Stand for Orem endorses Dave Young for mayor, and Crystal Muhlestein, LaNae Millett and David Spencer for City Council. The Stronger Orem PAC, also known as Stronger Together, endorses Karen McCandless for mayor, and Quinn Mecham, Doyle Mortimer and Angela Moulton for City Council.

An extensive research into public records reveals the following:

Stronger Together denies allegations of wrongdoing, indicating their funds are fully disclosed. In fact, funding for election campaigns two years ago (the most recent information available on file) came entirely from small donations from friends, supporters, PACs, businesses and personal loans. They were significantly outspent by those receiving support from the Stand for Orem PAC.

On the other hand, public records reveal that Orem citizen Todd Pedersen donated a whopping $155,000 to two political action committees (Keep Orem Safe Prosperous and Kind PAC and Truth and Fact Matter PAC) associated with Stand for Orem council member candidates Crystal Muhlestein and Matt McKell in 2023. While the PACs are required to file their funding sources, these were not immediately clear to the public. Most of the disbursements came close to or after the election, a seeming strategic push to influence outcomes while making funds more difficult to trace.

While Pedersen’s donations to PACs and candidates are not illegal, it seems hypocritical that the beneficiaries of these initially obscure donations (final filing deadlines are 30 days following the election) are the ones making accusations of “dark money” against their opponents.

All this begs the question: How much will Pedersen or another deep-pocketed resident/organization donate to influence this year’s municipal and school board elections? Though we may not know until after the election, judging from the past, his donations will most likely be significant. (He also donated $160,000 to promote the original Proposition 2 school district split, making the total of his donations in the last two elections impacting the City of Orem, $320,000.)

Orem citizens should know before the election if someone is giving such large financial support to a specific group of candidates. They should also know what the donor’s agenda is. The dominance of a single donor underscores how one individual can heavily influence local contests.

Maybe it’s time for election finance reform in Orem.

And speaking of transparency, the citizens of Orem should also know the current status of the legal controversy involving Orem Mayor Dave Young, who is running for re-election. Here’s a recap from public records:

• In May 2022, an Alabama court ordered David Young, and his son Shawn Young, to pay more than $1 million to an elderly Alabama man who loaned money to Shawn Young. The loans were not repaid.
• In November 2023, the Alabama Supreme Court denied an appeal by David Young.
• Following the Alabama ruling, David Young filed a lawsuit in Utah, claiming false testimony, perjury and conspiracy involving the Alabama man and Shawn Young’s ex-wife. The Utah lawsuit is ongoing, but currently the Alabama judgment stands.
• The Alabama judge was particularly critical of David Young’s testimony and credibility, claiming he and his son were “very evasive in their answers” and calling Young “a lynchpin to this fraud.”
• The judge also noted that David Young lied to the court about his vaccine status.

Let’s vote for candidates who are honest and not evasive and who practice actual transparency, instead of projecting their own bad behavior onto their opponents.

Matt and Ruth Chatterley are concerned Orem citizens.