'All Politics is Local'--Orem Precinct 54 Republican Party Caucus

A famous political saying summarizes the significance of the great American political process and the proceedings of the Republican Party in Orem's Precinct 54 Republican Party neighborhood caucus...


On Tuesday, March 21st, 2006 the State of Utah held neighborhood party caucuses across the state, including the Republican Party's meeting for Orem Precinct 54 held at Mountain View High School in Orem, Utah.

A famous political saying states that "All politics is local." This truism (while attributed to a democrat's father) captures the significance of the caucuses.

Business of the Meeting
32 people (according to the rolls--including myself) attended the meeting. Among the citizens attending were precinct members Gary Herbert (Lieutenant Governor for the State of Utah), and JoDee Sundberg (Alpine School District Board President).

The caucus was conducted by Diane Wanamaker. Diane brought the meeting to order, and after a prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance, conducted the meeting by handling the fund-raising, the reading of the Utah County Republican Party Platform, and overseeing the election of precinct officers and delegates to the state and county conventions.

During the election of precinct officers and the state and county delegate seats, several issues of concern were raised by the citizens including:

1. The re-entry of Parley Hellewell into the state senate race for Senate District 15 running against fellow Republican and State Representative Margaret Dayton. This after Hellewell earlier this year announced he would not seek re-election (If you have questions regarding the senator's decision, you can visit his website for his explanation, or you can e-mail the senator at parley@parleyhellewell.com with your questions).
2. Support for Utah Third District Congressman Chris Cannon, with discussion focusing on the immigration issue.
3. Concern over the state of the federal budget deficit and national debt.
4. Support for or opposition to the school voucher system.
5. Concern over teacher/educator compensation.
6. Discussion of the transportation issue.
7. Concern over Utah County fiscal responsibility.

These and other issues (not captured in my notes of the meeting) were discussed during the election of the Chair, Vice-Chair, Secretary, State Delegate and County Delegate.

Precinct Officer and Delegate Election Results
Election results, with winners indicated by asterisks (*) were as follows:

Chair (also serves as state and county delegate)
Rudy Diederich
Kip Meacham (*)

Vice-Chair (also serves as county delegate)
Cordelle Bourne
Rudy Diederich
JoDee Sundberg (*)

Secretary (also serves as county delegate)
Cordelle Bourne (*)

State Delegate
Rick Lewis
Allan Patterson
Nancy Schultze (*)

County Delegate
Rudy Dieerich
Neil Peterson (*)
Tom Pett

Conclusion
The meeting was concluded with remarks from Lt. Governor Gary Herbert, who offered both his thanks, and the forwarded thanks of Governor Jon Huntsman, Jr. to the meeting's attendees for their participation in the process.