Deanna Dee-Dee Taylor

Deanna Taylor for Salt Lake County Council, District #5

Posted on November 7, 2006 | Leave a comment

The League of Women Voters has made every effort to present accurately the candidates’ responses as they were submitted by each candidate.

Deanna Taylor (DGR)
Salt Lake County Council – District

ADDRESS: 7715 South 1300 West, West Jordan, UTah 84084

TELEPHONE: 801-631-2998

EMAIL:

OCCUPATION: Public School Teacher/Administrator

EDUCATION: B.A. Music Education; M.S. Curriculum and Instruction
Teaching certificates in music and special education

PRIOR EXPERIENCE: Member of the Nationally Affiliated Desert Greens Green Party of Utah since 2001. She is currently serving as a Co-Cooridnator and Alternate Delegate to the Green Party of the United States (GPUS) Member of the GPUS Eco-Action and GPUS Peace Action Committees and is a Forum Manager of the GPUS National Committee Listserves.

Co-founder of Blue Sky Institute, a progressive educational non-profit. Public school educator for 23 years. Currently teaching grades 7-12 in a First Amendment public charter school in Salt Lake City.

Participates with People for Peace and Justice of Utah as an advocate for peace and justice issues.

1. Would you encourage new communities to incorporate or develop within the county? Why?
I support development of new communities based on a sustainable and “green” building model.

2. How do you see county government services such as health, recreation, law enforcement and fire protection being delivered in the future? Should they be provided by the county only or by the county and municipalities as is the case now?
Such services would be more efficient if delivered by the county.

3. What kind of problems do you see in the area of County planning and zoning as more jurisdictions in the county do their own planning and more development occurs in the foothills and canyons?
Not enough emphasis given to energy efficiency standards and environmentally friendly building material standards.

Opponents: Jeff Allen (Republican); Nate Hendricks (Democrat)

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Tagged 2006 elections, desert greens, Green Party, politics, Utah

Voting Machine Update

Posted on November 7, 2006 | Leave a comment

Voting machine encoders fail in Utah County
ABC 4 – Salt Lake City,USA
… says voting machine encoders, used to program individual user cards have been incorrectly programmed, causing delays for many voters, primarily in Utah County. …

Voters Experience Glitches At Some Utah Locations
KUTV – Salt Lake City,UT,USA
(KUTV) SALT LAKE CITY Election Day is underway and there are already reports of voting machine problems. The biggest is in Utah County where they were having …

UPDATE: Voting machine glitch causes big delays, county says …
Daily Herald – Provo,UT,USA
There were problems with the encoders at most, if not all, of the polls in Utah County, said Sandy Hoffmann, elections coordinator for Utah County, but all of …

Early Morning Voting Machine Problems Reported in Utah County
New West – Missoula,MT,USA
By Tracy Medley, 11-07-06. Some voters in Utah County were turned away this morning because of technical difficulties with the new electronic voting machines. …

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Tagged 2006 elections, politics, Utah, voting machines

Voting Machine Chaos

Posted on November 7, 2006 | Leave a comment

I have a colleague who got up early to vote before coming to work today. Not only was the place packed, but everyone eventually had to be given paper ballots because the machines weren’t functioning correctly.

Is it too soon to say “We told you so?”

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Tagged 2006 elections, politics, Utah, voting machines

Happy Election Day!

Posted on November 7, 2006 | Leave a comment

Well, the day has finally come.

I filed to run for office 7 months ago (Salt Lake County Council District 5). I had big plans to get lawn signs, do canvassing, and have coffee house meet and greets.

Unfortunately my plans weren’t realized since I accepted a last minute offered administrative type position (special ed director) in my school and all my time became suddenly diverted.

Anyway…..

This morning I had some thoughts about elections in the U.S.

The election season is too long.

There are too many signs. Fences are saturated with them to the point where you can’t read any of them. There are some campaigns whose signs are in sextuplicate on the same corner. What’s up with that? Further, sign ordinances are not enforced.

The media is biased, inluding publicly funded media outlets. They don’t cover all candidates.

The voting itself is a debacle.

There are definite reforms that are desperately needed in our elections in the U.S. It’s so big and such a mess that I’m not sure what the starting point is to change this.

Given all this, I hope that everyone will vote. It’s important and it’s our right and, in a sense, our obligation.

Happy Voting and Happy Election Day!

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Tagged 2006 elections, Green Party, politics, Utah

Raise a Ruckus on Election Day!

