Republicans host fall dinner

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Emery County Republican Party fall dinner was held at the Museum of The San Rafael. Chairman Bill Dellos opened the fall dinner with a welcome, a pledge of allegiance by Sheriff Greg Funk, the National Anthem sung by Al Shakespeare and Geenie Baggs from Cleveland presenting the song she wrote titled “Rally Together America.” This rib eye steak dinner was catered by Kent and Julie Wilson. Kent Wilson’s rib eye steaks are frequently mentioned in Republican meetings around the state.
After the meal Bill Dellos gave a Chairman’s report of past and coming events. Dellos said “I am proud to be an American but I am disappointed in the loss of our freedoms under the present Obama administration. We need to stand and fight for our freedoms.
“Ten years ago I, became the Emery County Republican Party Chairman. We have accomplished several things in those ten years. We have updated the Emery County Republican Party Constitution, the By Laws and the Platform. I think it is now a better organization. I enjoy as chairman being able to go to many Republican events to meet with fellow Republicans. I enjoy listening to our Governor Gary Herbert tell us how Utah is the best state in the union. He is a great Governor and he is a great man.
“Polls do not mean very much, however the predictions are that Romney will win the election by a wide margin.
“We are going to be the state that will lead Mitt Romney into the Presidents Office.
Dellos then asked the Emery County Republican Party Secretary Karen Dellos to introduce all of the Republican elected officials in attendance.
Phil Fauver introduced the Emery County Republican Party Precinct Chairmen and Vice Chairmen.
Vice Chairman Dixie Thompson introduced the speakers. Thompson said, This election is so important and will change all of our lives. I am afraid our economy will not last. I wish I could take the bus tour to Nevada sponsored by the Utah Republican Party and knock on doors for Mitt Romney. Please consider doing what you can and giving what you can. We need to make this election count so we may retain our freedoms.
“We have here tonight some very good people who are my very good friends. Our first speaker will be Randy Johnson followed by David Hanson representing Senator Hatch.
Randy Johnson after thanking Dixie, started off by saying, “Bill Dellos asked me to speak about the Public Lands Process. Randy then repeated a story told originally by Ronald Reagan about life in the Soviet Union. One of Reagan’s stories about the Soviet Union was that if you worked very hard for a very long time you could finally earn the privilege of purchasing a car. And there was a man in the Soviet Union that had worked all of his life as diligently as possible and finally reached the point where he could buy a car. He got a call one day and the man on the phone said congratulations you have earned the right to buy a car. Your car will be delivered to you in two years on May the 4. The man asked would that be morning or afternoon? The man on the phone said it is two years out. What difference does it make if it is delivered in the morning or the afternoon? The man said well the plumber is coming in the morning.
“There are some interesting comparisons here. When Ronald Reagan took office inflation was at 15 percent, interest was out of control, gas prices were high with gas shortages and the top tax rate for individuals was 78 percent. If you were in the highest level of income you could pay 78 percent of your income in taxes. The Dow Jones average was at 800 and unemployment was at 8 percent. Does that sound familiar except for the Dow Jones. When Reagan left office inflation was under 4 percent and stayed under 4% percent the entire time he was in office. The top tax rate was cut to 35 percent and unemployment was at 5.4 percent. The Dow Jones was at 2400 and he created over 15 trillion dollars of new wealth in the United States. Every income class from the very poorest to the richest earned more income. He created the greatest wave of economic prosperity in our history and much of this was done in his first two years in office.
“If you look at what happened in the Carter Administration and in Reagan’s administration and you compare today’s administration. When you listen to the argument that it is going to take another four years to get this job done. Much of what Reagan did was done in the first two years. Ask yourself does that argument hold water.
“We had Jimmy Carter who failed to live up to his promises. We had Ronald Reagan who lived up to his promises. We have Pres.Obama who failed to live up to his promises. Do you see a trend here? Are you paying attention?
“My assignment is to speak to you about Public Lands. In 1994 and early 1995 the Emery County Commissioners created the Public Lands Council and began a process of determining what would make the most sense for our vast Public Lands. Some of the folks that were involved in that are sitting here tonight. They worked extensively over a three year period with every conceivable stakeholder at the table. We came up with an idea and a proposal to go to Congress and created a layered management proposal that would work for us in Emery County. We wrote our own language for legislation and we got our delegation to carry that legislation. Former Congressman Jim Hansen said it was the best piece of public lands legislation that he had seen in his long tenure in Congress. He was there for 26 or more years.
