Utah County Races

Utah County Recorder

The Recorder’s office has changed a lot in the last four years, working through a huge backlog where it would take weeks before documents would be searchable online and multiple months for them to be fully processed,

Andrea Allen – Won at convention

Andrea is in the last year of her first term and is running for reelection. She started with a big backlog but was able to have that all caught up by May of 2022. This is her biggest accomplishment and now complies with state code requirements. 

The office now offers Property Watch. This lets people sign up, for free, using their property serial number, and then get alerted if anything is recorded against their property. The office has also added additional e-recording vendors, and more ways to pay, including credit cards, debit cards, and e-check. You can still pay with a traditional check or cash.

Andrea explained that the office is self-sufficient based only on the $40 recording fee that the state mandates. The county commission used to take any excess funds from the department for the general fund but after a visit from the state auditor, they now put that in a restricted fund for recording purposes and functions that support the recorder’s office.

Andrea plans to use a second term to continue to make the processes more efficient and add records online going back to the 1800’s. (They currently go back to 1955)

She expressed gratitude for the citizens putting their faith in her by voting her in and hopes they will continue to see the value and support her going forward. 

Garrett Mast – Lost at convention

Garrett is from Houston Texas and moved here 3 ½ years ago for school. He graduates in August in Family History, focusing on Scotland. He is running because he feels there needs to be a choice in the office.

When asked what books he is currently reading or has recently read he mentioned he was enjoying Finding Family and lot of textbooks for class. He did say his favorite was The Family Tree Guide to DNA Testing and Genetic Genealogy.

Garrett said that he works a lot with land records with his major and is working on creating a historical database of Nauvoo. He wants to put anything that is legal to have online, there. He believes his age and modern setting, along with growing up with computers makes it easier to do things digitally.

Garrett wants to make sure that data is properly backed up and plans to take his campaign to places like Farmers Markets. He also wants to provide internship opportunities regarding things like GIS to students.

Utah County Assessor

The assessor has the important job of assessing property values at a large scale to base property taxes off of.

Burt Garfield – Won at convention

Burt won a special election in April 2023 after the previous assessor resigned and is up for reelection. He graduated from BYU in statistics and from Purdue University with a Masters of Industrial Administration. He has worked for several companies including American Express, Discover, Zions Bank, and Franklin Covey.

When asked what books he is reading or has recently read, Burt said he is reading the Old Testament all the way through. He recently finished Rough Stone Rolling by Bushman and Unbreakable by Hillenbrand.

In 2004 he started training to become a real estate appraiser, completing his training in 2006. He then started his own appraising company, but unfortunately his business didn’t survive the 2008 recession. In 2010 he started working for the county assessor’s office as a data analyst and was the chief deputy for 7 years. He has stayed with the office continually for the last 14 years.

Since elected, Burt has spent time restructuring the office, splitting it by process and no longer by property type. There is both data collection, by appraisers, and data analysis, done by statisticians and data scientists. He said that it is more like a factory now.  Burt explained that the statisticians build the assessing models and the appraisers review the outliers, usually data errors. They are then corrected.

When asked about the open roles, he explained that with the restructuring, it took a bit of time to post the new jobs after people left for retirement and higher paying positions elsewhere. Almost all of them have been filled and the seven remaining are being actively recruited for. They are onboarding 2 people a week, on average.

He would like to have another term to finish what he has started with this transition. Burt also wants to train the data scientists in real estate and ensure all the data in the system is accurate due to a system change several years ago. He is also particularly interested in SB30, which would give the counties more data on commercial real estate transactions to better determine their worth. The office is no longer just appraisers; with the help of data scientists, they can run their valuation models automatically. New commercial data will further help their modeling.

There was some controversy over a mailer that was sent by Burt with some even accusing him of using county funds. Burt said he paid for everything himself and it was to explain how the office works and after some were complaining about the assessment process. It only went to about 80 people, which were mostly elected officials. He asks that people take the time to read it before being critical of it.

One difficult issue for the office is saying which properties qualify as greenbelt, which has a much lower tax rate. He said that some people appeal their decision by going to the county commission. The office can then appeal that decision to the Utah Tax Commission, if needed.

Keven Ewell – Lost at convention

Keven has been assessing home values since 1998 in Washington, California, Idaho, and Utah. He has managed teams from 3-50 people and enjoys building them up to run better by teaching and process improvements. Customer service is key. 

He worked at the assessors office from 2009-2015 and says that the office currently lacks the leadership to grow the teams. He really likes the people there and wants to be able to make a difference.

Keven said that his opponent was elected in a special election last year and wants to give voters a choice and improve the office. Happy employees are more productive employees. He said that there is reportedly a lot of blame in the office and teams within teams. There are currently 7 vacant positions out of 50. (The author saw 29 listed on the county website)

Keven is also concerned that some people have been promoted that can’t do their job and thinks that all managers should have to interview for their jobs again and should be accountable to their teams. Those managing should be teaching and training.

He also discussed how the office works, it is a mix between appraising and statistics and you need to have both sides working together to have a more accurate assessment. You need to mix trainees with experienced employees. 

Keven hopes to be able to change the culture in the office towards one of teamwork, efficiency, and customer service.

Utah County Commissioner

Skyler Beltran – Won at convention

Skyler was previously vice-chair and then chair of the Utah County Republican Party and is also a member of the Utah State Central Committee. One way he measured his success was by having far less drama and better collaboration with all party members. He said that they also had very successful debates, meet the candidate events, and county conventions. The state even went through redistricting, which further complicated things and went smoothly under his leadership.

