Candidates support change downtown
An interrogation from the public it was not, but candidates for the Logan Municipal Council answered some questions and introduced themselves to members of the Cache Chamber of Commerce Tuesday at The Copper Mill.
The chamber-sponsored event gave candidates for the three seats an opportunity to answer questions related to business and development in Logan and Cache County, and questions from Logan residents in attendance at the forum.
Tom Kerr, the only incumbent council member who survived the primary election, noted his four-year experience on the council and having grown up in Cache Valley as reasons he is qualified to serve another term.
“I feel very strong about the city and the county,” Kerr said. “I guess I feel like Logan City is county, we’re half of the county.”
Kerr said Logan needs to have programs and activities that actually complement what the county is doing.
Running for re-election in seat two, Kerr has lived in Logan since 1988 after working for NASA for 22 years and the Air Force for 35 years.
His opponent, Steven Taylor, said he spent 26 years as a manager in the telecommunications industry and after growing up in Tremonton, has lived in Moab, Utah, Texas and California over the years. He said he decided to move back to Logan two years ago with his wife.
“I always said I thought it’d be fun to be involved in the city,” Taylor said.
Taylor cited a great problem-solving background and a good idea of what needs to happen at the Logan-Cache Airport as reasons he would be a good candidate for the council. On the issue of supporting the Logan Downtown Alliance, he referenced the downtown areas in San Antonio, Texas, Dallas and Denver as examples of lively areas that each has a flavor of their own.
His opponent, Kerr, said he supports the downtown alliance and would like to see “high-rise” apartments in downtown Logan similar to the Eagle Gate apartments in Salt Lake City near Temple Square.
Candidates for the other two seats mentioned they support the work of the downtown alliance as well.
The candidates seemed to be in agreement with most of their answers, all supporting development in downtown Logan and preserving agricultural areas outside of town as long as the owners of agricultural property did not want to develop.
Peter Brunson, candidate for seat three, answered the question regarding support of the downtown alliance in a different way.
Brunson said he supported the work the alliance is doing, but would like to see a better use of what Logan already has downtown.
“Downtown gives me heartburn when I look at what’s available west of the [Ellen Eccles Theatre,]” Brunson said.
Brunson named the canal that runs through downtown Logan as a beautiful area that should be developed in the future. He said he is worried the city will put parking in place of the canal and said he has real concerns about developing certain areas and taking away what the city already has.
The race for seat three was the most tightly contested race in the primary election. Candidate Joe Needham received 38 percent of the votes to Brunson’s 33 percent.
In the race for seat one, Laraine Swenson received the most votes of any candidate in the primary election, with more than 1,300 votes. Swenson brings some government experience to the table with seven years of service on the planning and zoning commission, with three of those years as the chairwoman.
Her opponent Steve Hicken, owner of the Kater Shop in downtown Logan, said he brings an insight of downtown business and as a long-time resident of Cache Valley, knows what it takes to be a good city leader.
Based on the questions asked at the forum, Hicken and Swenson did not have differing opinions on issues related to economic development of downtown, the airport and agriculture in the community.
Hicken and Swenson are vying for the council seat vacated by Karen Borg who resigned from the council over the summer. Randy Watts has served in an interim role for the seat since Borg’s resignation.
The general election is scheduled for Nov. 4.
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