“The legislation was attached to a large omnibus package and the whole package died of its own weight, and our bill went nowhere with it.
“That was In 1998. We tried again in 2000. We worked with the Department of Interior and made a few changes to the bill and we got their blessing. We took the bill back to Congress in 2000 and environmentalists nationwide mounted a campaign like they had never mounted before to defeat the poor old backwoods folks from Emery County from passing their sensible lands bill. We reached a point where there was an adverse amendment that we could not live with and we withdrew the bill. Because we couldn’t muster enough votes to defeat the amendment.
Now, the environmentalists are at it again. The Public Lands Council has spent the last 3 1/2 years still functioning every month. The Public Lands Council has met with over 300 stakeholders in an almost three-year process to create a proposal very similar to what we did previously, and are now prepared to go to Congress again.
This is what I would say to our legislators. Our congressional delegation and to those that are running for those offices. Emery County has been at this 17 years. We have spent more money and more time, involved more stakeholders, touched on more issues and established more precedents than any County in the Western United States. The work that was done in Nevada by Harry Reid and the Washington County land-use legislation, were both based on Emery County’s work in the 90s. While we were being defeated in Congress. Those states copied our language and our legislation and passed bills successfully. So to our potential delegation members and our potential and sitting legislators, I would say it is our turn. It is our time, and we would expect and ask for your support and your help through the legislature and through Congress so that we can establish the regulatory certainty, the economic development and strengths from the proposal that has come forth from the public lands Council in a county that has been engaged in this better, longer and more thoroughly than anyone else.
My report to you is that the Public Lands Council has done a really good job and my hat is off to them, and to the commission for the work that they have done. My final word to those who represent us and remind them. That you work for us, and we need to pass this bill.
David Hanson representing Senator Hatch. spoke to the group. David said the Senator would like to have been at this dinner, but he is still working in Washington. He wanted me to express his thanks to you for your support and tell you how honored he is to be your nominee for United State Senator for the State of Utah once again. The Senator said he recognizes that not everyone supported him. But hopefully I will earn your support and do what I can to live up to your expectations as your United States Senator. Senator Hatch has committed himself, committed his campaign and committed his abilities to make sure that candidates up and down the Republican ticket are successful this year. The Senator is looking forward to seeing many of you on October 8th when he will be here in Orangeville.
Dave then spoke about the Presidential race and said, hopefully every person in this room is firmly committed to Mitt Romney being the next President of the United States. The media is not with us. They are liberal leaning, they are Democrats in their philosophy and they are going to try to turn this election in favor of the Democrats. One way that they will do this is with polling data. The way to manipulate a poll is to manipulate the sample. They are using this year the same numbers in Ohio that they used in 2008. That was a Democrat year. A lot has changed since 2008. We saw the big victory by the Republicans in 2010. We see that same kind of a wave building for 2012. Simply the number of those identified as Republican or Democrat in a state like Ohio is not 31% Republican 37% Democrat. It has shifted. When you get the numbers right the numbers turn out different. I believe this will be a very close election year.
The election this year is similar to the one in 1980 when Carter was President. For example, you had a Democrat that was not that popular, who was having economic problems in the country whose leadership ability was questioned running for reelection, and who did the Republicans nominate in 1980. It is hard to believe now, looking back on Ronald Reagan this way, but there were very serious questions about Ronald Reagan. He was too old. He was too conservative. He was just an actor. He didn’t have the depth to be president of the United States.
The criticism, this time against Mitt Romney is not quite the same. He’s too uncaring. He’s a businessman. The uncaring stiff businessman. And finally, the one unsaid is he’s a Mormon. We can’t elect a Mormon. Very similar criticisms. If you look at the polling that was done in 1980, the odds were that Jimmy Carter was going to get reelected. It was a close race, and it remained close until the final two weeks of the election campaign. Many of you remember the last debate between Carter and Reagan, where Reagan said, if you are better off today than you were four years ago, then elect my opponent. It was like a light turned on in voters all across this country. That is the issue of this campaign. so, on election night, Ronald Reagan won with 44 states and only losing six. I do not know if the same thing will happen for Mitt Romney as long as he gets to the 270 electoral votes. That is all I care about. Do I think the debates are going to be important. Absolutely. I think Mitt Romney will do well in those debates. Absolutely. I believe that Mitt Romney is going to be the next president of the United States.
