MAPLETON — Stan Sorenson was not happy Tuesday night. And if he ends up losing in his bid for Mapleton mayor as a result of a polling mix-up: "I'll be livid," Sorenson said.
No election results from Mapleton were available when the Deseret Morning News went to press Tuesday night, meaning mayoral candidate Sorenson likely went to bed mad.
The controversy, Sorenson says, started with incumbent mayor Dean Allan, whose cousin is Collin Allan, a member of Nebo School District Board of Education, to which Hobble Creek Elementary, one of two polling areas in Mapleton, belongs.
Last week, students at Hobble Creek Elementary took home a newsletter for November, which included an item reminding parents of students to get out and vote. It also incorrectly stated that "Hobble Creek Elementary School is not a polling place for these city elections."
Sorenson contends that he has strong support from residents living in the north end of Mapleton who would likely cast their ballots at Hobble Creek.
City Recorder Camille Brown said she wasn't made aware of the newsletter until just after the polls closed at 8 p.m. Tuesday, adding that she didn't know why the school would issue such a statement. "The school was advised (that it was a polling location)," Brown said.
Hobble Creek Principal Garth Bird disagrees. "The city never told us," Bird said Tuesday night.
Part of the reason for the mix-up could be that Mapleton didn't have a primary election, the principal said. However, the city had been a polling site the past two years.
"On this election, we just assumed that the city wasn't going to use our building," Bird said.
The principal said he learned in October that the school would again be used as a polling site but by that time the newsletter had already gone to press.
"I asked the students to cross (the sentence about the school not being a polling area) out, but I guess some didn't do that," he said.
In retrospect, Bird said he wished he had called the city and asked whether the school would be a polling site before including the statement in the newsletter.
And on that point, Sorenson agrees.
"I don't understand for the life of me why he didn't make a phone call." he said.
But as for conspiring against Sorenson, Bird said that's just not true.
"Of course not," he said. "It was an error because we didn't understand."
Gene Mangum learned he will be Springville's next mayor about 10:30 p.m. when he was at the city offices. He beat his opponent, city planning commission chair Christine Tolman by 331 votes.
"I was ready for it either way," he said. "I had a very admirable opponent."
Like other cities in south Utah County, Mangum expects Springville's challenge during his tenure in office to be growth.
"Growth causes so many other issues — the electricity, water, the sewer, the roads," he said.
Eric Hazelet coasted to a comfortable victory in the race for Genola mayor, defeating opponent Roy Carroll by 226 votes. Hazelet, 40, takes over for Neil Brown, who opted not to run for a third term. He received 305 votes.
On the town council, incumbent Bryan Draper, 212 votes, and Chris D. Greenwood, 174, claimed the two four-year seats.
There were no close races in Salem, where incumbent Stanley W. Green and Brent V. Hanks won four-year seats and Jeff D. Higginson claimed the two-year seat.
Green was the top vote-getter among all council candidates with 776 votes. Hanks earned the second four-year sport with 444 votes — 158 ahead of Darren Jensen, who had 286, and 227 more than Allen Davis, who had 217.
Higginson collected 649 votes, easily outdistancing Richard C. Nelson, who received 230.
J. Lane Henderson received 846 votes running unopposed for mayor.
James E. DeGraffenried will be the next mayor of Santaquin.
DeGraffenried garnered 640 votes, nearly 400 more than challenger Marie Durney (244) in Tuesday night's election.
Former councilman Arthur L. Adcock will return to the council, along with political newcomer James F. Linford. Adcock received 597 votes and Linford had 384 to fill the two four-year seats.
In Goshen, the race could be decided by a few provisional ballots still left to be counted.
The two candidates for the two-year city council seat were only one vote apart. Patricia Bergener had 145 votes and Rex Kay had 144.
Candidates for the two four-year seats were also close. Fred Jensen won 169 votes with Susan L. Bettis close behind with 164. Von D. Nelson was third with 113.
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