LOGAN – At the end of their final meeting of 2025 on Tuesday, Dec. 16, the members of the Logan Municipal Council are scheduled to hold a meeting to select a new interim member to sit on their panel.
The new council member to be selected will replace Mayor-Elect Mark Anderson, who resigned from the city council in mid-November. One of the nine candidates seeking to win approval from council members will serve out Anderson’s unexpired term of office until Jan. 1, 2028.
The council’s schedule for Dec. 16 postpones the usual questions and comments from the public section of the meeting’s agenda until after Item 10a “Other Considerations,” which includes “Interim Council Member Interviews and Selection.”
The candidates in contention for the vacant council seat are Paula Allen, Melissa Dahle, Craig Maughan, Scott Mershon, Joshua Molitor, Alanna Nafziger, Paul Rogers, Brieanne Sparks and Gail Bonnie Yost.
Each of those candidates will be given three minutes to introduce themselves to the council members and explain their desire to serve the city. Following open discussions, the council members will retire to vote to winnow the number of candidate to two.
The council members will then interview the remaining applicants and make their selection.
This type of selection is often referred to as a “beauty contest” because of its process is mostly subjective. In all likelihood, the new council member will be selected based on his or her ability to get along with other council members and their support for existing city policies.
Given those circumstances, Logan resident Melissa Dahle is widely viewed as the frontrunner to join the council.
From 2019 to 2024, Dahle served as chair of the Woodruff Neighborhood Council, working closely with local residents and city officials to solve problems. Currently, she serves as chair of the Logan City Parks and Recreation Board.
Dahle also came within a hair’s breadth of winning a council seat in the November municipal election, where her vote total was separated from that of rival candidate Katie Lee-Koven by less than one percent of the mail-in ballots cast.
By contrast, candidates like Nafziger and Molitor are considered to be long-shots as they are known to be outspoken critics of the city government.
The selection of the interim council member will be made by Council chair Jeanne F. Simmonds and members Mike Johnson, Amy Z. Anderson and Ernesto López.
Among other items on the city council agenda for Dec. 16 will be a vote on whether Logan will withdraw from participation in the Logan-Cache Airport Authority.
The Dec. 16 meeting of the Logan Municipal Council is open to the public and will be held starting at 5:30 p.m. in the council’s chambers at 290 North, 100 West in Logan.