I think Mia Love Is going to win out over Matheson too.
In January you’re going to have the privilege of being represented by one of the most exciting, most energetic, most charismatic people you will ever meet in politics and that Is Jason Chaffetz.
Over the years I have had the privilege of attending many events in this county from Lincoln Day dinner’s to County Conventions to the fall dinner. In fact, I have attended more events in Emery County than any other county in the state of Utah, including my home county. I have enjoyed every minute of it. Who wouldn’t when you can come down here and get steaks twice a year. I have developed many good friends here. I am very honored to be here this evening, and to be part of this great cause.
Amelia Roper the Political Director for the State of Utah Republican Party representing Governor Gary Herbert spoke briefly. Amelia said Governor Herbert is working hard for you. He understands your area and your issues. The Governor is sorry that he could not be here tonight and the Governor thanks you for your support.
David Hinkins reported I have had the opportunity to represent Emery County and South Eastern Utah for the last four years. Our state is very well run due to Governor Herbert and Lt Governor Bell two great men.
At a recent event Governor Christy from New Jersey complimented Governor Herbert for the way the state is being run.
Governor Christy said, In New Jersey the Democrats got so desperate they raised taxes 150 times in a two year period. It was a tax increase every 25 days on personal income and other taxes. They were so desperate that they elected him a Republican in a Democrat state. The Democrats came with their budgets to keep spending to get out of their deficit of about 2 trillion dollars. They would do tax increases rather than cut spending. The came with the new budget plan the first day of his administration. They asked him to sign the budget. Governor wrote a big veto on the budget and handed it back and said go try again. They finally started to come around to cutting the budget to within their means.
The Deseret News in an article said Utah has 85 million dollars surplus in our state budget. The Salt Lake Tribune said the state had 98 million dollars surplus in our budget. Both were right. The Utah State government is running a very responsible budget. There was 5 million dollars returned on the unused revenue earnings and 6 million on the excess account. It was the ear marked 5 million. People hate ear marks, but when you ear mark budgets and they are not able to use the money for anything else. They have to return the money. When it comes to spending if the agency cannot spend the money on anything but what you tell them to. They have to return it back into our budget.
If there is a surplus this year 45 million dollars will go back to the rainy day fund. From which we have had to borrow from over last 3or 4years. Five million dollars will be sent into the disaster relief fund. That will go towards the fire in Huntington Canyon, the flooding down at Santa Clara and other natural disasters. That will be about 25 million dollars. We have some money already set aside and the 5 million will go into that disaster fund. We have 2 million dollars that will go into industrial assistance. The total in the next session that we will be able to spend will be 46 million dollars. That 46 million dollars will be our budget.
A vote for Jim Matheson would be a vote for Nancy Pelosie and we cannot afford to have a majority of Democrats in the House of Representatives. Do what you can for Mia Love. We need to support her.
One of the big issues this year was State Parks funding. We have a new parks director appointed by Governor Herbert and that is Fred Hayes from out in the Basin. He has done a tremendous job. I am proud to say. With the deficit we had in the parks Fred has been able to turn the parks around and turned back into the budget two a quarter million dollars. It is just because we allowed him to apply business practices to the parks. They have a lot of things going on now where they are actually able to generate their own income. They are looking at Billy Casper operating some of the golf courses in the State of Utah. We’re looking at ways where Parks and Recreation will not be so dependent on the general fund and they will be able to generate their own revenue.
I am running against a person from Moab, who is the Moab Democrat Party Chairman. I haven’t met him yet but I hear that he’s a real nice guy. I would like your support for another four years.
there’s a real good chance that CEU will get a new building for the students. The building they now have is deteriorating. I’ve been visiting trade Tech schools and we are trying to get more money appropriated for schools teaching industrial workers, welders, mechanics and truck drivers. We have enough liberal arts University Graduates, where there are no placements for them.
