Cities ready to welcome new leaders into office

By Jared Page
Deseret Morning News
Published: Sunday, Jan. 1, 2006 10:11 p.m. MST
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Change is coming to Utah County.

In January, 15 of the county's 24 cities and towns will welcome new mayors. There will also be new faces on the city councils of all but three cities — Lehi, Lindon and Vineyard.

The biggest shake-up will occur in one of Utah County's smallest towns — Goshen.

The government makeover in the small south county town of about 900 residents will include a new mayor and three new members of the Town Council.

Mayor-elect Dorothy Sprague, 54, defeated incumbent Marvin L. Jacobson in the Nov. 8 elections and will take office Jan. 10.

Sprague said she is both excited and nervous about being the town's new mayor.

"It's something different," she said. "Sometimes I'm not sure what I've gotten myself into."

Sprague, who served on the Goshen Town Council from 1997 to 2001, will be joined by new council members Fred Jensen, Susan L. Bettis and Rex Kay. Steve Staheli is the lone returning member of the council, which has five voting members including the mayor.

Sprague said voters decided it was time for a change of leadership in Goshen.

"It was either that or we campaigned really well," she joked.

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January also brings new mayors to Alpine (Hunt Willoughby), American Fork (Heber Thompson), Cedar Fort (Howard Anderson), Eagle Mountain (Brian Olsen), Elk Ridge (Dennis Dunn), Genola (Eric Hazelet), Highland (Jay W. Franson), Lehi (Howard H. Johnson), Payson (Burtis Bills), Pleasant Grove (Michael W. Daniels), Salem (J. Lane Henderson), Santaquin (James E. DeGraffenried), Spanish Fork (Joe Thomas) and Springville (Gene R. Mangum).

Anderson ran a write-in campaign and defeated incumbent Cedar Fort Mayor Jeanine Cook. Dunn and Johnson also knocked off incumbent mayors in Elk Ridge and Lehi, respectively.

In Orem, Mayor Jerry C. Washburn and incumbent City Council members Karen McCandless, Shiree Thurston and Dean Dickerson all were victorious on Election Day. However, the Dec. 21 death of City Councilman Doug Forsyth left a vacancy on the council.

Forsyth was battling leukemia for the third time when he died at age 62. Washburn and the Orem City Council have scheduled a special meeting for Jan. 19 to determine who will fill the final two years of Forsyth's term on the council.

The county's most high-profile race saw Provo Mayor Lewis K. Billings win a third term by a comfortable margin over challenger Dave Bailey. Billings spent $96,000 on his campaign, and Bailey parted with $54,000.

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