Everyone, I received this media request below about the initial results of the citizens emailing in about Ranked Choice Voting, etc.
I wanted you all to see how I responded so far.
Thanks for reading!
From: Heidi Franco <hfranco@Heberut.gov>
Sent: Monday, April 14, 2025 2:33 PM
To: Grace Doerfler <grace@kpcw.org>
Subject: Re: Ranked choice voting
Hello Grace,
I think, but not sure, that the people doing that independent survey are the ones who spoke against RCV at the March 18th meeting. I do not know what their results are. It seems they would send their results to the City Council by tomorrow, but I’m not sure.
Also, Matt Brower, City Manager, only told me verbally about the city’s mailer to the public on Thursday morning, April 10th. He did not tell me about the new City RCV information being posted either since there was already pro-RCV information posted on the ‘elections’ part of the City website.
It seems most people received their City mailer on Thursday – Saturday last week. Before that in the previous March and April city newsletters, I’d asked citizens to send in their email responses to the City Council about using RCV for the November election; yet I did not state my opinion about RCV in those city newsletters.
I posted my personal online article about the ‘Facts on the 2023 Heber City Election’ against RCV on April 5th which does not use taxpayer money.
To my knowledge no one on the City Council–including me– saw or approved the City’s RCV mailer or the new pro-RCV information on the City’s website tied to the city’s mailer QR codes.
I believe the higher transparency standard is that the City should not be presenting one-sided information to citizens when using taxpayer money and asking for their opinion–especially on something as important as the process of voting which should be based on fairness, transparency, and equality. I believe the City should have presented balanced information to the public on the RCV issue.
Citizen email results:
Between the March and April city newsletters and along with the city mailer email responses; as of right now (2:30 pm MT) I’ve verified a total of:
-161 total city responses; with
-121 of those responses opposed to using ranked choice voting; and
- 39 in favor of using ranked choice voting with
- one neutral.
The City Council also received another 12 total emails that did not specify their address, and as of yesterday I’ve contacted them to ask if they live in the city.
-Out of those 12 responses so far with no address listed:
- 9 are opposed to using ranked choice voting, and
- 3 are in favor of using ranked choice voting.
The City Council also received another 21 responses from citizens who identified themselves as living outside of Heber City.
Out of those 21 outside city responses:
- 17 are opposed to using ranked choice voting, and
- 5 are in favor of using ranked choice voting.
Current responses show that the margins remain quite constant across all response categories. It’s three to one against using ranked choice voting for the Heber City’s 2025 city elections.
Again, these numbers will likely increase. I received and counted the same emails that everyone on the city council receives. I also verified that there are no duplicate responses, as we had several sent. These updated numbers will be presented tomorrow at the City Council meeting.
I’ve heard from council members that citizens are also contacting them personally and through text messages. I do not know the results of those personal communications from citizens.
The mayor and two on the City Council are up for election this year.
I am planning to run again for mayor this year.
I look forward to your balanced reporting on the Heber City’s RCV initial citizen email results.
Heidi Franco
Transparency & Accountability to Citizens
From: Grace Doerfler <grace@kpcw.org>
Sent: Monday, April 14, 2025 12:57 PM
To: Heidi Franco <hfranco@Heberut.gov>
Subject: Ranked choice voting
| Caution! This message was sent from outside your organization. |
Hi, Heidi,
I hope you’re having a good Monday! I saw your blog posts about ranked choice voting and I have a couple of questions.
First, I noticed that you asked people to fill out the survey on the Heber Vote website. I haven’t been able to find any information about who’s conducting the survey, so I’m curious if you can share more details about this citizen effort and why you decided to share an anonymous survey. Do you know what will happen with the results?
Additionally, I know the council is accepting comments from voters about RCV. Can you share any information about what kind of feedback the city has gotten so far?
Thank you,
Grace
Wasatch County Reporterwork: (435) 731-5506 | cell: (435) 709-8475grace@kpcw.org | www.kpcw.org
Please be aware I work Sunday – Thursday and may respond to emails outside of regular hours.
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