Mike Shelton, Cottonwood Heights newest city council member, was prompted to run for the seat both at the urging of his predecessor Gordon Thomas and by Thomas’ example of service.
"I could sum up his philosophy in six words: ‘What can I do to help?’ " Shelton said. "More than anything, what I want to do is carry on that tradition."
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About Mike Shelton
Age » 44
Family » He and his wife, Marshelle, have four children
Career » An entrepreneur who builds and sells businesses, Shelton currently owns Golden Gate Ventures and Web Stores Online.
Fun fact » In his free time, he paints, sculpts and forges metal works by hand.
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Shelton, an entrepreneur and computer software developer, was elected to the District 1 seat in November after Thomas decided not to run for a third term. Shelton beat opponent Janet Janke by a margin of 8 percentage points in the general election.
Thomas and Shelton first met a few years ago when Shelton volunteered with the team that negotiated the financial terms of Jordan School District’s split with Canyons.
"He has a really good mind, but he’s not cocky about it. He’s just a nice guy," Thomas said of Shelton. "We have not had any harsh words on our city council in the years I’ve served. I think [Shelton will] continue with that. To be able to get along and disagree is a real talent."
Shelton also expects to continue with many city council policies noting he didn’t run because he had an agenda for change.
"We live in a great city, and it’s been well managed," he said.
He hopes to preserve Cottonwood Heights’ character as a "beautiful" city at the mouth of the Cottonwood canyons with attractive neighborhoods and a "vibrant" business community. He supports council actions that have blocked expansion of the Tavaci development at the mouth of Big Cottonwood from an approved 43 homes on 43 acres to more than 200 homes and a hotel. The city also has refused to allow the development to disconnect from Cottonwood Heights, but the matter now is being litigated.
One of the most common concerns Shelton has heard from residents is the need for safe routes for children to walk to school. He hopes to address that as a council member, including in his own district, which covers the west-side of Cottonwood Heights between Union Park Avenue and Highland Drive. He is willing to look at improvements to street crossings and traffic-calming measures.
"Keeping our kids safe has got to be one of the highest priorities," Shelton said. "That’s a big deal to me."
Shelton, 44, has lived in Utah his entire life — aside from a two-year LDS mission in South Dakota. He graduated from Salt Lake City’s Highland High in 1985. He and his wife, Marshelle, and their four children moved to Cottonwood Heights 11 years ago. Three of his kids attend schools in Canyons district and the other is a freshman at Utah Valley University.
Shelton studied visual arts at Westminster College, the University of Utah and Snow College but has not completed a bachelor’s degree. As a young man, he was busy starting, building and selling businesses, but he regrets not earning a four-year degree.
"It’s a worthy thing to do, and I wish I had," he said. "I would never encourage anyone to take that path."
Still, he’s benefited from his study of art. In his free time, he paints, sculpts, carves stone and even practices his blacksmith skills.
"He’s kind of a jack-of-all-trades kind of guy," said Marshelle Shelton. Her favorite works of his art are computer-generated paintings of each of their four kids as toddlers.
She is "excited" about her husband’s opportunity to serve on the city council.
"He knows a lot about a lot of different things," Marshelle Shelton said. "He is very level-headed. He listens really well. He likes to be able to come to a compromise."
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