The city government of Centerville will have a new look after Tuesday night's balloting. Voters picked a new mayor and two new City Council members, rejecting an incumbent councilman's bid for the mayor's job.
Frank Hirschi won the mayoral race. Incumbent Mayor Priscilla Todd chose not to run for re-election, saying she needed to balance her years of public service as mayor against family obligations.Incumbent Councilman Steve Mangel also opted not to run again, and the third incumbent, Doug Nielsen, made a run for the mayor's job and lost.
Nielsen spent the hours after the polls closed Tuesday evening driving around town, picking up his campaign signs. "They've been up since Labor Day," said Nielsen, referring to the primary election he ran in his bid for mayor, and then the general election. "We were sick of seeing them."
While Nielsen said he may not be active in city politics, he hasn't lost interest in city issues.
"I'm pleased the campaign raised the issues that it did, especially the ones of parks and open space, police, public safety and land-use planning. They're all part of the big issue, which is growth," said Nielsen.
"I was pleased to run. I'm willing to support the work they'll do," Nielsen said, referring to Hirschi and the two new councilmen, Rick Bangerter and Ron Russell.
Nielsen said he sees issues looming on the city's horizon that will need further public discussion and he plans to be involved - as a citizen.
"The parks and open-space issue is still there. Police is a budget issue, really, and the council will pretty much resolve that," he said.
"But the big issue that needs to be settled is subsurface groundwater drainage. We've got 800 houses with drain systems that dump their groundwater into the city's sewer system. We need to resolve that.
"I've always been of the opinion, and I've expressed it, that those people should pay something extra for that because the city's providing them a service.
"I told them that during the campaign. It may have cost me the election because people vote their wallet," Nielsen said.
"But I'm grateful for the time I had on the council, for the eight years of service I was able to give.
"I feel I ran a good race and we raised the right issues for public discussion," he said.
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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
One-term mayors are trend
The election of Frank Hirschi as mayor of Centerville Tuesday continues what appears to be a trend going back some 15 years: The city's mayor serves one term and then is gone.
Although the results are the same - one-term mayors - the reasons differ.
Incumbent Mayor Priscilla Todd cited years of city service, first on the planning commission and then as mayor, plus family responsibilities as her reasons for not seeking re-election.
Four years ago, Todd defeated incumbent Michael Kjar, who was looking for a second term.
Kjar was elected in 1990, succeeding prior incumbent Dean Argyle. Argyle served one term and opted not to run again, instead going on a mission for the LDS Church.
And, before him, former Mayor Neil Blackburn served a single term, then left the area for several years to pursue his real estate and land-development business. Blackburn is back in Davis County. He sought a seat on the Fruit Heights City Council but was defeated Tuesday.