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Three prison-relocation opponents want to make the switch from political activist to politician in November.

Jewel Allen is campaigning for City Council in Grantsville, while Stephanie Gricius and Colby Curtis are running for City Council in Eagle Mountain.

All three are leaders in grass-roots groups that have fought to keep the Utah State Prison out of their cities and, if possible, leave it in Draper. They also were among the large crowd voicing concerns to the Prison Relocation Commission on Tuesday evening.

"You have no right to dictate our future, and we will not go down without a fight," Curtis told the commission. "And I urge you to remember that."

It's far from uncommon for a hot-button issue to turn an upset resident into an organizer, who then is recruited to run for public office. That's what happened with U.S. Rep. Mia Love, R-Utah, who got involved in Saratoga Springs when a developer refused to exterminate flies from Utah Lake that swarmed her neighborhood.

The developer eventually caved, and Love became a city councilwoman, mayor and the first black Republican woman elected to Capitol Hill.

It's safe to say that moving a 4,000-bed penitentiary has riled up Utahns far more than hordes of annoying flies.

Allen, a former columnist for the Tooele Transcript Bulletin, was co-founder of the No Prison in Tooele group on Facebook and has been one of the more dedicated opponents of the prison move. The debate has forged her desire to have an active role in public policy.

"It gave me both the confidence and almost the idea that maybe I can do this," she said of her newly launched council campaign. "I've always been kind of an organizer type."

Allen emigrated from the Philippines at 15. Her mother went to Utah State University, and Allen actually became her college roommate. It was during Allen's studies that she met her husband, Drew, a veterinarian. The couple moved to Grantsville 14 years ago. When she isn't organizing anti-prison rallies, Allen ghostwrites memoirs.

Her first political fight involved Stericycle, a medical-waste incinerator company in Davis County. As part of a settlement, the Legislature approved Stericycle's relocation to Tooele County — despite objections from Allen and her allies.

Allen said she didn't realize so much of the legislative process takes place outside of public view. While she hopes to be a more collaborative politician at the city level, Allen said she respects the legislators she often challenges on the prison issue.

"Anyone who has the guts to run and do what they are doing in the face of a lot of opposition has to be commended," she said. "I would hope that someone like myself and our community groups could make a difference if we reach out to them, as long as we don't close the door by being unreasonable when talking to people."

Allen is one of seven candidates running for three spots.

Gricius and Curtis became friends through the No Prison in Eagle Mountain group, and now they support each other in their bids to join the City Council. They are among 11 candidates for three seats.

All the sitting mayors and council members in Grantsville and Eagle Mountain oppose the prison relocation, which means Gricius and Curtis will have to widen their campaign platforms. "We are helping each other out. We do a lot of strategizing together," Gricius said. "It is sort of like a co-campaign."

Gricius and her husband, Chris, have talked about running for office for a few years. When Chris saw his wife becoming a leader in the community group, he nudged her to take the next step.

Gricius was born in Oregon and spent most of her life in Arizona. She moved to Utah about eight years ago and has lived in Eagle Mountain for the past four. She believes a prison would hurt property values and scare off development.

Curtis has lived in Eagle Mountain for less than a year and used his tech skills to support a no-prison movement, believing, like many of his neighbors, that a prison would stunt a fast-growing community.

"It made me want to throw my hat in the ring," he said.

The relocation commission is expected to make a recommendation by Aug. 1. It has four sites to choose from: the Grantsville spot behind a Wal-Mart Distribution Center; the Eagle Mountain site at the city's southern tip; property in Fairfield, a small town west of Eagle Mountain; and a site west of the airport in Salt Lake City.