Election night wasn't much fun for incumbents in this Davis County city, as voters turned them out of office in favor of new leaders.
Thomas Waggoner, a civil servant for the U.S. Air Force, easily defeated four-time incumbent Mayor Neldon E. Hamblin, gaining 60 percent of the vote.The biggest challenge that city officials will face, the just-elected Waggoner said, will be land use. "With 75 percent to 80 percent of our useable land used, we have to be very, very careful how the remaining land is used."
He promised that his administration would improve communication with citizens. He plans to hold town meetings and be available to residents, he said.
He also said he will strive to increase the city's business base - a task the city has already gotten well under way. The groundwork has been laid, he said, and "now we want to get going."
Just over one-fourth of registered voters cast ballots in Tuesday's general election. The results are complete but unofficial.
The City Council will also have new faces, in a race that was hotly contested with results that were much closer.
James W. Barlow and Ivan D. Anderson defeated incumbent Martin Eliason and Paul E. Poorte for the two City Council seats. Barlow lead the votes with almost 30 percent, followed by Anderson with 25 percent of the votes cast. Eliason got 22 percent of the votes and Poorte captured 23 percent.
Anderson is an engineer at Alliant Techsystems and has served on the Clearfield Planning Commission and the City Council. Barlow is an investment consultant at Zions Investment Securities and has no previous political experience.