Mayor-elect Kelvyn Cullimore and the four new City Council members for Cottonwood Heights plan to huddle next week to decide where their home base will be, whom they will hire to run the city and to talk ethics.

"We want to make sure our newly elected officials, since none of us have ever held office before, all understand the uniqueness of government ethics," Cullimore said Wednesday.

The city's 34,000 residents decided in May to break away from control by Salt Lake County, elect their own leaders and set their own ordinances.

On Tuesday, Cullimore outpolled Suzanne Bitter with almost 60 percent of the vote, according to unofficial final results. Turnout was 84 percent.

Gordon M. Thomas, Scott Bracken, Don J. Antczak and Bruce T. Jones defeated opponents to become the city's first council members.

The mayor and council will work part time; Cullimore will head the council.

Cullimore said the east-side city has a head start on getting up and running. Since the August primary, citizen committees have been taking applications for various positions, including for a full-time city manager to run the city's day-to-day operations. Another group is working on the budget and still another is looking for space to house a City Hall. The mayor-elect said one won't be built; instead leaders are looking at office space.

The officials also must start contracting for services. Cullimore suggests hiring out for police protection, animal services, public works, engineering services, legal services and a municipal court. The county's Unified Fire Authority will handle fire protection.

Cullimore likens starting up Cottonwood Heights to starting up a business, which is why he thinks he won. He is CEO of a medical-device company.

"The experience that I've had in leadership with my company was probably a key factor for many people."

hmay@sltrib.com