Following Friday’s deadline to file paperwork for the fall elections, the County Clerk’s office announced that none of the races on the schedule would be contested, and as a result, an election will not be held.  That is not to say that no one will be elected to the positions, but that in these situations the county is able to save funds and resources by avoiding what is essentially an unnecessary staging of a foregone conclusion.

The topline story for the election is that after many years serving as a City Councilmember, local business owner Larry Thomas is not seeking another term.  Have no fear—we will sit down with Larry to talk about his remarkable tenure and some of the changes he has seen in the town he has been a huge part of as both an administrator and a resident.

In conjunction with Thomas’ decision not to run for another term, the open seat will be filled by candidate John Williams.  Since there are at the very least several others with the same name, the John Williams in question is the Nell J Redfield Memorial Hospital CEO.  Tyrell Neal is also running for the spot, but because there are two candidates and two spots the election is not needed.  The terms for both candidates are 4 years.  Williams will serve with the currently serving councilmembers Tyrell Neal, Jaime Olsen, and Lance Tripp.

The clerk’s office waited through last week to officially announce the candidate list, as last Friday was the official deadline for write-in candidates to get themselves on the ballot, though there were no takers.

It isn’t rare for an odd-numbered year to see few contested elections (odd numbered years are primarily municipal and special district elections), but it is a little unusual this year across the map.  Voter dissatisfaction of all kinds is driving new candidates to register, according to national reporting early this week.  

The full list of candidates includes Tyrell Neal and John Williams for Malad City Council; Gary Shepherd for Fire District  Zone 1 (4 year), Geoff Green for Fire District Zone 3 (2 year); Brandon Ward for School Board Zone 1, Jared Crowther for School Board Zone 2, Tresie Carter for School Board Zone 5, Kent Kidd for Joint School District Zone 5.