Many of the people working in the power plants and in coal mines are getting closer to the age of retirement and we will need replacements for them. We need replacement technicians, welders and mechanics to repair our workforce. This would eliminate the need to bring in people from out-of-state. These are higher paying jobs for our young people from our county and our state. We want to encourage the Trade Tech’s. They have kind of gone dead. I graduated from Utah Technical College and I have done well by it. It is a good education and it is something that I was interested in. I wasn’t interested in liberal arts. I learned something that I was able to put to use as a trade.
I would like to put in a good word for Kay Mciff. He is one of the most respected people on the Hill. His judgment is great. He has done a lot for our county. We have been fortunate to have him represent us.
Thanks to each of you for your support of the people in Emery County and what you do for the Republican Party. I appreciate all you that you do for me. Thanks.
Debbie Huckstep representing John Swallow said you people have been wonderful friends of John Swallow all through the years. He was so disappointed that he could not be here. He had to be in a meeting in Texas today. He sends his love. He really does love you people in Emery County. John has been the chief deputy over the Civil Division in the State Attorney General’s office for the last 2 ½ years. He has come to understand that the office is not just about fighting local crime. But it is about standing up for federalism, for states rights. It is about our freedoms and our sovereignty. He was our lead attorney for Utah in the fight against Obama Care. And he has doubled the litigation force from the Attorney General’s office just to study where we can sue the Federal Government and reclaim our lands and the use of our natural resources. John is passionate about second amendment rights. He has been endorsed by the NRA. He feels strongly about protecting our children from pornography, from sex trafficking, from Internet predators. He feels very strongly about parental rights.
I will assure you that John swallow will fight crime like Batman fights crime.
Thank you!
Kay Mciff started off by saying. It is a great privilege for me to be here, a great privilege to represent you in the State House of Representatives. I’m going to give you an all-star lineup Bill Dellos, Dixie Thompson, Phil Fauver, Karen Dellos and Elaine Hatch, thanks so much for what you do and have done over the years.
When I first came to Emery County my trip across Highway 10 was quite an experience. You didn’t have 6 inches to make an error. I am pleased that after years of service, not taking personal credit. For the last six years I have said, we need to improve Highway 10. We have chipped away at it and chipped away at it, and there are very few structures left that are in trouble.
We are working tonight on another important stretch of road. The new coal mine road will be a significant thing for Emery County. I have had only one negative comment, and that was that we haven’t done enough on the off-highway roads. I am aware of that.
Let me mention a couple of other things that are important. One is the caliber of people that serve in this state. We have an excellent Governor. I am very supportive of Senator Hinkins. They are good people. They represent the flavor of our general populace. it would be unusual to elect someone in Utah that doesn’t fit our flavor. So we are assured of fairly good government as far down the pike as we can see. Because the quality of our people and demand that.
With coyotes, we’re making some headway. I talked to the director of Wildlife Resources, and they are surprised at how many coyote ears have been turned in. I have had a couple of complaints that we have too many requirements. Like you have to have the ears joined and a piece of the jaw or a tooth and the coordinates. That is troublesome to some sportsmen. I have asked the director to see if he could loosen up on some of those regulations. They don’t want a bunch of old ears that have been accumulated in the past. The teeth will tell them whether they are harvesting new coyotes or old reproducing coyotes. The number turned in is really quite remarkable and this year is an unusually good year because of the weather. We think we’re going to gain some ground on the deer herd this year, and that is good news in the counties where I serve.
We did get some help for small schools. We had a 14% bump in the money coming to small schools. A permanent bump. Plus some one-time money. That will help us down the road, but were not where we ought to be yet.
The media asked me how I’m different from my opponents in this race. I said, I have two opponents and one is a member of the Constitutional Party a tax protester who spent some time incarcerated for that. I have another one who is a liberal Democrat associated with the Sierra Club. So if you want to distinguish me. I think I truly occupy the middle ground.
I have supported Randy Johnson in your public lands efforts. I am aware of them. I have a daughter who is working on an advanced degree in that arena. Public land issues are fundamental to where we live and why our ancestors settled here.
The rural Caucus mentioned by Senator Hinkins is the best Association on Capitol Hill and the senators and representatives in that caucus, I think are the cream of the crop in our legislative efforts. They have a great feeling for rural Utah.
