Here are some things they did:

1. Ignored a petition from thousands of Orem Citizens to not move forward with the proposed split.

2. Did not meet with Orem teachers or Orem’s school board members to discuss the pros and cons of a split.

3. Side-stepped genuine public input. During public meetings, the mayor would give answers only to a list of pre-submitted questions, hand-picking the ones he wanted to answer. The city website also published answers to selected questions.

4. Hired a consultant with no experience. That company was formed days before applications were due and disappeared shortly afterwards.

5. The law stipulates that the city must be neutral on such issues being placed on a ballot. Despite this, the mayor and supporting council members hired a PR firm and sent city-sourced letters to all residents implying city support for the proposition.

6. The City Attorney advised that voting on a pro-Proposition resolution in an open meeting would be in violation of the neutrality law. The mayor chose to turn the live video feed off and vote to pass it anyway.

7. City employees who disagreed with the mayor’s position or actions risked losing their jobs. During this period the following people were pressured to “retire or resign”: the city manager, the assistant city manager, the city attorney, the library director, the city recorder, and others.

Prop 2 became a point of significant controversy, in part because some city leaders dismissed the concerns of those who disagreed with the proposal, which led to frustration for many in the community. As a result, voters turned out in record numbers to express their opposition to an Orem-only district, with nearly three out of four voters choosing to reject the measure. A large part of this opposition stemmed from the way the Mayor and council members moved forward with the initiative without fully engaging with or considering input from residents.

Now, three years later, Orem voters have the opportunity to make their voices heard once again. The question is: Do we want to continue with leadership that has been slow to engage with differing viewpoints, or do we seek a change in direction?

Voters showed up in 2022 to let Young, Millett, and Spencer know what they thought of Prop 2. Now voters can let them know what they think about their ethics and tactics. Dave Young, LaNae

Millett, and David Spencer can’t talk their way out of something they behaved themselves into. We deserve better than this. We are voting for change as we vote for Karen McCandless, Quinn Mecham, Doyle Mortimer, and Angela Moulton.

Signed by Orem City residents:

Amy Sorensen, Alyssa May, Molly Allen, Elizabeth Ludwig, Kohl Ludwig, Cindy Helquist, Dom Replogle