PIZZA WITH NEIL WALTER

Today I had the pleasure of meeting with Neil Walter who is running for Utah 2nd Congressional District.  There were about 30 delegates in attendance, and they fired questions at him like there was no tomorrow.   Certainly he demonstrated he is qualified to represent Southern Utah in the answers he gave understanding of where most of the delegates were coming from.  Let me share why.

His family has roots that go back to the settling of St. George, Santa Clara, and the Hurricane Valley. He was born in St. George to parents who were raised here. He received an associates degree from Dixie State College,  and graduated with a degree in Finance from Brigham Young University.

He stayed in Utah Valley and worked for two years after graduation, and then moved to Pittsburgh to attend graduate school at Carnegie Mellon University where he earned his MBA (an MBA from Carnegie Mellon is impressive).

He moved to Houston, Texas to work for ConocoPhillips after graduation. At ConocoPhillips he worked on a team that was responsible for risk management on the natural gas and power trading floor, and later helped price natural gas and power derivatives and structured contracts.  His answers on green energy showed that he's been well trained on how this will all go down if implemented in our country and state.   He returned home to St. George when his father had a heart attack (he's well now) in order to help with the family business.  Within a year of returning to St. George, and beginning work with his father, he started teaching at Dixie State College. During his tenure there, he has taught economics, statistics, entrepreneurial finance, and real estate finance.

He has served as treasurer of the Washington County Board of Realtors, Secretary of the BYU Management Society, Finance Chair for the Snow Canyon District of the Boy Scouts of America, President of his local Home Owners Association, a member of the Washington City Strategic Partners Advisory Group, and a Varsity Scout Assistant Coach.

Why is he running?

"The recession has been difficult for everyone. It lasted longer and was deeper than most of us expected. My students at Dixie State asked hard questions about how the recession started and how we get out. As I thought about their questions and began to look toward the future, I realized that someone with my background could be helpful in addressing the financial issues in Washington DC. We need more people with strong financial backgrounds and entrepreneurial experience.

The tipping point for me was realizing that the current leadership in Washington DC was saying they wanted economic growth and job creation but their policies were discouraging investors, businesses, and consumers. I concluded that the most significant thing I could do to help my family, my neighbors, my jobless students, and my struggling business clients was to help change the agenda in Washington DC."

Some of the things I'm looking for in a candidate is who might be the best to put our country on a solid financial footing, and move toward an innovative and dynamic economy that competes aggressively in world markets. We have all have had to reevaluate our needs and adjust our priorities because of the recent recession. It is time to put this country's house in order as well.

Neil's understanding of the responsibility of a congressperson in getting the country back to fiscal responsibility, getting back to state's rights, staying with core family values, and having a younger age as an advantage to "go get em'" was refreshing.  I look forward to getting to know more about how he feels concerning more of  the issues. 

After Philpot texting while he as meeting with folks the other day, and being rude to say the least, I was beginning to wonder if I might vote Matheson back in.  But today I found a candidate who I feel comfortable with replacing him.  Of course, I still have more to meet, but at least I know there is hope.

I will tell you Neil Walter is one impressive young man!!

You can read more about him at

http://www.neilforcongress.com/

Bob Sands