Nearly everyone agrees that Tuesday's election results mean an end to the high-profile bickering that has plagued this city for the past two years.
Actually, that was probably a lock after last month's primary election, in which Mayor Jess Green's re-election bid was cut short. Also, City Councilman George Brown did not seek re-election. Green and Brown, who often team up against other city officials or employees, have been at the center of many of the recent controversies in American Fork.Mayoral hopeful Ted B. Barratt rode the sentiment for wholesale change to an overwhelming victory against Councilman Rick K. Storrs. Barratt outdistanced Storrs by a 4-1 margin, at which Barratt said he was "very surprised."
Storrs, who will fill the remaining two years in his term on the City Council, said the lopsided loss can be attributed to a front-page editorial in the town's weekly newspaper that ran last week. The editorial unfairly attacked him, Storrs said, and was timed so that he wouldn't have an opportunity to respond before the election.
Barratt, 50, succeeds Green, who was met with heavy criticism after firing Police Chief John Durrant. Barratt doesn't appear to foster the same negative feelings about the city's police as Green did, although he has promised an investigation into Green's allegations of wrongdoing by police.
City Council seats will be filled by Don Hampton and Juel Belmont.