FILE PHOTO: Election mail envelopes. Photo by Tiffany Tertipes
LOGAN – As expected, Logan’s voters selected incumbent Mayor Holly H. Daines and challenger businessman Dee Jones as their candidates in municipal primary balloting on Tuesday.
The ballot count in the lopsided voting totaled 3,163 for Daines (65% of votes cast) and 1,531 for Jones (31% of votes cast).
The second challenger for the post of mayor, R. Lowell Huber, garnered only 184 votes (4% of votes cast).
Daines is a Cache Valley native and a graduate of both Utah State University and the University of Utah. Her previous political experience includes eight years as a member of the Logan City Council.
She was elected mayor in 2017 and can claim credit for numerous accomplishments during her first term of office, including a face-lift for Center Street and the implementation of several long-term projects to revitalize the downtown area.
In the next four years, Daines says that she hopes to focus her efforts on completion of the Center Block plaza, construction of a new library, improvement of transportation networks and the expansion of trails and parks.
Jones is a political newcomer who considers himself “a blue-collar person … with deep respect and admiration for our valley and the people that live here.”
If elected, Jones said that one of his priorities will be to give Logan residents a greater voice in their government by creating a six-member city council made up of representatives from each of Logan’s neighborhoods. Those are the Adams, Bridger, Ellis, Hillcrest, Wilson and Woodruff neighborhoods.
He is also concerned about the high cost of utilities for city residents and differs with city officials about their current plans for the revitalization of the downtown area.
Finally, the fledgling candidate promises to have fresh ideas about local issues including the relocation of Fire Station 70, strategies to attract clean industries that provide higher paying jobs and ideas to boost the local tourism industry.
After several disputes with city officials, Huber’s unsuccessful candidacy for mayor of Logan was widely seen as a form of protest.
The most recent of those quarrels involved unpaid fines for Huber’s allegedly neglected property on 1000 North near Logan Middle School
With Huber’s departure from the mayoral contest, Daines and Jones will now face off in the municipal general election on Nov. 2.