Posted on November 6, 2006 | Leave a comment

When I was at Camp Casey this summer, I was priveleged to be able to meet and hear Reverend Yearwood, “The Rev”. Today this message came across my desk:
—————————————

Greetings,

Hey everyone this is Rev. Yearwood, and on November 7th, thousands of us will be using email
and text messaging to confront and defeat election fraud in real time.

If you carry a cell phone, are committed to representative democracy, and you have some free
time on November 7th, then you should join this team (Join at http://www.ruckus.org/electionprotection or text PROTECT to 30644).

If anyone tries to resuscitate Jim Crow in say Ohio, Florida, Pennsylvania, or any other state for that matter, we’ll provide real time information on when, where, and how you can be most useful.
Continue reading →

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Tagged 2006 elections, politics

More Party Biases

Posted on November 6, 2006 | Leave a comment

In my reading this morning I saw a prevailing theme that stood out in the media – nationall and locally.

I kept reading opening sentences in articles that referred to “THE” two parties – not by name, mind you, but as “THE” two parties.

When I voted the other day, I as expecting candidates to be listed alphabetically by name. they weren’t. “THE” two parties were listed first in each race and then the “other” parties alphabetically by party name. Not very equitable in my opinion.

The two-party system has got to change. It is clearly corporate in nature and not equitable at all, as evidenced by how the media protrays politics in the U.S.

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Election News

Posted on November 6, 2006 | Leave a comment

Salt Lake Tribune

Election Day ’06: Utah’s poll forecast – Long lines, few hitches: Voting experts say we’re prepared, even if the Diebold machines aren’t

A look at some of the top local elections

Utah Election News

Deseret News

Several local races could swing either way

2006 candidates

U.S. Senate and House Surveys

Legislative survey

Election News

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Tagged 2006 elections, politics, Utah

Posted on November 5, 2006 | Leave a comment

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Restoring Education, Healing Children, Creating Citizens:

A Conversation with John Taylor Gatto
Backbone Cabinet Nominee, Education

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RSVP to join us on Monday, November 6, 5:30 (PACIFIC)

Education Secretary nominee John Taylor Gatto is a passionate advocate for education reform. A schoolteacher for thirty years, and a multi-year recipient of New York State and New York City Teacher of the Year Awards, His celebrated books include Dumbing Us Down: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling, The Exhausted School, A Different Kind of Teacher, and The Underground History of American Education.

Nationwide there has been much discussion about our failing public education system – low standardized test scores, teacher shortages, crowded classrooms, school budget crises, crumbling school buildings, dangerous playgrounds, illiterate untrained young adults, and more. Chronically failing public school systems throughout the United States have compelled politicians to address this issue in a counterproductive and symbolic manner (i.e. Bushs No Child Left Behind Act). Many parents have sought alternative education settings for their children such as a school voucher system, charter schools, homeschooling, and costly, homogeneous, independent schools.

John Taylor Gatto has taken the debate further, describing our public school structure as a “Catastrophe.” Gatto asserts that public schooling in this country was “deliberately designed to produce mediocre intellects, to hamstring the inner life, to deny students appreciable leadership skills, and to ensure docile and incomplete citizens in order to render the populace ‘manageable.’ ” (quote from Against Schools article by Gatto, Harpers Magazine, 2003 – read the article)

If that is true, are public schools succeeding in their original purpose? If so, what does Gatto propose Americans do for our children instead? What do our young people really need to know to create abundant lives for themselves, for survival and community building in the 21st century?

For Mondays Conversation, John Taylor Gatto will engage with us as we explore possible solutions to these troubling questions about American schooling. Besides reading the Harper’s article linked to above, it might be interesting preparation to listen to our past call with Jonathan Kozol.

Check out our nearly 50 Conversations with some of our most articulate policy and movement leaders.

WHEN: Monday, November 6, 5:30 p.m. (Pacific)

Three ways to participate:

1. CONFERENCE CALL: First, RSVP by email with “Gatto” in the subject line so we can reserve a spot for you on the call. At the time of call, dial 1-641-297-5500, follow prompts, then enter access code 7764-7377 followed by #.

and/or

2. WEB RADIO: Voice of Vashon. To ask questions while you listen, you will need to rsvp for a password. We will send that to you when you RSVP. Use it to log in at the live chat.

and/or

3. E-MAIL: Click here to email your questions ahead of time.