CACHE COUNTY – When all the investigation, debate and discussion was over, the Cache County Form of Government Study Committee recommended no change in the way that the county should be run in the future.
Study Committee chair Jack Draxler announced that finding at the regular meeting of the Cache County Council on Dec. 2, which members of that panel voted to accept with some signs of relief.
“We found … a high level of satisfaction with the work that is being done by our county government,” Draxler told the council members.
“We also found that stakeholders have a strong preference for our current form of government; that is, the council elected by districts and the executive also elected.
“In our meetings and (survey) responses,” he acknowledged, “there were a few individuals who expressed other preferences, of course. But the overwhelming majority were in favor of our current form of government.”
Draxler thanked the members of his study committee, calling them a “bank of common sense.” They included Jordan Mathis from the Bear River Health Department; Mayors Ed Buist from Mendon, Bryan Cox from Hyde Park and Blake Wright from River Heights; Andrew Erickson, who serves as a policy analyst for the group; and Dr. Damon Cann of Utah State University; who also provided his political science expertise.
The group studied the four optional forms of county government allowed under Utah laws.
Those include the current council-executive system; a part-time county council with an appointed county manager; a full-time, three-member commission elected at-large; and a larger part-time county commission.
Draxler explained that the study committee’s final recommendation to make no change was based on materials from other Utah counties that have explored their government structures; meetings with local and state officials who have experience in different county set-ups; extensive surveys of current and former county employees and officials; and input from county residents gathered at public meetings.
The Cache County Council informally decided to organize a study committee to consider changes to the county’s form of government at their regular meeting on March 18.
The decision was influenced by discussions surrounding House Bill 356 (County Governance Amendments) passed by the 2025 general session of the Utah Legislature, which initially sought to restrict certain forms of county government.
Council member David L. Erickson had injected himself into legislative deliberations on that bill at the State Capitol, when he alleged that the county executive position represented a roadblock to progress in Cache County.
Erickson’s comments were apparent based on ongoing disputes between some council members and former County Executive David Zook. Most of those issues were resolved, however, by the appointment of George Daines as executive in September.
That change left the members Cache County Form of Government Study Committee in the awkward position of being “… a solution looking for a problem,” according to council member Keegan Garrity.
While avoiding the controversial issue of changing forms of government, the study committee did offer several suggestions to members of the county council.
Those suggestions included whether providing additional training would be helpful for elected and appointed officials; reviewing how duties and powers are spread across county offices and departments; amending the Cache County Organic Act – which establishes the county government – to make its text gender neutral; considering whether some executive offices might be appointed rather than elected; and whether a de facto veto authority should be granted to the county executive.