Logan city council candidate Mike Johnson talks with KVNU For the People host Jason Williams.
LOGAN — There are six candidates and three races for the Logan City Council this year. On KVNU’s For the People program on Wednesday we had on one of the challengers, Mike Johnson. He talked about why he decided to run.
“I think the biggest thing that made me decide to run is just, I love Logan. I grew up along the Wasatch Front in Pleasant View but I’ve lived here in Logan for about 13 years now. Immediately when I moved to Logan(and) fell in love with Logan. I’ve always loved the city here, the people, the beauty, the nature, everything about Logan has stolen my heart, and my wife and I will call it home for the rest of our lives. Obviously Logan has some issues, but of all the issues we have, Logan is a beautiful, wonderful place, and I deeply care about our city and the people here, ” he explained.
A big issue with residents is growth, Johnson said when you look at projections, Logan will most likely double its population in the next 20 to 30 years, which is a massive change.
Plus, Logan is not as large geographically as a lot of areas along the Wasatch Front.
“We need to be very careful with how we grow to make sure that we maintain that character of Logan and that we love the way Logan looks and feels in 30 – 40 years from now.”
Part of that care in how the city grows is producing plenty of open space, and that includes the Cache Valley Marketplace project (that will replace the Cache Valley Mall), which is something that Johnson pushed at a planning commission meeting concerning the development.
“And I really wanted to make sure that the 364 residents or households that are going to live there had somewhere where they could go, and not necessarily just a park strip with trees, but an actual area where they could go out with their family and have a picnic or a barbecue. Because I think it’s important that we have spaces that we want to be outside, and I think we learned during the pandemic that we need those outdoor spaces. I think they’re good for communities, and our mental health and our physical health.”
Johnson said he likes to tell people that if he was ‘king for a day’ in Logan he would make sure every resident had a park within a quarter mile of their house. You can find out more him at MikeForLogan.com