Utah County Republican candidates emphasize roads, transparency and oppose corporate welfare at party forum

At a Utah County Republican Party candidate forum, a field of countywide hopefuls emphasized road funding, expanded public access to meetings and resistance to public-private partnerships as central priorities.

Roads and traffic dominated the night. Isaac Paxman, who identified himself as a former assistant attorney general, mayor and county auditor, told delegates that west-side congestion is “the single, you know, burning fire going on in the county commission to work on” and pledged to press MAG, UDOT and the state legislature for project money. Tom Weston, a former mayor of Eagle Mountain, said he has “never never raised taxes” and said securing transportation funding and preserving open space would be priorities.

The crowd also pressed candidates on transparency and public access. Several candidates, including Paxman and William Brimley, supported restoring Zoom or hybrid public comment and moving some meetings to later hours so more residents could participate. David Spencer, a former Orem city council member, repeated a pledge to create a “transparency portal” that would publish how commissioners vote, travel and attend meetings.

The forum featured a recurring defense of the caucus-and-convention nomination process. Several candidates—including Bill Brimley, Thomas Wright and Isaac Ashton—said they favor the caucus system and would not gather petition signatures to reach the primary ballot, arguing the caucus process preserves grassroots choice.

On questions about economic development tools, an audience member and some candidates labeled redevelopment agencies (RDAs) and public-private partnerships as “corporate welfare.” William McAdams called RDAs “another form of corporate welfare,” while Isaac Ashton and others said RDAs can be appropriate in limited circumstances, citing a Spanish Fork deal that funded a Costco that later returned revenue to the city.

Candidates repeatedly raised fiscal restraint and pushed back on recent county decisions they tied to higher taxes or salary increases. Several urged a systematic review of county departments to find efficiencies and to make grant-writing and intergovernmental lobbying a priority.

The forum closed with two-minute remarks from candidates repeating campaign themes—transportation, fiscal restraint, accessibility and conservative principles—and a final appeal to delegates to support their preferred nominees.

What’s next: delegates will follow party rules for endorsement and nomination; no formal county actions or votes were taken at the forum itself.