Meet the candidates for mayor
Alanna Nafziger
Can you introduce yourself to USU students?
My name is Alanna Nafziger. I’m running for Logan City mayor. I’m actually a two-time USU alum. I graduated from USU with my bachelor’s in sustainable agriculture and then just recently graduated with my master’s degree in landscape architecture. I’m running for mayor to really put those skills into the service of people in Logan. I want to see some improvements, and those include transparent and responsive government and then more thoughtful development so that the way we’re developing is really reflecting the needs of the community. Then we can start to create this collective legacy of natural resource stewardship and protection for our public open spaces.
If you had to describe Logan in three words, what would they be?
Beautiful. I think changing and traditional.
What do you do when not running for office?
That’s a great question too. So, I really, since I just barely graduated, I actually launched directly into this campaign. So, that’s most of what I have been doing. But I really enjoy hiking. I like hanging out with my dog, and then I’m really focused on a couple of different efforts here in the community, and I like to do those, even aside from campaigning. So, I really just think building community and enjoying the place that I live.
What makes you stand out from your opponent, and why should students vote for you?
I think that I have a really unique skill set that I’m offering people here. Since my background is in landscape architecture, I have a lot of urban design or urban planning, and my thesis work was actually around affordable housing and urban planning in Logan. Since we’re having such issues with housing and affordability, I think that skill set’s a really incredible thing that I am offering to people in Logan, and that really differentiates me from my competitor.
As mayor of Logan, how will you balance student needs versus resident needs?
I mean, student needs are also resident needs, I guess I would say. I think, you know, to treat us as if we’re all separate is really inaccurate. I know that those needs are different, but I really like to take this holistic approach so that we’re looking at what the needs of the entire community are and how those relate to each other.
What advice do you have for college students?
I’d say, “Go easy on yourself.” We’re in a really difficult time in the world, and there’s a lot of noise everywhere, and the cost of living is going up. We have a lot of ways that we have been changing. I think that, yeah, just go easy on yourselves. Be kind to yourselves, and be kind to each other, if you can, when you can.
What will you do for students as mayor?
As mayor, I’m really hoping to focus a lot on affordable housing, and then also just the transportation issues we’re seeing. I would love to see campus more connected by trail systems for biking and pedestrians to the rest of the city. I would love to see things like renters’ rights come into the conversation and talk about how we can make sure that students have not just affordable but also quality places to live. I think that food security is another huge one. I know that, I think, 60% of the population of students is food insecure. I know you guys have SNAC but I think that really supporting an effort to bolster food security in the region and in Logan is important.
If you had a DJ show on Aggie Radio, what type of music would you play?
I would probably play some hip hop, like underground hip hop. One of my favorite bands is Doomtree, so really into that. Aesop Rock. It would probably be kind of a little eclectic I guess.
Mark Anderson
Can you introduce yourself to USU students?
My name is Mark Anderson, and I have lived here in Logan most of my life. I’ve lived in other countries and other parts of the United States as well, but I did go to school here at Utah State. I have a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in history from Utah State. I enjoyed my time here — great education. I met so many wonderful people, professors, students and employees here as well. So, I’m born and raised here in Cache Valley, and my wife and I own two businesses here in Logan: Anderson’s Seed & Garden on Center Street and Logan Extermination too. So, we have a services division, which is our pest control and fertilizer division, as well as our retail store downtown. The city and the community is so important to us, and we’ve been a vital part of the community our entire business lives, as well as my whole life. It’s a very important part of what we do as a business and especially as a family. I have two kids who go to school at Utah State right now. My daughter just graduated from Utah State last year with a degree in mechanical engineering. We have a wide range of interests and fields of study in the Anderson family.
If you had to describe Logan in three words, what would they be?
Beautiful, opportunity and accommodating.
What do you do when not running for office?
Hiking and backpacking are some of my favorite things to do, especially with my kids right now. I love sports. I love to participate in sports, but also to watch spectator sports for sure, and gardening. I have a very large garden. I enjoy growing things, and the best part of growing things is eating them and also giving them away and sharing them with other people. I love sharing the harvest out of my garden. It’s quite rewarding. Since I do have so much school background, reading is probably my very favorite thing to do. I will read and consume just about everything that I can find. However, my all-time favorite book would have to be the “Name of the Wind” by Patrick Rothfuss. I am a big fantasy fan.
What makes you stand out from your opponent, and why should students vote for you?
