Newest council member ready to serve Pleasant Grove
"I was fully expecting to go, hear who the next guy was, and go home," Bruce Call said.
Instead, after a 3-1 vote, Call was sworn in to fill the remaining two years on the seat left vacant when council member Mike Daniels was elected mayor in November. Within minutes, Call had cast his first vote as a councilman.
Call was selected over four other finalists — former mayor Ed Sanderson, former councilman Jeff Wilson, planning commission member and former councilman Keith Corry and neighborhood activist Richard Hansen.
The five finalists were selected out of a pool of 12 applicants at the Jan. 3 meeting. Call didn't have the same political experience many of the other applicants did, a fact he emphasized in his address to the council at that first meeting.
"I'm not here because I have an axe to grind. I don't have a complaint with the way this city is run," Call said. He added that his past experience as a developer has left him with a positive impression of the way Pleasant Grove is run.
"My only motivation in being here tonight is a simple desire to serve," he said. "I love Pleasant Grove."
Daniels said all of the applicants were well-qualified, and the council's decision was not an easy one.
"For those that had applied and went through this exercise with us, thank you very much," he said. "I would have had a very hard time deciding between the applicants, even the original 12."
Call said he plans to focus on the issue of economic growth. The city will host a Regional/Urban Design Assistance Team from the American Institute of Architects at the end of the month to help plan for the expected growth when the Gateway area on the south side of town is developed.
"I'm really looking forward to being involved with all the citizens of Pleasant Grove to make sure the businesses we attract are in line with our vision for the future," Call said, adding that any growth the city approves should not change the city's identity.
Daniels reminded the other finalists the city still had a need for them elsewhere.
"Don't run away and hide, because there are many other boards and commissions that we need help with, and we will be calling on you," he said.
Councilman Darold J. McDade, elected mayor pro tem at Tuesday's meeting, recommended the consideration of the other finalists to fill a citizen position on the Pleasant Grove/Lindon Common Taxing District Committee, an appointment the council indicated it would make at its next meeting.
E-mail: jtwitchell@desnews.com
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