l Education: Bachelor's in English from Weber State University.

l Work experience: WSU director of public safety; was North Ogden police chief, Weber County sheriff and Utah commissioner of public safety.

l Political experience: Elected Weber County sheriff two terms; chairman, Weber County Republican Party.

l Fun fact: Has been golfing 30 years and has never had a hole-in-one.

Mike Monson, 64, Democrat

l Education: Studied at Weber State, bachelor's in economics from Arizona State, master's in public administration from BYU-off campus program.

l Work experience: Retired. Was high school teacher, Weber County assessor and head of the Utah State Tax Commission property-tax division.

l Political experience: Elected Weber County assessor two terms; chairman of Weber County Democrats.

l Fun fact: Likes to read Aristotle and Eastern philosophy.

Roger I. Price, 59, Personal Choice

l Education: Earned bachelor's in political science from Weber State at age 56.

l Work experience: Farming. Worked in building construction and maintenance, firefighting, auto repair.

l Political experience: None.

l Fun fact: Worked as a “pony boy” on the race tracks of northern California.

Do you support the RAMP tax?

l Dearden: Yes

l Monson: Yes

l Price: No

Would you vote to put fluoride on the ballot?

l Dearden: I would not. It would have to be through an initiative or some kind of community request.

l Monson: If you had an initiative to do that, I would support putting that on the ballot. I'd support it.

l Price: If the people want to run the ballot, fine. Me? I don't believe in it.

What are the biggest challenges facing the county?

l Dearden: The budget and economic development.

l Monson: Managing growth and balancing the County Commission, which currently is 100 percent in the control of one party.

l Price: The culture shift with growing disrespect among different groups.

Is there a need to raise taxes the next budget year?

l Dearden: I don't see it now.

l Monson: It's not foreseen.

l Price: No. OGDEN - Running the county on a tight budget and managing the complications of growth are the key issues in Weber County, say the three candidates for an open commission seat.

The race is between the county chairmen of the two main political parties: Craig Dearden, Republican, and Mike Monson, Democrat; and an independent candidate running on the Personal Choice ticket, Roger I. Price. The three want to replace Commissioner Glen Burton, who is not seeking re-election.

Dearden, director of public safety at Weber State University, says he would bring new budgeting ideas that would help the county avoid putting more of a burden on taxpayers.

He would explore federal-grant programs, particularly for major projects and would look to outsource county functions that could be done more efficiently by the private sector.

Dearden, who was Utah commissioner of public safety from 1997 to 2001, says he left that job with the agency having a reserve fund in place and he would be just as frugal at the county.

“We buy what we need and don't pick up what we want,” he says.

Though opposed to tax increases generally, he endorses the RAMP proposal to add a penny sales tax to every $10 of sales in the county. The measure, on the Nov. 2 ballot, would raise $3 million a year to be spent on recreation, arts, museums and parks.

“To give kids something to do we need to give them somewhere to go,” says Dearden.

The county needs to work with cities to recruit businesses to boost the tax base and create jobs, Dearden says. “I'd like to see a broad base, not just Wal-Mart and big stores, but back to the family stores.”

Monson, a former educator and county assessor who is now retired, says he would “work together with all the cities and towns to develop one voice in marketing Weber County.”

Weber County's population, now at 197,000, is projected to rise to 307,000 by 2030, Monson says.

If the county and cities don't actively recruit good employers, the jobs may not be as high-quality as the county needs, he says.

Monson sees the RAMP tax as supporting economic development because potential employers want to know whether the county has recreation and cultural amenities.

The cities and county must also work together to plan transportation and to ensure the infrastructure - roads, sewer and water systems - are in place. “If it's not managed, we'll have a mess on our hands.”

Monson says commission decision-making has been hurt by the fact that all three commissioners have been Republican for several years.

“One-party control is unhealthy,” he says. “When you have like-minded people you get like-minded ideas at the table. I'd bring balance.”

Monson says he would also work to diversify county boards to better reflect the growing ethnic diversity.

Price acknowledges his candidacy is a long shot.

But, he says, it's about time a commissioner was elected to be a “voice for the people, not party and other special interests. The good ol' boy system just don't work. We've got to get rid of it.”

The biggest challenge Price sees for Weber County is to develop respect amid a growing disparity between the haves and the have-nots, and among people of different races.

“The poor have no respect for the rich and the rich have no respect for the poor. Children have no respect for adults and adults sure don't respect the children,” he says. "To make things work like government is supposed to, we need to find some way to develop respect for each other.”

Price says he would ask the people to help define and solve problems.

“Most of the problems we've got in society today are because what we do is adversely affecting the majority of the people instead of helping them.”

For instance, he says, tax incentives to big corporations often hurt small, locally owned businesses. They, too, should be given encouragement to grow, he says.

If Price is elected or, as he puts it, “lightning strikes and the underdog comes through,” he will enlist Weber State University students to develop a program to gather public opinion via the Internet and other means.

Price does not support the RAMP tax however well-intentioned the promoters might be.

The tax burden is already too heavy and people need basics - not frills, he says.

To keep Weber County within its budget, Price would make sure the county pays for needs, not wants. He favors privatization of some functions.

kmoulton@sltrib.com