Washington County is no stranger to dramatic population growth with a 30% jump since the 2010 census. And the growth isn’t likely to slow either. The Kem. C Gardner Policy Institute is projecting another 30% growth spurt in the next 10 years.
Questions of growth and water are top of mind for voters and the candidates running for the county commission. Democrat Chuck Goode’s platform rests on water conservation, traffic and transit proposals, and protecting the environment. Incumbent Republican Adam Snow is running on his experience with a focus on water, “proper growth and housing,” and economic growth.
We asked county residents what mattered to them and that feedback informed this voter guide.
Methodology: An identical survey was sent to both campaigns. Provided answers were fact-checked before publication of this guide and we included links and/or editor’s notes on our findings. If a candidate did not respond, KUER leaned on public statements, interviews and additional reporting to provide voters with useful information. Candidates appear in alphabetical order by surname.
When speaking to voters who have never been engaged in local politics, what is your elevator pitch as a candidate for Washington County Commission Seat “C”?
Goode My name is Chuck Goode. I am running for Washington County Commissioner Seat C because our county is at a crossroads. This is the best of times because our rapid population growth drives our thriving economy. Our population has grown 21% since 2000. But this is also the worst of times because we are running out of resources to support that growth. Our water usage has increased by 15% since 2000. That is just one of our dwindling resources. We refer to resources like energy, water, housing, environment, transportation, safety and agriculture as infrastructure.
Providing this infrastructure to keep up with our growth is critical to maintain our quality of life. I want to improve people”s lives and local government has the greatest effect on your life. Whether you can have a job, a home, enough water, feel safe, get an education, run a farm or a business, or drive to work all depends on infrastructure.
Our county is making a huge transition. I want to help make this transition quickly but with the least disruption to people’s lives.
I care about the people in Washington County. Let’s manage this growth together.
Snow Washington County currently faces several critical obstacles and opportunities to continue our unparalleled quality of life. The only way to overcome those obstacles is with honest, hardworking leadership with the right experience and relationships to create real solutions. Adam Snow is that leader. His family has been synonymous with Utah’s Dixie since its inception, his pioneer ancestors leading those early settlers to the area. In addition to his career as an entrepreneur and small business owner in St. George, Adam also worked for U.S. Congress for years [worked for Rep. Chris Stewart] allowing him profound insight into the most pressing issues in Washington County, and to develop the right relationships at the federal, state, and local levels to implement the necessary solutions to our challenges.
With unrivaled work ethic, Adam is constantly fighting to represent your voice at every level, to bring innovative solutions to every challenge, to protect individual liberty, and ensure a continued quality of life for generations to come.
Adam learned his work ethic hauling hay on his family farm. He served a mission for his Church in Paris, France, and has an MBA in Finance. He is married with 3 children.
What do you think are the top three issues facing voters in Washington County?
- Goode 1. Growth, 2. Infrastructure especially water, 3. Leadership
Snow Some challenges are constant, like transportation, law enforcement, and conservative fiscal policy, there are some issues that are more immediately urgent. The most pervasive acute concern is attainable housing. So many people and businesses have discovered our special community, which, when coupled with federal policy and macroeconomic financial factors, has led to unattainable housing prices throughout the West, and we are not immune.
Water has been a critical concern throughout our history, and will continue to be. While there is still more work to be done in implementation, local leaders recently released the 20-year plan detailing the required infrastructure and efforts to meet our water and growth needs for the coming decades.
Unfortunately, there is a constant existential threat to our fundamental personal liberty. So many attacks on constitutionally guaranteed freedoms come from federal, and sometimes state, governments. Local leadership is the last line of defense against government intrusion and requires constant vigilance and battle.
With so much divisive rhetoric across the country, how do you keep local politics constructive?
- Goode National philosophical issues do not really affect us as much as local politics. We can work together if we just listen and let people feel they are being heard.
- Snow I firmly believe that the vast majority of Americans, across the political spectrum, have similar goals and aspirations. Except for the small but loud extremes, in my experience, our differences are not in the destination but rather which is the right path to arrive to take. I have found that focusing on realistic solutions with sincerity and in good faith removes much of the vitriol and division. I have worked, and will continue to work, with anyone, regardless of ideology, as long as they are honestly trying to find workable solutions to a problem.
How do you plan to help public services like schools and infrastructure keep up with the region’s continued and future growth? (Evan, St. George)
- Goode I have sustainable solutions to provide the kind of infrastructure that can balance our rapid growth. See chuckgoode.com
- Snow Managing responsible growth is a constant focus and challenge which requires innovative solutions to stay ahead. As stated previously, the County and local leadership have recently released the 20-year plan to provide water to homes and businesses. These services require significant planning and coordination across all levels of government to get all of the stakeholders on board. They also demand responsible fiscal policy, as large scale infrastructure investments are extremely expensive. Similarly, the County plays a significant role in transportation infrastructure planning throughout the unincorporated County and within each municipality. We meet monthly with each city and plan for easements, right-of-way acquisitions, road construction and maintenance, to connect our residents and businesses and allow for quick and safe transportation. These planning efforts look 40 years into the future and are constantly reevaluated for the most effective and efficient use of taxpayer dollars and needs. While no one accurately knows the future, we do our best by working with federal, state, and non-governmental organization resources to forecast and plan for all future growth needs.
What do you plan to do to keep crime from increasing as the population increases? (Jaesie, St. George)
- Goode We need to implement smart technology to coordinate our police, fire, and first responders to involve citizens in dealing with crime, emergencies and provide safety for our children. This can be funded by federal grants.
