New faces will be occupying the mayors' chairs in five of North Davis' nine cities, come January. In a couple of those cases, the change was inevitable because the incumbent mayors chose not to run. In other situations, apparently, voters were looking for a change. In Clearfield, a newcomer to city politics will take the helm as mayor come January. Dan Phelps, who previously ran unsuccessfully for a city council seat, is looking forward to his new role. "The city has done well in big projects, but some people have said they could do better with some smaller ones," he told the Clipper. The big ones would be such things as the Municipal Center or the Aquatics Center. One smaller project where some residents believe more efforts need to be placed is more and better street lighting, and "a lot of people are concerned about snowplowing. A lot of people feel their voice is not being heard."

He gave the example of the so-called "parking lot issue" on 10th West near 3rd North, pitting a dental office, neighbors, and city officials against one another, in some cases. "A lot of people feel they're not being listened to. They also believe we can do a little better in enforcing some of the ordinances, keep things clean. Some vacant lots contain a lot of old cars, weeds," he said.

"There needs to be a lot more community involvement by neighbors," he continued. "I don't have an agenda. I want to find out what the people's ideas are.

"Commuter rail is in front of everyone's mind," Phelps said. "There were more hits on my (Web) site about that than about anything else. There is quite a division in the city on where to put the station. We already pay a lot of taxes. I don't want that to be an extra burden. We need to be a little more cost conscious"

He said he hopes that private enterprise can bear most of the expense involved with placement of a commuter rail station.

He is also excited about new ideas from the city council. "All of our council members were elected within the past two years. I think we can do some good things."

Fruit Heights voters, meanwhile, elected as their new mayor someone who has experience on the city council. "I feel very honored that the people of Fruit Heights would choose me," said Todd Stevenson of his victory. "I look forward to the challenge."

Stevenson expects that he will begin by focusing on maintaining the city's economic strength. "I want to run the city with no debt, as we have in the past. We need to continue to manage our budget."

In addition to managing the city's resources, Stevenson hopes to build strength in the city by breaking through the natural barrier that Highway 89 creates for the city. "Highway 89 divides the city naturally," said Steven-son. "I want to try and do some things that will pull the city together. It is not a big problem. We could just do a little better."

"We need to improve and continue improving our communication for events and activities that are happening in our city," Stevenson explained. "Communication is an ongoing issue and a top priority,"

Stevenson also has other concerns regarding the highway. "Highway 89 is a big deal. The state wants to make it an expressway. We need to make sure that it is done in a way that doesn't impact our community."

Determining where to start is almost as overwhelming as the responsibilities Stevenson has before him. He will not be alone as he learns his new job since Fruit Heights has recently hired a new city manager. "I want to start working with our new city manager, Brandon Green, so we can get up to speed on what our jobs are," said Stevenson.

Stevenson anticipates the opportunity to begin working on a piece of undeveloped land located north of Nichols Park and incorporating it into the city's park system. The hollow will remain mainly undeveloped with a trail system to allow people to enjoy access to the area.

Kaysville's new mayor also brings many years of experience to her position. Neka Roundy has been serving for about 25 years, whether on the recreation board, planning commission or the city council.

She sees downtown development as one of the key issues facing the city, which has grown to a population of nearly 23,000. Much of its new growth is on the west side, with some people emphasizing there needs to be commercial development there.

She believes there is cohesion between her views and those of the new city council members, Gil Miller and H. Lynn Galbraith, and believes that unity of thought can extend to the entire council.

"I feel there is a lot of energy to accomplish what we need to do. We are on the same platform. As far as downtown development, we will be meeting with business owners. We want to find out what their concerns are," she said. At least for now, money will have to be left out of the equation, from the city's standpoint, because there are no funds to put toward downtown development, the new mayor continued.

"I think business owners want a vehicle that they can work through. We need to provide a channel," Roundy said. "We need to build communications and use our city Web site more."

"I really like Kaysville and have embraced it," since moving there 28 years ago, she said. Talk of commercial development is on the front burner for the city. "As a council, this week we are talking about commercial development west of the freeway."

Layton's new mayor, Steve Curtis, is also no stranger to many of the city's residents. He has served several terms on the city council, and has been particularly involved with the city's youth court and youth city council.

"My main goal is to continue and maintain the city's growth in a proper way," he said. "I want to follow the master plan as close as we can, and face the issues that accompany that."

In Layton that invariably turns to transportation, including light rail, which should be a part of the city's landscape in less than two years. "That will even revitalize our Old Town," Curtis said. In fact, business owners and residents of that area have been meeting about the future of their area for several years. Part of their focus has been how to implement light rail as a part of the historic area.

Along with light rail is a desire to continue working to meet the growing traffic created by Layton's ongoing growth, Curtis said. "We want to keep the city so that it is still very vital, user friendly and as attractive as possible."

That includes efforts that are continuing to construct a new, full-fledged south interchange. It has been stalled a bit by the need to complete a full-scale environmental impact study.

"The youth are our future," he said of his involvement with that segment of the city's population. "It's very important to look at them as such, to look at what we can be doing to keep them involved. For me, a family that plays together stays together," he said, noting the value of the city's Family Recreation Program. On a monthly basis, that program brings hundreds of family members together in a variety of activities.

Curtis said he was opposed to government taking over the role of private enterprise such as with the construction of a community recreation center. "I'd like to see private enterprise do that. I don't see a need (for government) to compete."

Sunset mayor-elect Tim Isom is looking forward to serving the city. "Short of Wahoo, I feel good," said Isom. Isom defeated incumbent Mayor Janice Galbraith in the recent elections.

"Now that it is a reality, I want to improve our youth programs and initiate beautification projects around the city. I want to improve the park situation, and improve the look of our parks," said Isom.

Isom is also prepared to tackle the economic challenges of Sunset. "I am concerned about economic development. I am ready to improve what we have and decrease the tax burden on the citizens of Sunset."

To get started, Isom hopes to initiate projects to enhance Sunset's appeal to commercial activity. "Beautification projects around the city will entice business to want to relocate here. We will improve some of the more underdeveloped areas of Sunset and clean up the yards. I want to do some of the things Ogden has done in that same direction."

Isom recognizes that before he will be able to successfully move forward with any of his plans, he will first need to obtain the support of the city council. "We need to plan and need (the council's) backing and blessings."

"I am looking forward to working with other mayors surrounding Sunset to develop a more symbiotic relationship," said Isom. Isom will be looking for ways to join Sunset together with surrounding cities to strengthen and improve recreation and cultural programs.



tbusselberg@davisclipper.com