It is difficult to sit back and allow the outrageous false claims made by Rusty Butler in his Letter to the Editor, Aug 30, 2023, go unchallenged.

He accuses Todd Pedersen of trying to “sway voters” and “stirring up support for his city council candidates”. Let me clarify. Mr. Pedersen was gracious enough to “sponsor” a cottage meeting that our Stand for Orem PAC held on August 24th. He allowed our PAC the use of the mini golf pavilion (as other residents/facilities have allowed us use of their locations). He was not in attendance. He has not donated to our PAC. There was no “free food”. We have invited EVERY candidate to participate in our various cottage meetings. Some have made themselves available while others have refused to participate or have been “too busy”. We decided to limit these meetings to 4 or 5 candidates in order for residents to get more questions answered. We have no idea who Mr. Pedersen supports. He was simply kind enough to provide a location for our meeting.

Check out the candidate financial reports on Orem.org – you will see that Mr. Pedersen hasn’t donated to any candidate. So, Mr. Butler’s claims of him trying to “sway voters” with his money, is patently false.

Seek truth, not gossip. Look at the financial reports and endorsements. Most candidates have used their own money (those who have money to spend), or have had donations from family and friends.

I don’t personally know Mr. Pedersen. But based on a few minutes of research, I learned that he has been extremely generous to our community. He donated $180,000 to Foothill Elementary for laptops in 2015, $10 million to Utah Valley Hospital in 2019, and $35 million to the new Primary Children’s Hospital in 2022. He has also donated to PTA events and area schools. He deserves to be thanked and appreciated, not falsely accused.

Allowing COMPLETE FALSEHOODS to stand is unconscionable. It is a shame Rusty Butler publicly made the claims he did with no facts to support his position. He should be ashamed. Further, he should retract his letter and issue an apology to Todd Pedersen immediately!

Orem deserves better.

Dan Schilaty, Orem

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