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So many people are running for office in what will be Millcreek City that three "Meet the Candidates" nights will be held next month by the Millcreek Township Council.
Candidates for City Council Districts 1 and 2 — the two most western districts in the city that comes into existence Jan. 1 — will be featured in the first event May 18 at Mill Creek Elementary School, 3761 S. 1100 East.
Five people are running for each of those council seats. The June 28 primary will pare their ranks to two in each district.
The nine hopefuls to become Millcreek's first mayor will face the public May 24 at Wasatch Junior High School, 3750 S. 3100 East.
That school also will be the site, May 26, of a meet-the-candidates event for Districts 3 and 4, largely representing Canyon Rim and Olympus Cove, respectively.
All three sessions run from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., said Millcreek Township Council spokeswoman Lee Ann Hansen.
These inaugural Millcreek City votes are among many that will make primary-election night, June 28, a busy one for Salt Lake County Clerk Sherrie Swensen. Between Millcreek, legislative, state school board and metro township races, she said more than 300,000 voters in the county will be eligible to cast ballots.
"I'm thrilled," Swensen said, expecting mail-in voting to make the process simpler but wishing she could convince more residents that this is the best approach. "If I could figure out a magic way to get people to return their votes sooner, I would. But people tend to procrastinate."
Earlier this month, the County Council signed off on Swensen's plan for the primary and general elections after she added more voting centers around the valley, particularly in the fast-growing southwestern quadrant.
"We will be better able to accommodate some of those unforeseen situations where people don't use vote-by-mail and just show up at vote centers," she said, wanting to avoid the big lines that built up at many caucuses in March. "We felt we needed to add vote centers in case that happens at the general election."
In Millcreek, that's a distinct possibility, said county elections division coordinator Rozan Mitchell.
"We know Millcreek will be really busy for its election, so we'll staff it with a lot of [voting] machines and poll workers," she said. "We'll be able to ramp up poll workers if needed and get those votes processed quickly."
One benefit of this system, Swensen emphasized, is that voters can cast ballots at any center. They need not go to the polling places closest to their homes.
Several County Council members praised Swensen for incorporating many of their suggestions about adding vote centers and early-voting locations to an upgraded plan.
"These are difficult [elections] and I sympathize," said Councilman Richard Snelgrove. "I like to see us overcompensate to keep the faith of the voters. … The last thing we need is a skeptical public."
Candidate nights
The Millcreek Township Council has scheduled three "Meet the Candidate" events to acquaint the public with the people seeking to become part of the city's first governing body. The sessions are:
May 18 • Mill Creek Elementary School, 3761 S. 1100 East
May 24 • Wasatch Junior High School, 3750 S. 3100 East
May 26 • Wasatch Junior High School, 3750 S. 3100 East
All three are scheduled to go from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.