[0:00] Highland City the election is coming up for City Council and I'm sitting here at

[0:05] Fizz nighttime version with Tim ball Tim thanks for stopping by my pleasure

[0:10] thanks for inviting me the race is on tell me a little bit about yourself

[0:20] where did you grow up and how is it that you ended up here in Island I grew up in

[0:25] Southern California about 20 minutes from Disneyland in a place called

[0:28] Diamond Bar interestingly enough there's a whole Diamond Bar community in in Utah

[0:34] County Wow yeah a lot of people have moved here for

[0:37] the same reason that we moved here and that is we found a jewel in the middle

[0:43] of what appears to be chaos Highland is Highland because of the open spaces the

[0:50] low-density the country feel yet were very close to amenities such as

[0:55] world-class health care transportation corridors shopping schools but we still

[1:02] are able to retain and maintain that country feel and that's why I'm here

[1:06] because I believe in the Highland of the general plan which is exactly that

[1:12] highlands of bedroom community and it's we want to maintain that country feel

[1:17] forever and that's why we moved here and that's what I'm gonna fight for

[1:20] excellent tell me a little bit about your family and what it is that you do

[1:24] um I married my wife Natalie we've been married for 20 years

[1:29] coming up rapidly on 21 we have four children ages 17 14 12 and 10 keeps me

[1:37] very busy an interesting thing that really keeps helps keep me informed is

[1:41] that I have four kids in three different schools so the ridge line Timberline and

[1:46] Lone Peak and so I kinda have the pulse and everything going on in school and

[1:51] like tivities and it's it's great it's a great time to be in Highland and raise a

[1:55] family yeah you've been serving on the Planning

[1:57] Commission how long have you been on that a little over a year I was

[2:00] appointed by man and I have really enjoyed that time

[2:03] but more importantly I think is it's given me a lot of experience so I can

[2:08] hit the ground running if I am honored to be elected I can hit the ground

[2:12] running and with that experience really represent well my friends and neighbors

[2:17] yeah a lot of people don't know what the Planning Commission does just briefly

[2:21] what what is it that the Planning Commission does how does that relate to

[2:23] them do you know much we do much of what the the City Council does in a sense

[2:28] developers etc will come to us with land-use issues such as zoning and

[2:34] variances to zoning for developments and both residential and commercial and we

[2:39] will make ret we'll hear everything we'll study it out and then we'll make

[2:43] recommendations to the City Council and the City Council actually has the teeth

[2:47] and they will take the vote make the votes and and effectuate whatever change

[2:52] that they see fit or prevent a change right they all have to do what the

[2:56] Planning Commission does but they do look to the Planning Commission to guide

[2:58] and direct them and kind of get these issues right exactly

[3:01] all right tell me about some of the other issues that you think Highland

[3:04] residents should be aware of and should be a part of their consideration in this

[3:08] this campaign there are actually a lot of really important issues Highland is

[3:13] built out about 75 percent which means 25 percent left of the city to develop

[3:18] non commercial development such as the War esidential development and so it's

[3:23] very important that we make prudent decisions and there's a lot of

[3:27] corollaries to this one issue of zoning and those that know me know that I'm a

[3:32] big Sony person and adhering to the law adhering to the zoning statutes that are

[3:37] consistent with the general plan so if we over build that's going to put even

[3:43] more of a burden on our infrastructure one corollary would be the water

[3:49] situation we live basically in a desert yeah I think we have the second lightest

[3:54] rainfall in the country out of all 50 states number two in the wrong

[4:01] directions so we water as a really important consideration I think I heard

[4:08] a statistic that we are at 75 percent build-out we're already using a hundred

[4:13] percent of the water that was a for our city yeah so every new house

[4:18] that comes in the really isn't water that is designated for at our current

[4:23] user current so we have to make some serious decisions and I'm I'm really big

[4:28] on getting feedback from from citizens my neighbors and my friends and I plan

[4:32] on doing cottage meetings periodically in different parts of the city and

[4:36] really kind of putting my ear to the tracks of me and listening and

[4:42] understanding what the concerns are of the citizens of Highland and water is a

[4:47] big issue I mean I mean next to to zoning I've been asked about water a lot

[4:52] and I've knocked on hundreds of doors in different neighborhoods gone to numerous

[4:57] cottage meetings and that's a big issue yeah and so we have to make decisions

[5:01] such as are we going to adhere to the general plan if we do so and do

[5:06] residential large lots low density development which I plan on vigorously

[5:13] defending then that will put less of a burden on the water situation if we

