Three new faces to join Logan Municipal Council
The Logan Municipal Council received an infusion of new blood Tuesday night.
Three new council members were elected to the three seats that were up for grabs. Incumbent councilman Tom Kerr was the second incumbent ousted this election season, after Alan Allred did not make the general election cut.
Unofficial results had Steven Taylor ousted Kerr from the second council seat after receiving 61 percent of the vote.
Laraine Swenson defeated Steve Hicken for the first council seat by a similar margin, receiving 63 percent of the vote in that race.
In the race for council seat three, the closest race of the night, Joseph Needham defeated Peter Brunson by receiving 53.7 percent of the vote.
Needham said he received a boost after incumbent councilman Alan Allred endorsed his campaign. At 27 years of age, Needham will become the youngest member of the city council.
As the election results trickled in throughout the night at Logan City Hall, cheers could be heard every so often from Needham’s entourage that included friends and family members.
Needham ran a back-and-forth campaign with Brunson, who gained a lot of support through newspaper ads and graphs diagramming the spending dollars of Logan City.
Needham and Brunson ran on contrasting campaign strategies. Needham said he focused on sign advertising while Brunson hit the newspapers harder. The content of Brunson’s information published in newspaper ads was questioned by Needham.
“I’m not really sure of his accuracy there,” he said.
Needham said he was advised by others to not say a lot about his campaign; rather he should use bulleted lists to describe his ideals. He said he disagreed.
“If someone is going to vote for me, they better know what I stand for,” he said.
Needham said his youth will serve him well in the position.
“In 25 years we’re going to be a big area,” he said. In his position, he said he will have to ask if the council is looking to the future.
Needham said he has been told he can’t be a one-agenda person, but he said he has only one agenda: Logan and its future.
Like Needham, Taylor was elected to his first government position.
Taylor admitted he is a fledgling politician, but said his experience managing large telephone companies and traveling around the country will help him in his position.
“I’ve seen a lot of different things,” Taylor said.
Taylor said he would focus on cost-containment, where citizens should not necessarily pay for luxury services that they don’t plan to use.
Replacing Kerr, the elder statesman of the council, Taylor said the citizens voted for change when they voted for him.
“I think they want change, I think they want someone who will listen to them,” he said.
Taylor said he looks forward to working with his new colleagues and improving communication between council members. He realizes he is only one-fifth of the vote and will work closely with other council members to be efficient on issues.
Logan City provides a binder of information about government operations to council members that Taylor said he would study hard as he prepares to shift from running his campaign to doing his job in office.
Councilwoman-elect Laraine Swenson made a brief appearance at city hall as the results were being tabulated but election losers Hicken, Kerr and Brunson were not in attendance as the final tallies were announced.
Voter turnout for the election improved over the eight percent turnout in the primary election. Citywide, about 16 percent of registered voters participated in the election.
In the three districts on the Utah State University campus and around campus with heavy student populations, voter turnout sagged in the three to seven percent level.
Logan Mayor Doug Thompson said turnout may actually be higher among students, as when a student moves, their name remains in the system, resulting in more registered voters than actually exist in the district. Regardless of that, the low numbers speak for themselves. Fewer than 300 students in student-populated areas turned out for the election.
Incumbent councilman Steve Thompson said the low student turnout is disappointing as students could make a difference.
“Students as a voting-block could really, really have an influence on an election,” Thompson said.
Thompson, a former student body president at USU, said he was always getting calls from students concerned about issues and said he wishes university students would get involved more.
Aside from the low turnout in the election, Thompson said the election was a good one.
“Change is great,” he said. “Voters have sent a clear message.”
Thompson said the group of candidates was a good one this year, as evidenced by an incumbent losing in the primaries.
“Anytime an incumbent loses in a primary election you know you have a great group of candidates,” Thompson said.
-str@cc.usu.edu