What the city's three new City Council members lack in the way of experience, they say they make up for with their excitement to help make Lehi "a pretty, safe place to live."
John Hadfield, J. Knollin Haws Sr. and Ron Smith will begin their four-year council terms in January, replacing outgoing council members Keith Jenkins, Wesley Rasmussen and Sherwin Allred.None of the three have previous experience on the council. Both Haws and Smith serve in the Utah Army National Guard and both ran as Progressive Party candidates.
Hadfield, representing the Citizen Party, owns a sprinkling and irrigation supply company. He told the Deseret News earlier this year that the experience not only gives him knowledge of business and community relations, but also of working with utilities.
"I've got experience in working with sewer and water lines, as well as doing some road work," Hadfield said. "I'm also a general contractor, so I know how to work on contracts and also with bonding."
Haws, who has been a member of the city's volunteer fire department since 1954, has served in leadership positions with the Army Corps of Engineers, the Red Cross and the Boy Scouts of America. He said he intends to stress "pride in ownership" on the individual, neighborhood and business level by involving people in community clubs and educating students about their community.
Smith, a 55-year-old schoolteacher, was born and raised in Lehi and said that he can devote the time and effort to his office, as well as work with city officials on the nearly completed master plan revisions.