Candidates share hopes for Logan
Logan City Council candidates exposed students Wednesday to local debates sparked by explosive growth in Cache Valley.
Traffic jams, incoming big businesses and downtown revitalization were the common themes addressed by the candidates.
Meet the Candidates was part of Civic Awareness Week at Utah State University. Candidates passed out fliers at the Taggart Student Center Sunburst Lounge and spoke one-on-one to students about their goals for the city.
“As we go through this growth, [I want to] make sure every neighborhood stays a desirable place to live,” candidate Laraine Swenson said.
Swenson said developing Logan’s economy could help students get local jobs.
“It’s unfortunate to educate people at Utah State and have them have to leave to get jobs,” Swenson said.
City councilman Tom Kerr, who is running for reelection, agreed students can profit from incoming big businesses, which in turn serves the city.
“Us old ducks benefit from young students being around and from the influence this university has on the town,” Kerr said.
The candidates had varying ideas on how to alleviate traffic problems in Logan.
“They need to find an alternate route for traffic,” candidate Steven Taylor said. “Not necessarily a bypass, but a rerouting of Main Street.”
Alan Allred, a city councilman running for reelection, said he would like to see more people take buses or carpool.
“You can’t take away freedom to choose, but we can try and create suggestions that encourage people to ride rather than drive,” Allred said.
Candidate Joe Needham said traffic through Main Street has been improved in the last year, but now people can wait through two traffic light changes to get onto Main Street from side streets.
“I strongly stand for development of side streets – First and Second East and First and Second West,” Needham said. “I’m not suggesting they become highways, but it won’t hurt to develop them.”
Logan officials have concentrated recently on revitalizing the downtown area. Swenson, a board member of Logan’s Downtown Alliance, said she wanted to bring in the kind of businesses that would attract people to the downtown.
“We’re hoping to make it be the kind of place it was 20 years ago,” Swenson said. “It was a bustling place where people went to be entertained and do shopping.”
Allred said the new and improved downtown would give the students a better environment, with reduced traffic, green space and a walking area.
Candidate Peter Brunson said he was concerned students will suffer from property tax increases.
“The landlords and businesses don’t pay property tax, they pass it on to you,” Brunson said.
Brunson said the real problem is that council members are not elected by district, meaning various areas within Logan get a representative for that particular area. The current “at-large” method of election is bad, Brunson said, because the people are not getting represented.
“If students knew how the district seats work, they could have a student on the council,” Brunson said. “Logan has gotten big enough that it’s time to change. We’ll have to change eventually, so why not now?”
Voter registration was available at Meet the Candidates and students were encouraged to sign a pledge to vote.
Associated Students of USU Executive Vice President Ariel Thrapp said the purpose of Meet the Candidates was to educate students about civic matters.
“I hope they will be encouraged to understand local issues and find a candidate who represents their views,” Thrapp said. “It’s important to America that we have educated voters.”
The event was scheduled to be at the TSC patio, but was moved to the Sunburst Lounge due to bad weather.
The primary election for Logan City Council is Oct. 7. Election day is Nov. 4.
– heidithue@cc.usu.edu