A look at elections in Utah's 5 'other' biggest cities

A look at elections in Utah's 5 'other' biggest cities

(Shutterstock)


Save Story
Leer en español

Estimated read time: 10-11 minutes

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

SALT LAKE CITY — Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker and his rival Jackie Biskupski have taken local politics headlines by storm in their heated fight to lead Utah's capital city, but the high-profile race has left municipal elections in Utah's other large cities somewhat in the shadows.

Ogden is the only other city aside from Salt Lake holding a mayoral election this year, and city council positions are open in all of Utah's 245 cities and towns.

Some smaller city council races have captured attention in their own ways. South Jordan, for example, recently made headlines when an incumbent accused a former candidate of bribery.

But council races in some of Utah's other big cities have unique issues that are drawing — and even detracting — council hopefuls.

West Valley City, for example, is lacking drama — and candidates, for that matter. It's a turn of events after the last busy election cycle when the city was dealing with a troubled police department.

Meanwhile, West Jordan has attracted candidates focused on bringing change to the city's government after months of chaos involving a power struggle between the council, the mayor and the city manager.

With vote-by-mail ballots poised to be mailed out to voters Monday, here's a roundup of notable elections taking place in the five most populated cities in Utah behind Salt Lake City:

West Valley City

One of every 22 Utahns live in West Valley City, the state's second largest city. Yet, all three council candidates face no opposition this year.

It's a different story from just two years ago, when mayoral and council candidates crowded the primary election ballot, vying to help the city move past scandal and controversy within its police department.

"The fact that it's relatively quiet is a testament of how well the city has been run in the past few years," said at-large Councilman Cory Rushton, who is vacating his seat after two terms. He said he's leaving because he felt two terms was enough, and now it's time to "let somebody else take a shot."

Taking Rushton's place is Don Christensen, a former councilman who was elected in 2009 and served until he ran unsuccessfully against Mayor Ron Bigelow in 2013.

Christensen, also a former Utah State Board of Education member and member of the Valley West Chamber of Commerce, said he wants to jump back into city government not because he was prompted by any specific issues, but because of encouragement from friends.

"I think people are understanding that elected leaders are doing a good job," Christensen said of his lack of competition. "I want to keep that up."

Hoping to continue to serve another term are council members Tom Huynh, District 1, and Karen Lang, District 3. Both were elected in 2011.

Related:

Huynh, West Valley's first ethnic minority elected to City Council, originally faced two opponents in this year's primary election: Larry Wiley and Joe Garcia. But after Wiley beat Garcia by about 15 percent, he dropped out of the race last month for personal reasons. Huynh won the primary election by nearly 65 percent of the votes.

Lang also faces no opponents. Previous to her time on the City Council, she served on the city's tree committee for 13 years and the Planning Commission for 10 years.

Provo

In Utah's third largest city, all but two of seven council seats are up for election, drawing a crowd of nine candidates. One is a former mayor.

George Stewart, who served as Provo's mayor from 1994 to 1997 and then on the City Council from 2006 to 2009, is running against Carina Wytiaz, a technology businesswoman, for the City-wide II seat. The incumbent, Gary Garrett, is not seeking another term.

District 3 Councilman Hal Miller is also vacating his seat, and candidates Dave Knecht and Brian Smith are competing to take his place. Between 2002 and 2006, Knecht served as a city-wide councilman and was elected in 2004 as council chairman. Smith has spent the last seven years as a Provo planning commissioner.

The current City-wide II and District 3 candidates emerged from crowded primary election ballots, with five hopefuls running for a city-wide seat and three for District 3.

Wytiaz believes it's the city's momentum and economic growth that has drawn the crowd of candidates.

"This is a crucial time for Provo," Wytiaz said. "People have different visions for what the city can become."

Two incumbents, Gary Winterton (District 1) and Kay Van Buren (District 4) are running for another term. Both were elected in 2011. Winterton is challenged by resident Clint Rhinehart, while District 4's second candidate, Howard Stone, is only running in case Van Buren drops out.

"I say vote Van Buren," Stone said on Provo's website.


This is a crucial time for Provo. People have different visions for what the city can become.

–Carina Wytiaz, Provo council candidate


In District 5, David Harding, vice chairman of the city's transportation advisory committee, faces no opposition. If elected, he will complete the term of Stephen Hales, who was elected in 2013 and passed away in January of this year.

West Jordan

A majority of West Jordan's seats, four out of seven, are up for election, and the races come during a chaotic time for the city's government.

Over the past several months, a power struggle has arisen between the council, the mayor and the city manager, and some City Council meetings have even been characterized as verbally belligerent.

In August, Mayor Kim Rolfe unsuccessfully filed for a restraining order to prevent the City Council from discussing his powers, including a proposition by Councilman Ben Southworth to reduce the mayor's position to part-time and slash his salary to about $10,000 a year.

But since then, Southworth decided to drop the matter and focus on other city issues during the remainder of his term in District 3, as he will be vacating the seat.