[5:18] don't and we don't kind of dial back our usage voluntarily then we'll be forced

[5:23] to take other measures so I greatly favor voluntary cutbacks and I think

[5:30] everyone loves the city and I think everyone will do the right thing I think

[5:33] a lot of people aren't aware that they're over watering and and really

[5:37] what the situation is I don't think they're aware of it either and I think

[5:40] for Xavier a really good example I was knocking on doors two nights ago and I

[5:46] ran into a fascinating lady who's a landscape engineer but she's also an

[5:50] expert in water usage and water conservation when it comes to

[5:54] landscaping and she said I'm gonna ask that

[5:57] I volunteered to go to to address groups of people and it just hasn't happened

[6:03] and I said can I have your business card she said yes she wants to teach us about

[6:07] I think it's pronounced xeriscaping everyone thinks it's zero skiing that's

[6:11] what I thought but it's actually xeriscaping and it has to do with

[6:14] utilizing indigenous and native plants in order to minimize water consumption

[6:22] it worked at her yard that she'd just put in it and it's beautiful with very

[6:26] little grass that's awesome yeah it was really nice it didn't look like some

[6:29] freaky desert scape or a moonscape but it looked really nice and so I'm gonna

[6:35] utilize the resources we have in the community not to get sidetracked yeah

[6:39] but I think there's so much talent in Highland from the technology sector we

[6:46] have a lot of CEOs CFOs CIOs CTOs all kinds of talent that we can utilize in

[6:52] different capacities one would be a committee that that particular lady I

[6:57] mentioned could be part of and we could talk about appropriate ways to save

[7:01] water through landscaping I think we should have a technology and development

[7:06] committee and these are all volunteer positions and they could talk about

[7:10] upgrading infrastructure in ways we could partner with a lot of the tech

[7:14] companies they're just right in our backyard and help us perhaps get faster

[7:19] internet speeds and all kinds of different things that we can do with

[7:22] technology and then potentially a business development group we have some

[7:27] commercial space left and I know a lot of people want to develop the commercial

[7:30] areas and minimize the burden on our infrastructure and maximize the amount

[7:35] of money we can capture through taxes and so perhaps a committee could be

[7:40] formed with business leaders that live in Highland and they can determine which

[7:44] businesses would be ideal and optimal to accomplish just that with minimal effect

[7:49] on us what's your thoughts on open space open space and trails are part of what

[7:54] makes Highland Highland and it makes it a community because they a lot of them

[7:58] will interconnect different parts of the city and I see my neighbors I see them

[8:03] enjoying the trails with their families taking walks on Sundays and really

[8:08] taking advantage of what Highland has to offer that being said I think we need to

[8:13] develop a plan that is equitable and fair to everyone I'm in an open space

[8:18] area and I don't mind paying my twenty dollars a month if someone lives in a

[8:24] non open space area I'm not sure that they need to pay that twenty dollars but

[8:28] we need to figure out what's fair but we also need to do something else I

[8:35] I work in the basically the data field I work in IOT Internet of Things and it

[8:40] has to do with using machines to capture data and put that data in meaningful

[8:45] formats so that people can make intelligent informed decisions based on

[8:50] fact and data and I want to do that for Highland what I'd like to do is do is

[8:55] we've already done one study but perhaps augment that study about parks and what

[8:59] we need to do to make more of our parks usable and then take that data and share

[9:04] it with everyone and let's all make a decision because we're all in this

[9:08] together and if it go to people and say look this

[9:13] park is not useable as a city park or a community park because it lat it lacks

[9:17] restroom facilities it lacks a pavilion it lacks areas for soccer teams to

[9:24] practice etc if we do this it's going to cost this much if we maintain it it's

[9:29] going to cost this much and make a presentation and say what are we willing

[9:32] to do are we willing to donate our time are we willing to donate funds are we

[9:39] willing to have a fee what are we willing to do and if we're not it's good

[9:44] to know yeah and then we can put our money towards something else but we need

[9:47] to determine which is a community park and which is a neighborhood park right

[9:52] and then treat those accordingly and make it fair and equitable for everyone

[9:56] how is it that you decided to run for City Council what brought you to that

[10:01] decision I decided to run for City Council because prior to my appointment

[10:05] to the Planning Commission I was very involved in community affairs and I have

[10:10] attended more City Council meetings over the last three years than anyone I think

