McEvoy seeks Utah House of Representatives seat

This archived article was written by: Brianna Johnson

Grady McEvoy, a College of Eastern Utah theatre instructor, has begun his campaign for House of Representatives.
McEvoy has held many different positions. He believes the most important and dynamic one has been serving as the school board president of Carbon County District. While serving in this position, he oversaw a $35 million budget. This position gave him a wide perspective of management, leadership, decision-making, negotiating, and helping with community decisions. He was able to build an elementary and also helped reduce transportation costs by taking care of the busing system. He also served on the Faculty Senate as President for two years.
While serving on the school board, McEvoy reflects that the toughest decision he has made was closing East Carbon High School. He also states that although he has had several personnel hearings, he has never had any lawsuits. One of the most rewarding experiences he had was securing $5,000 for a community playground.
McEvoy decided to run for House of Representatives because of several issues. It wasn’t his original intention to do so, he just believes in term of limits, and he has reached his as school board president. He is passionate about the fact that the House needs someone who will fight against the destruction of public education.
He will be considered a freshman if he is voted in and will have to work towards gaining trust, creating relationships, getting his voice heard and gaining trust.
McEvoy isn’t going to focus solely on education; he is also concerned about economic development. To help the college itself, there needs to be more jobs provided. If the college wants to become a four-year institution, the community needs to have jobs that people can work and do. His fears are that the community will be unprepared for economic boom.
He wants to make people aware that the environment is part of the economy and if it is destroyed, that doesn’t help the long-term economy. To do so, he would like to increase the promotion of tourism and recreations. He would like to work on securing funds to keep economy flourishing. Grants are vital to community’s viability and maintaining infrastructure.
As a member of the “College of Eastern Utah family”, he understands the struggles the school has. He plans to help by continuing the fights Brad King has been fighting. He will emphasize how CEU has the lowest tuition in the state as an incentive for people to come here. Now that the school is out of debt, he believes there will be more things granted to it. He strongly supports the idea of a new fine arts center, but will only push for it within his legal bonds. He will vote for the bill, but will not sponsor it. He will be a voice for CEU-all of the campuses-and represent its’ needs on the hill.
McEvoy believes he can do the job well because he is a team player with an independent spirit. He knows how to develop quality relationships. There are a number of things to learn and he plans to learn them with full effort.
There are three democratic candidates and one republican candidate. The Democratic State Convention will be held May 9th and 10th. If it is narrowed down to two candidates, there will be primaries in June. If there is only one candidate, elections will be held in November.