Southworth is the only incumbent that isn't running for re-election, but he said his choice has nothing to do with the recent conflict. He said he decided long ago that he would only serve two terms.

The remaining incumbents, Chris McConnehey in District 1, Judy Hansen in District 2, and Sophie Rice in District 4, all face a challenging voter climate in wake of the city government's struggles.

"When I knock on doors and people ask, 'Are you the incumbent,' and I say, 'Yes,' they say, 'OK I'm voting for the other guy," McConnehey said. "It's frustrating because people are looking at the commotion and saying, 'Look at this mess; let's vote them out.'"

McConnehey added that it's especially unfortunate because the bad publicity has been overshadowing the City Council's accomplishments, like how it's been able to advance development of the city's west side and improve relationships with the Jordan School District.

But former police officer Kevin Mertin, McConnehey's opponent, said the City Council needs a fresh start.

"Citizens are pretty concerned about it," Mertin said. "They don't like seeing West Jordan on the news in such a negative way. … It's time for change."

Competing for Southworth's position are Zach Jacob, a software company manager, and eBook publishing consultant Tim McConnehey (Chris McConnehey's brother).

Hansen is up against Dirk Burton, an electrician with a record of involvement with multiple state and local organizations, including the Utah State Construction Commission. Alan Anderson, a member of the city's Sustainability Committee, is running against Rice.

Orem

Three city-wide positions are up for election, with two incumbents determined to keep their seats in Orem: Mark Seastrand (two terms) and Hans Anderson (one term), who have both gained reputations for having opposing viewpoints of how Orem should be run.

Seastrand thinks the city government should be involved with businesses and development to drive growth, but Anderson thinks the City Council should advocate for a more hands-off approach.

With Councilwoman Margaret Black vacating her seat, the city will likely see at least one new face — and the three new candidates have, in a way, split to form either Seastrand or Anderson camps.

The primary election whittled candidates down from 10 to five, placing Mark Seastrand and Hans Anderson first and second for votes, respectively. Debby Lauret, a former Chamber of Commerce executive director, placed third, followed by Sam Lentz, a technology and finance consultant, and Claude Richards, a lawyer and former county assessor.

"Myself, Lentz and Lauret have a similar approach in terms of government and how we try to work with different organizations to be part of the solution," Seastrand said, indicating that infrastructure and economic development are among Orem's top city issues this year.

Related:

Richards has taken Andersen's approach, both criticizing other council members' proposal to raise Orem's annual utility bill by $110 next year to pay for decaying water lines.

Richards also said he thinks the City Council's drive for economic development is jeopardizing Orem's small-town feel and is creating an unlevel playing field, since the city has given large, corporate businesses incentives to develop while smaller, local businesses haven't.

"People are getting frustrated that government is at every level intruding into their lives," Richards said. "I'm saying there's a way to get economic growth responsibly by keeping government small, keeping taxes low, and staying out of people's lives as much as you can."

Sandy

It's shaping up to be a brawl between incumbents and new candidates in Sandy, where the majority of the City Council is made up of long-time seat holders — including a councilman that has served almost 30 years.

Three at-large seats are up for election, including the seat of Steve Fairbanks, who has served 12 years, and Linda Saville, who has served 16 years.

New faces vying for the at-large positions are Sean Kowallis, a state and county delegate, and Jeff Orme, a longtime Sandy resident.

In District 2, Councilman Dennis Tenney was elected in 1987 and will have served 28 years at the end of 2015. Chris McCandless, the incumbent in District 4, has been on the council for eight years.

Attorney Maren Barker is challenging Tenney, while retiree Steven VanMaren is going against McCandless.

Barker said she was inspired to run for City Council after she attended a recent council meeting, where council members decided to raise sales taxes by 4 percent despite numerous citizens fighting against the tax hike during the public hearing. The council argued the city hadn't seen a tax increase in more than 20 years.

"It seemed like they had already made up their minds. I went away thinking, 'This is not the city I want to live in," Barker said. "The city I want to love in listens to the people and they remember that they serve the citizens."

"We all feel like it's time for a change. … There's a reason why the president has term limits," Barker said, adding that all other new council candidates have expressed interest in imposing eight-year term limits on themselves.

But Tenney said his constituents have not voiced any complaints about his years in office.

"I think it's a clear signal that the citizens like what we're doing," he said of the City Council's long-term record. "Otherwise there would be more turnover."

He wants to be re-elected for one last term because Sandy is in the middle of several major projects he'd "like to see through to the end," including the Cairns project, a major development between City Hall and South Towne Mall, which he said is meant to create a "new downtown."

"To me it would be quitting the game when you're at the top of the fifth inning," he said.

Related stories

Most recent Utah stories

Related topics

UtahPolitics
Katie McKellar

    STAY IN THE KNOW

    Get informative articles and interesting stories delivered to your inbox weekly. Subscribe to the KSL.com Trending 5.
    By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

    KSL Weather Forecast