At the beginning of August, the governor’s office contacted Steve Schoonover, president of the South Valley Rotary club, to organize a forum in which Governor Cox could speak directly to Rotarians and other community leaders. Regarding this event, held on August 25, 2022, Schoonover said, “What a great opportunity not only for the South Valley club members, but other members of other local Rotary clubs, Chamber of Commerce members, and guests. This was a great town hall type gathering which allowed non Rotarian guests to experience how a Rotary club meeting is run and the speakers we are privileged to have attend. Not only did the attendees have a chance to ask questions to our Utah Governor, he also indicated how important our feedback was.”
Referring to the Rotary Four-Way Test, Governor Cox said, “Imagine if every politician, myself included, every time they had a decision to make, or had a press conference to hold, or a tweet to send out, if we went through that four-way test. How different would our country be right now?”
He stated that he is concerned that many of the institutions that our country was build on, including service-based institutions, are decaying. “One of the reasons I wanted to speak to Rotarians,” he continued, “is because I believe that you are the best and most important thing happening in our country and I’m devastated that we are in such a small room right now.”
The governor was gracious and gave attendees the opportunity to ask him questions toward the end of the meeting, which was attended by almost 100 people.