I just want to mention the national scene. It will be tough to turn around this ship. No matter who is elected, it will be extremely difficult. But sometimes the direction where you are headed is more Important than where you are. We’re going to decide in which direction America heads. Yogi Berra, a master of the obvious, is recorded to have said, when you come to a fork in the road take it. We’re going to do that in November. The direction we’re headed is increasing. Even if every person in that 47% is properly entitled, properly receiving, that’s not the debate. The real debate is where we want to go from here.
That is where we are in America today. We do not know how to turn back. We do not know if we are willing to pay the price and make the difficult decisions to reverse where we are headed. This will be a fundamental time in American history. If we decide to continue in the direction we’re going. Who knows what the result will be. I am firmly committed to slow down the train and reverse it. I join you in that effort. I am proud to represent you. I pledge to you my best efforts in our mutual behalf. Thank you so much.
Next Chris Nichols a representative of the Jason Chaffetz campaign stated that Congressman Chaffetz regrets not being here, but he is under the weather. It wasn’t difficult for him to bribe me to come here. When he told me that I would have the best steak in my life. I want to tell you he was not wrong. He also asked me to present the County party here with a check for $500 to help in your fundraising efforts. Jason is excited to be part of the third district. The congressman has been very busy as you probably noticed. He is working very hard on Mitt Romney’s campaign. Has also been busy with both conventions. He was asked to present his views on the Democrat convention. Jason is excited to have you In his district. He is thrilled to have Emery County in the third District. He considers the people in his district. As part of his family.
Jeff Peterson, representing the Utah state Republican Party, said it is great to be here. All of you are some of the best Republicans in the state. We’re excited about our Republican candidates in this election this year. We’re excited about our candidates to represent Emery County.
We are heavily involved in the Mia love, race. We’re doing all that we can to beat Jim Matheson. To retire him. Mia love is fantastic.
To give you an idea in her congressional district #4 we have registered over 12,000 voters to vote by mail.
I am grateful for your support and I’m grateful to be here tonight.
Thanks for your participation in the Republican Party.
Dixie Thompson said I do want to give special recognition to Ethan Migliori. He is such a tremendous young man and as you get to know him. You too will feel the confidence in him, that we feel. He will make Emery County, a fantastic commissioner.
Ethan Miglori came to the podium to say. There three things that I have focused on and think are important and that is health, education and income. the reason why I have focused on those is that we’re facing an interesting trend that is shifting in our country right now. We’re shifting from a labor industry into a technology Industry and the problem with that is that if we are not working with our businesses and the employees of those companies to help them understand the changes that are coming in technology to make sure they are staying up with their skill sets and their knowledge of what Is going on in the industry. We are finding that we are falling behind. That is why I picked that one.
Also, as I was out visiting with businesses, I’ve found that a number of business owners were telling me that they are having a hard time finding employees that are passing the drug tests. That was kind of disappointing to me. As I started looking at the numbers, they were telling me that in accounting. It is probably as high as 42% of people that are struggling with either prescription or illegal drug abuse. Honestly, I think there are not too many families here, that have not had someone with that problem in one way or another.
We have been working with a business called New Ways to try to bring in an outpatient program. The idea behind it is that we don’t need our employees to be arrested before they actually get into the drug court system to get the help they need. We need it to happen before to keep them in the workplace and to keep them engaged and our economy stronger. So we have brought New Ways here with their outpatient program. They can help with business owners that may have employees that are struggling and are not sure what to do. They do not have to ship them to three hours away to find programs that will help their employee.
The last thing that I’m focusing on is income. I am a strong believer that as we work with our local businesses and help them grow. We can raise the wages of our employees and help with the income of everyone in the county. So as we work on those three things, and focus on those things. I think we can continue to build a strong economy for our local businesses, our local citizens and make Emery County a better place.
I appreciate your kind words and you business owners I know you relate to some of that more than others.
Thank you very much.
Bill Dellos said we have come to the end of the meeting. But before we go. The Democrats have come up with a new attack. They say Ethan can’t run because of the Hatch Act. We have found that that does not apply to Ethan.
We are Republicans. God Bless this great country.