- Snow Washington County has been an incredibly safe community for many years, benefiting from the rural small town feel and relative isolation from the issues associated with larger communities. With our location on I-15, there is a constant threat that criminals see our small town as an easy target to get established. The key to staying ahead of crime is constant pressure on the criminal element before it is able to take root in our community, sufficient training for our officers, and constant coordination between law enforcement agencies. The role of the County is to hire, train, equip, and support our deputies and prosecutors. Local governments will handle that strategy, but they require the sincere support from all of our citizens.
What’s your plan to address homelessness for those who have been squeezed out as housing prices have gone up? (Riki, St. George)
- Goode We have the absolute best model in Switchpoint Community Resource Center for solving homelessness. We need to fund and expand these programs throughout the county and state.
Snow This question is really addressing two separate, but related, issues. As explained above, the challenge with attainable housing is a result of supply and demand. There are many factors in that equation, (like density, impact fees, short term rentals, interest rates, etc), but in the end, there are more people and businesses wanting to come here than there are properties available. For as many factors contributing to the lack of attainable housing, there are at least as many factors to increase supply to lower prices. The truth is that, for anyone who truly understands the complexity of the issue, there is no easy solution. It requires a multifaceted approach and the easement of macroeconomic contributing factors. The local levers we have to pull are on density, creativity of impact fees, zoning of short term rentals, etc. County zoning is only applicable to the unincorporated areas of the county, which only accounts for 5% of our residents. Therefore 95% of the solution in our county resides in the cities.
Homelessness is handled much better here than most other communities. We have a phenomenal asset in Switchpoint, which the County supports along with the cities.
What would you do to ensure that there’s enough water for everyone who lives in the county and those who might move here in the future? (Mary and Michael, St. George)
Goode We need to transition from a centralized water system to a decentralized home-based water system. The water we need is in the air*. We need to reuse our water. See my website for details, chuckgoode.com
Editor’s note: *The Environmental Protection Agency has researched Atmospheric Water Generation Technology. They found water production is “highly dependent upon the air temperature and the amount of water vapor (i.e., humidity) in the air.” The technology uses condensers and cooling systems similar to common dehumidifiers.
- Snow As mentioned above, water is one of the most pressing issues we face and demands intense stewardship. We have recently released our 20-year plan which details all of the future projects and infrastructure needed to ensure adequate water supply. It also details conservation measures we can individually and collectively implement. The truth is that there is very little “new” water available, so any growth requires us to use every drop of water over and over again. Currently, the majority of our water is used outside the home. The foundation of water growth is exchanging outdoor culinary water with treated reuse and secondary water that is appropriate for outdoor irrigation. In order to accomplish that, we can treat all of our wastewater but do not have sufficient storage reservoirs for that water. So we are currently in planning or construction on multiple new reservoirs to store all of the water we need. Those infrastructure improvements and conservation measures allow for sustainable resources and responsible growth for the future.
What’s your plan to maintain the area’s small-town feel, even as it continues to grow? (Melissa, Washington City)
- Goode We need to promote multiuse building in our neighborhoods. Zoning needs to be loosened up so that multigenerations can live together and help each other share in our beautiful county.
- Snow I love our community and remember what it was like when I was a kid. My family had cattle near where Heritage Elementary sits now. Many of our fields were in the Washington Fields area, where there was nothing but farms for miles. As a kid I would ride my bike to Vernon Worthen Park and stop at the Market Basket for ice cream most hot afternoons and no one worried about me until dark. I remember those days fondly, but I also enjoy the amenities and conveniences we now enjoy with a larger community. Growth is inevitable, but the key is to grow responsibly without losing the soul of the community. I believe we accomplish that with smart and forward-looking planning, maintaining the look and feel of our streets and neighborhoods, which is managed through zoning ordinances. I believe we keep our soul with safe communities, with adequate services and amenities like parks, trails, and outdoor activities. We keep our soul remembering and honoring our pioneer heritage, those who came before to tame this unforgiving land. And we continue the “Dixie Spirit” of cooperation for a common goal that is unique to our part of Utah.
What do you love about living in Washington County?
- Goode The people. They are so friendly and kind and generous.
- Snow We enjoy a rugged natural beauty that is unequaled anywhere in the world. I have lived in or visited many stunning places, but nothing can rival our landscape. As someone who loves the outdoors, there is no better place than Utah’s Dixie. But surpassing the beauty of our land is the beauty of our people. I have worked around the country, and the “Dixie Spirit” is real, and unique to our home. While we have our differences, we work together to find solutions to our challenges, and we apply a pioneer work ethic to get things done. Our people are kind, considerate, helpful, optimistic, and patriotic. We help our neighbor not because the government forces us to, but because we know it is the right thing to do. We love our land, we love our country, we love the Constitution, we love our Lord, and we love our heritage. All of those make this the most wonderful place in the world.
Just for fun: What do you think is the most underrated thing about Washington County?
- Goode Our people care about our county and each other. They volunteer for so many good causes. We are a family even if strangers.
- Snow A strong argument could be made for golf. Everyone knows of Zion National Park, one of the top 5 most visited national parks in the country. They know about Snow Canyon State Park, or mountain biking, and other outdoor activities. But not enough people recognize the world class golf courses we have in our own backyard! Unfortunately, I am not a good golfer, but I thoroughly love getting out on the course and disappointing myself whenever I can. We have incredible courses, with outstanding views, and the rare ability to play year round. It is no wonder that the PGA and LPGA are coming to Washington County this year. While some may have heard of the amazing newer courses we have, every course has something unique and challenging to offer. It truly is an underrated amenity!
KUER's David Condos, Elaine Clark and Jim Hill contributed to this guide along with independent fact checker Trisha Loveless.
This voter guide was produced in collaboration with PBS Utah and America Amplified.
