A few of you know, my dad had a close friendship with Alf Engen — a legendary skier and a man who helped build Alta right here in Utah.
One day they were skiing together, and my dad caught an edge on the ice and went down hard — broke his collarbone.
Alf skied over and said, "Well, Wilford… I think I heard something snap. What happened?"
Dad said, "I'm pretty sure I busted my collarbone."
Alf said, "Well, we can call the meat wagon and they'll come get you… or you can ski down."
Dad said, "Oh, Alf, I'm in so much pain, I don't think I can ski down this mountain."
"Oh, Wilford… you don't have to ski down the mountain. You just ski on the snow underneath you. You'll get down just fine."
Dad said it was like a light flipped on for him. And he told me right up to the very end of his life:
"Son… the snow underneath me is still pretty good. I think I'll just ski on that."
That lesson has stayed with me.
The Mountain in Front of Us
Right now, in Utah County, it can feel like we're staring at a pretty big mountain:
- Growth
- Traffic
- Taxes
- Transparency
And a lot of people feel like it's too much — like we can't fix it.
But I don't see it that way.
We don't have to solve everything overnight. We just focus on the snow underneath us:
- Make better, more transparent decisions
- Respect taxpayers
- Listen to the people we serve
- And take the next right step
That's how you get down the mountain.
That's the kind of leadership I will bring to Utah County.