[10:16] with the exception of those on the city council I've been to 35 34 potentially

[10:22] 35 in the past three years so I really have a good feel of what's going on and

[10:27] I saw the City Council make I think they're all great men and women but

[10:33] occasionally they take a direction that I think is contrary to the best

[10:37] interests of the people of Island for example some high-density developments

[10:41] that were approved and they were kind of a head-scratcher yeah and I didn't

[10:45] understand why if we already have burdens

[10:47] our infrastructure and I brought that up and made my point vigorously in front of

[10:50] the City Council and they did it anyway yeah and I thought boy this is not good

[10:56] for for the citizenry so what am I going to do about right so

[11:00] I was appointed to the Planning Commission and then I thought I just

[11:05] have to run for City Council in order to ensure that we maintain our standard of

[11:11] living our way of life and keep the feel of Highland and the spirit of Highland

[11:15] alive and that's the reason that we all moved here

[11:17] why should residents consider you for City Council because I think I'm really

[11:24] good I have a good analytical mind on one side where I can take facts and

[11:29] information and apply that and make really good strong decisions but on the

[11:34] other end I'm very empathetic I listen to people I know a lot of complaints

[11:38] I've heard is that people feel that the city fathers or those representing them

[11:44] don't really listen and they feel frustrated and so I'm empathetic I

[11:49] listen and I take their opinions into consideration and kind of combine that

[11:54] with my data side and I think I can come up with some really good solutions for

[11:58] for for Highland I feel that I need to go in with everyone knowing who I am and

[12:05] what I stand for I can't I can't hide facts I can't hide Who I am

[12:10] everyone knows what I feel about development and density open spaces and

[12:16] keeping highland highland and it would be unfair to people if I tried to hide

[12:21] any controversial view I might have it's their vote it's a right to vote and they

[12:28] need to know who and what they're voting for and what I believe in they need a

[12:32] reasonable expectation that if I say X Y & Z when I get into office if I get into

[12:38] office then I will honor those commitments that I've made to them but I

[12:43] need to listen also for example I went to a cottage meeting about the east-west

[12:47] corridor and some people were talking about traffic mitigation I don't want to

[12:52] go into all the particulars but I came away with the same point of view we need

[12:57] the east-west for many reasons but I came away with a

[13:00] different view and I was influenced by some of the things that they mentioned

[13:05] about about traffic and speed medication so I didn't change my point of view but

[13:10] it's a little bit tweet in a sense taken in consideration their concerns which

[13:16] were very very valid now tell me about working with the rest of the City

[13:20] Council and in this race there are three people who are going to be voted in and

[13:25] so that will be the majority of the City Council how do you see yourself working

[13:29] with other people so I've lived in a lot of different places under a lot of

[13:33] different circumstances and I've lived in big cities I've lived in Los Angeles

[13:38] Seattle I've lived in in South America and

[13:43] Caracas and Bogota and I've lived in Milan Italy and a lot of places and I

[13:49] understand what high-density can do I understand what hap hazard planning can

[13:56] do and believe me we don't want it and we want a city that grows that grows in

[14:04] a responsible and measured way in accordance with the general plan now

[14:09] that being said that same experience that I've had has given me the

[14:14] opportunity to work with a lot of people from a lot of cultures and a lot of

[14:18] backgrounds and I've learned to get along with just about everyone you can

[14:22] have disagree you know it reminds me of that movie Bohemian Rhapsody where I

[14:26] don't know if you remember where they had huge success and then Freddie

[14:30] Mercury the singer was lettle was lured away by big money to do a solo album he

[14:35] came back to the band and begged them to take him back and he said well there was

[14:40] good news and bad news because we'll they said well what was the what was the

[14:44] good news they did exactly what I told them to do for my record I said what's

[14:48] the bad news and he said they did exactly what I told me wrong from my

[14:51] record and he said it was terrible yeah because as a unit we can disagree

[14:56] but if we disagree on an intelligent level hear each other out we can come

[15:02] and make some great decisions and we can come together and really maintain the

[15:09] quality of life that we've all to expect and we can do so in a

[15:13] respectful way but also standing up for what we believe in and I just thought

[15:18] that comment from our that scene from the movie was great because what it

[15:22] represented was when people come together and are passionate about

[15:25] certain things the result can be beautiful and in their case music and in

[15:30] our case the city of well good luck yeah prefiguration is like a two-year time

[15:36] [Music]

2019 Highland City Council Candidates - Tim Ball

Transcript