What makes me different from a lot of other candidates, whether they’re running for City Council or for mayor, is my background and my experience. Not only do I have a business background, for mayor the responsibilities are kind of mundane when you think about it. You deal with employees, you deal with staff, you deal with budgets and how to spend money, and you’re a cheerleader and PR person. So you’re trying to promote the city. Those are all skills that I have, that I’ve learned and I’ve cultivated, and I’ve developed over 30 years of owning a business. Unfortunately, I know how to fire employees as well as hire employees and find the best employees that can actually do the work that needs to be done. I know how to budget. I know how to create a budget. I know how to make sure and stay within that budget. These are critical skills that you have to have to be a mayor. One of my favorite things is to promote our business. I feel like Logan City needs to promote itself a lot more. Being that public relations person will be very high on my list of things to do. My skill set lends itself perfectly to this position as running for mayor.
As mayor of Logan, how will you balance student needs versus resident needs?
Utah State and Logan should have a better relationship. They do have a symbiotic relationship between the two. Logan really needs Utah State, and Utah State really needs Logan, and we don’t take advantage of that relationship as much as we ought to. What I would love to see as mayor is more participation between Utah State and Logan, especially opportunities for students. I feel like we have tons of really great opportunities for students to participate in our citizen advisory boards and also in internships. Utah State is well known for its engineering. We have so many engineering employees at Logan City, and we should be working together. We should be cultivating those relationships. When it comes to students, the number one thing on their mind is money, and the second thing is getting good grades and graduating. Whatever we can do as a city to try and keep utilities low for our students, because that’s a major concern for our students, and to find better places for our students to live. Student housing is a critical, critical need that we have here in Logan because I don’t feel like Utah State has created enough student housing. If we can partner with Utah State to create some locations where it’s a great place for students to live, not just a good place, but it’s a great place for them to live. Where they could live, work, entertain, play, recreate and hopefully just enjoy the student experience. If we can create those locations and make it more affordable for our students so they’re not spending $500 or $600 a month just to live here — if we can have that, then all of a sudden you don’t have to worry about money as much. You can focus on your school and focus on your student experience and really do what you’re here to do instead of worrying about how much everything is going to cost.
What advice do you have for college students?
As a student myself, as much as I enjoyed my learning experience and how I learned to learn that which helped me in my career, I think back more about the relationships that I developed. With the students that I went to school with as an undergraduate and as a master’s candidate, but also the relationships that I built with the professors in my department, the teachers that I worked with and my major professors. Those are relationships that I was able to build and develop and keep until today. These are people that I looked up to and I respected, and I loved learning from them, students and professors. Now those relationships mean as much or more to me than what I learned here, because those relationships have endured over the decades, and now they’re not professors to me anymore. They’re friends, they’re peers, and we can still exchange ideas, and we can still argue with each other, but we can argue friendly and really learn from each other. That’s my greatest takeaway. Focus on those relationships that you build now with fellow students, with friends, with your professors, even with the people that work here at Utah State. They’re amazing people, and it’s worth building those relationships because they will last not just today but for the next decades in your life. As you get older, you’ll realize those are the most important experiences that you’ve had here at Utah State.
What will you do for students as mayor?
High on my priority list is rebuilding the relationship between Logan City and Utah State University because I feel like that symbiotic relationship that we have is critical, and we don’t use it to the best of our advantages. We both kind of live in our own little silos, in our own little separate world, and kind of overlap from time to time. We need to take advantage of those opportunities. And a couple of those opportunities are internship opportunities for students to come and learn hands-on experiences with Logan City, whether it’s as an environmental engineer or as a civil engineer, or if it’s in law, whatever it is, we have lots of opportunities at Logan City for internships. I’d also love to have students participating more in our citizen-appointed boards. We’ve got a board for parks and rec. We’ve got a board for the library. We’ve got different boards for light and power as well. I think the input that we can get from the students for those boards is essential. We get that input and that we have that participation. It’s a great opportunity for students to learn how their local government works and how it impacts them on a day-to-day basis. The most important thing that I feel like I can do as mayor is to keep utilities low because students are always concerned about money and how that works and if you’re always worried about money, then school becomes a secondary priority. If we can take advantage of the opportunities, we have to keep the utilities low and create some student housing opportunities where it’s not as expensive but it’s a better place to live. I think about some of the student housing that’s around, and they’re good, but if we create a better environment for students to be able to live in that is much less expensive than what you’re spending. $500 or $600 for a room for a month, we can get that down to $200 or $300 and have it in a location where you can work, where you can go to school, where you can entertain yourself, where you can shop and do all those things, maybe even recreate as well too and keep that student experience high on your priority list, I think that will be one of the greatest things that I can do as mayor is to try and make that student experience better for you, less expensive for you, so you can focus on school and what’s really important right now.
If you had a DJ show on Aggie Radio, what type of music would you play?
I would play alternative ‘80s music because that’s my favorite.
The candidates were interviewed by Statesman senior reporter Bailey Daniels. Candidates appear in ballet order.