, Civics, elections, Provo, public hearing on August 4, 2011
Hi, we already sent this out via email, about the first 4 meetings, but as a reminder and in case you’re not on our list yet:
Tonight, Aug. 4th is the fourth out of five meetings on whether to raise taxes in Provo!!!
Then…. stay tuned for the final BIG Public Hearing… you won’t want to miss this one!
Tuesday, August 9, 2011 at 6:00 p.m.
WHY???? Check out the details here –>Provo City Budget from July 1, 2011 to June 30, 2012
Please, please attend, or at least send a family member or friend in your place!!!
Thanks everybody,
Roger Brown, Chairman
Provo City Council — Meeting on July 12th
Posted by Roger Brown in budget, Civics, good ideas, Provo, Uncategorized, zoning on July 11, 2011
Hi everybody, just barely saw this agenda today; not sure if the council staff posted it last Thursday since I didn’t receive the usual list email from pmn.utah.gov on Thursday or today Monday, like usual.
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Please take a moment to go here and read the short agenda — 1 page each per meeting. There very well could easily be something in it that affects you; there usually is!
Work Session @ 12:30pm
Study Meeting @ 3:45pm
Regular Council Meeting with your input welcome @ 7:00pm – if you have a suggestion, or a question for the council and the mayor, then there’s a time set aside at the beginning of that meeting for you. It’s a great way to get the ball rolling, to talk with all of them at once.
For further details, please click on the supporting “Documents” link at the council meetings site.
Roger
P.S. Important stuff at Wednesday, July 13th’s City Planning Commission meeting also!
Provo’s Planning Commission – meeting July 13th – breakdown
Posted by Roger Brown in Civics, Provo, public hearing, zoning on July 5, 2011
Hi everybody, hope you had a most excellent 4th of July / Independence Day!!!
Heads up on next week’s Planning Commission meeting! The list below summarizes each agenda item and then includes my take on the item and any related issues.
What time? July 13th @ 5:00pm
Where? Provo City Center @ 351 W. Center St. in the Council Chambers.
Why?
- 589 N. Lakeshore Dr. — Lakeview South Neighborhood — Nolan Buttars is asking the city to rezone the 9.85 acres there from One Family Residential(R1.8) to Agricultural(A1.1). My take? I don’t know the details but the idea sounds pretty good to me. As long as a property owner is not hurting their neighbors then they should be free to do whatever they want with their own property.
- On 1280 W. from 200 N. to 220 N., — Dixon Neighborhood — Provo City government is requesting to change the general plan map designation from Industrial to Residential. My take? Too many people involved as employees or servants/volunteers of/for Provo City government forget that the General Plan is NOT law — it is not law — it’s only a recommendation and that recommendation can change at anytime based on new facts, insights, conditions, etc. Again, as long as the property owner(s) are not hurting their neighbors, they should be allowed to truly be a wise and accountable steward over their own property. Anything less than that is NOT defending freedom but eroding it, taking it away. And if Provo is to remain famous for the Freedom Festival, then we need to fix the egregious loss of freedom in some of the city’s over-reaching, and micro-managing laws — check out Title 14, Zoning for multiple examples. And if a future property owner wants to change it back from Residential to Industrial, as long as there’s not safety, health issues, then why shouldn’t they be allowed to?
- A new residential development @ 200 N. 1280 W.? — Dixon Neighborhood — Provo City government is requesting approval of “Liberty Place”, a 57 unit residence. My take? Unless there’s some safety issue with neighbors in the construction, etc of it, then why not approve it? My only question is why is the city asking to rezone it as a PRO(project redevelopment option) zone? Why not just change it to R for residential? I’m wondering if this is the kind of spot zoning that Mr. Ephraim Hatch wrote about it in his letter to city leaders and the Daily Herald last week?
- Vision 2030 final document? The “Vision 2030″ steering committee is asking the Planning Commission to approve their final document. My take? Wow, i need to hunt down a copy of the final document first. The suggestions as they stood back in March were woefully inadequate on the issue of protecting single adults from property rights discrimination. More on this later, there’s some quotes i want to include here later to illustrate the glaring point.
- Election of a new Planning Commission chair and vice-chair by the members of it. My take? I hope that the new chair and vice-chair will treat single adults as equals. Right now, Title 14 of the City Code treats them poorly. Yes, it discriminates against them and it needs to be fixed.
agenda items source: http://provo.org/commdev.pc_agenda_071311.html
What do you all think? Comment away! Thanks,
Roger Brown
Urge Congress to START Tackling the Deficit with these $350 Billion in Cuts?
Posted by Roger Brown in Civics, good ideas, Uncategorized on July 5, 2011
Urge Congress to Start Tackling the Deficit with these $350 Billion in Cuts?
http://www.capwiz.com/taxpayer/issues/alert/?alertid=22378526&type=CO
On quick glance, this looks to be a very good read. Please check it out and let me know what you think!
I highly agree that we need to be talking about a minimum of HUNDREDS of BILLIONS of dollars in cuts! Especially when the national debt is something like 14.46 TRILLION last i heard. 350 billion out of 14,460 billion(14.46 Trillion) is less than a quarter of 1 percent cut but at least it’s better than the incomplete suggestions that have been offered so far!!
Insane in the membrane!
ACTION? Let’s write our legislators about it! Use their Contact forms @ http://senate.gov AND http://house.gov
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