When asked what books he is currently reading or has recently read, he listed
Hillbilly Elegy by JD Vance
Get Married by Brad Wilcox

Skyler moved here from California 12 years ago to attend UVU, studying political science. He now lives in Lehi and works in real estate. This allows him to see a lot of the county and how density, affordability, and infrastructure all interact. He has helped Lehi with park trails, service on the Utah County Planning Commission, been on the Utah County Board of Adjustments, and has written about politics and government for Lehi Free Press for the past five years. Skyler is also an online editor for it as well.

He is very concerned about the budget, which he said is running a $9 million deficit while the Commission gives themselves back to back raises. The county is quickly eating through its $25 million in reserves. The online marriages run a surplus and the recorder’s office is self sufficient and he thinks we should be working on that model for other departments.

He said that because he isn’t a politician or bureaucrat, he offers a fresh perspective. He can have good working relationships without being too enthralled in the politics. Transportation is a huge issue and Skyler said we need to get more funds from the state and MAG and that we need to do traffic studies and take the politics out of it.

Some other things that Skyler said we need to look into are mental health and homelessness before they become a huge problem. We don’t want the state to force a solution on us and we need to first identify how big the problem is. He believes that this is a growing issue that we need to face head on.

Tom Westmoreland – Lost at convention

Tom has been the mayor of Eagle Mountain for 6 years and was on the city council prior. He believes that his current position is very similar to that of county commission. The county is dealing with a lot of growth but he doesn’t want to see us become like Salt Lake County, even though we are projected to have a higher population.

When asked what books he is currently reading or has recently read, Tom listed
The Power of Habit, Charles Duhigg
America Alone, Mark Steyn
13 Ways to Kill Your Community, Doug Griffiths
1776, David McCullough
The Warrior Poet Way, John Lovell
The Last of the Mohicans, James Fenimore Cooper
American Sniper, Chris Kyle
Man’s Search For Meaning, Victor Frankl
Saving My Assassin, Virginia Prodan
Because They Hate, Bridgette Gabriel
We Die Alone, David Howarth
Start With Why, Simon Sinek
Leaders Eat Last, Simon Sinek
The Boys in the Boat,
Daniel James Brown
The Hiding Place, Corrie ten Boom
The Fountainhead, Ayn Rand

Tom has seen roads become a huge issue for his city. Pony Express was expanded a few years ago and said that SR-73 needs to be expanded into a full freeway. Northern Utah county has taken the bulk of state road funds and the southern end of the county needs some of the money as well.

Tom said that the city is growing by 5,000 residents a year and is currently the 4th largest city in the county at about 65,000 residents. They are adding a new Firefly development, which is supposed to be the size of Daybreak. He estimates that cedar valley can fit two hundred thousand residents. If the state wants more houses to offset the housing shortage, they need to help provide more roads. He has worked with developers to make sure that plenty of open space is still preserved. And the city employs a forester and biologist to make sure the city works with the environment while growing rapidly.

They have been able to offset some of the expenses through economic development and are looking at getting their 4th data center out there. He added that the property used to bring in $35 a year in property taxes and now brings in millions. Facebook even donated hundreds of thousands in computer equipment to the school district and handed out grants to local businesses during Covid. Facebook has also invested in the Provo Creek water system. Tom added that they don’t use a lot of water but do use a lot of electricity. He hopes to see the county work with cities to grow revenue.

Andrew Jackson – Lost at convention

Andrew is from Illinois but visited while in high school and loved it so much, he stayed with a friend’s family and completed his senior year at Orem High School. He was previously the city planner for Lindon and worked for MAG (Mountainland Association of Governments) for 26 years, being the executive director for the last 15. Andrew retired and now works for Horrocks Engineering as a senior planner, doing project management.

When asked what he is currently reading or has recently read, Andrew listed
US and Utah Constitutions and codes
Economics in One Lesson by Henry Hazlitt

He wants everybody to be able to love Utah County, the way he does. Andrew wants to keep it safe and for people to have the freedom to go places. He believes in a hands-off government and thinks that the county commission has micromanaged the sheriff too much. Don’t give me the refrigerator and tell me what to put in it.

Utah county is one of the most efficient counties for the cost. He wants to be able to retain great employees but they need proper pay. The commission needs to better work with cities.

One issue he would like to fix is how Santaquin is both in Utah County and Juab County. We also need to prepare for when we hit 1 million residents and become a first-class county, as defined by the state. We will have additional requirements of how we run the county. Andrew said that we need to make sure that we act together with it.

Diane Garcia – Lost at convention

Diane is from Spanish Fork and has worked as the Farmland Assessment Analyst in the Assessor’s Office for 19 years. She also has her own farm and gives free firefly tours in June. 

Diane explained that there is far less property tax owed on property that is considered greenbelt. Then is it taxed based on productive capability and the owner needs to show it is producing. She has seen commissioners come and go and said that some citizens who do not get greenbelt status go to commissioners that are their friends and get her assessment overruled. She said she has even been berated by commissioners. Diane said the process needs to be very fact based. When asked for evidence to back up this claim, she said she would provide it, but never did. She believes that commissioners should recuse themselves when it is regarding their friend.

Diane said that the commission needs to build trust with the public and follow the law. She also said that it is very hard to keep licensed appraisers on the salary Utah County offers. After the county spends a lot on training them, they leave to work in Salt Lake County. She thinks that the county should get an administrative law judge as some proceedings have become too political.

Jay Ugarte – Lost at convention

Jay started out the interview saying that we need to have people with ethics. When asked if he was accusing people on the commission. He clarified that he meant people needed a backbone. When asked again if he was accusing people, he said he wasn’t and that those were just questions to bait him.

Jay later said that he is an entrepreneur in the finance and real estate sector. He said that we need to learn the definition of a budget but had no specifics beyond that. He offered to submit a written response with details in the next few days but still hasn’t as of the time of this writing.