By AMY FOX
Parley Hellewell, candidate for the State Senate in district 15 said he wants to go to work for the people of Utah to reduce taxes and government waste.
“Utah is the fourth highest state in terms of taxes and we need to do something about that,” Hellewell said.
He said one of the keys to being able to do that would be eliminating government waste. He named UDOT as a good example of where changes can be made.
Hellewell said Grand County built a storage facility for snow plows and salt and spent $400,000. Shortly after that, the state built a facility just like the one the county built not far away and paid $2 million for it.
He said with better planning this kind of waste could be prevented.
The campaign has been a clean one until today when Soter ran an ad in The Daily Herald, Hellewell said. The ad rebutted a Sunday ad connecting Soter with UEA and NEA beliefs because the the UEA is supporting Soter’s candidacy.
“All the points about the NEA were true, but the Sunday ad the group ran made it look like Greg believes in all of the same things, but he doesn’t,” Hellewell said.
Hellewell said he did not know about the ad until Soter called to ask if he was involved. Even after denying it, Hellewell read the response in Monday’s paper addressing Soter’s “opponent”.
Hellewell said Soter used the word to mean someone who is against him, not necessarily Hellewell specifically.
Despite the events of the last few days they settled things Monday morning.
“Greg and I had a good talk and said we would forget it,” Hellewell said.
Hellewell also said he is the best man for the job because he is more committed.
“I have been preparing for this race for a long time and I ran because I wanted to make a difference,” Hellewell said.
He said Soter is running because he was asked to and Soter has even said he would rather hit himself in the shins with a 2X4 than run for office.
Hellewell said his opponent does not have the commitment to this office to make the changes necessary.
Hellewell has lived in Utah County for 28 years and has owned a small buisness for 20 years. He said his business has given him a lot of applicable experience.
He also said he has been heavily involved with the Republican party and is serving on the State Central Committee and has been a voting district chair and vice chair.
He said this has helped him know what the party is trying to do and to be involved in the party platform.
Hellewell is a traditional conservative candidate who believes in less government interference and a reduction in taxes, he said.
