Nine candidates are vying to become the first mayor of the newly incorporated Millcreek City. That pool will be whittled down to two after Tuesday night’s primary election.
About 60,000 people live in Millcreek, where last November, residents voted to become Salt Lake County’s 17th city. As part of that vote, residents agreed to elect a mayor and four city council members to represent them. Kimberly Barnett is associate deputy mayor of Salt Lake County. She’s confident Millcreek City officials will want few interruptions in people’s day to day lives during the transition.
“Salt Lake County will be with them to assist in any way possible to ensure that residents continue to receive the services they think are best,” Barnett says.
Diane Angus is Chair of the Millcreek Community Council and a candidate for Millcreek City Council. She says many residents just want to make sure their taxes don’t go up.
“You go to some of these cities and they have beautiful city halls,” Angus says. “But that’s not where our priorities should be. Our priorities should be to make sure that we start this city with a strong foundation and that we stay within the budget that we have.”
Millcreek’s newly elected mayor and council will have to decide whether to continue getting services from the Municipal Services District for things like snow removal and road maintenance. A majority of residents and candidates for office are in favor of leaving and contracting directly with Salt Lake County. They have to decide by July 2017.
Angus says it has to be the best contract, the best price, but also the best service.
“But I don’t know how you can make that decision until you see that contract and you see what they’re going to do for you,” Angus says.
While many voters have already mailed in ballots for the primary Election, voters can still cast a ballot in person from 7 am to 8 pm Tuesday. The general election is November 8th.
