The election swept out McMullen and fellow Democrat Wayne Hardman. Four new members of the seven-person council are all Republicans, leaving Neil Anderton as the lone Democrat - unless outstanding ballots reverse Hardman's 10-vote loss.

McMullen sparred often with other council members - particularly Chairman Val Draper - over how to preserve open space in the face of development pressures facing the fast-growing Wasatch Back. McMullen was the driving force behind an open-space program that included workshops and a survey of Heber Valley residents. That poll revealed more than 50 percent of those questioned were willing to spend money to save farmlands from development.

With McMullen out of the picture, the open-space issue could be shoved to the County Council's back burner, said Valerie Joan Kelson, who lost her bid for Midway's County Council seat to Republican Mike Kohler.

"It's like the good ol' boys are back together again," said Kelson, who campaigned on open-space preservation and economic development.

Kelson sees the prevailing attitude among council members - that open space will be addressed through zoning - as "a cop-out."

"I don't see anything different," she said. "I don't see any open space being preserved."

But Draper contends that setting aside open space is a complex issue in a community that doesn't have a revenue stream like nearby Park City. That tourist town's ski resorts and expensive vacation homes buoy up western Summit County's tax coffers.

Park City residents have twice approved $10 million bond issues to buy open space. Last week, Snyderville Basin residents approved another $10 million bond to purchase "recreational" open space.

"We'd all like to keep the land the way it is now," Draper said of Heber Valley's pasturelands. "But we're different than Summit County. I don't want to unduly burden the taxpayers. Zoning, I think, is a better approach. We can get developers to set aside up to 30 or 40 percent of their projects."

Still, McMullen - who lost to Steve Farrell - remains hopeful that a comprehensive preservation strategy can move forward.

"After the election, I asked my opponent, please don't let this open-space program fall flat," she said. "Steve gets it. He gets what open-space preservation is."

But whether Farrell finds support among the council for initiatives such as conservation easements for farmlands or bonding to finance the purchase of pastureland is another question, McMullen conceded.

"He'll have Neil [Anderton] on his side," McMullen said. "But it's in danger of falling by the wayside."

Farrell, a Utah State Tax Commission real estate appraiser who also owns a farm in Midway, said he can bring the council's other Republicans along with him on open-space preservation.

"We need to be pro-active in developing an open-space plan," Farrell said. "I'm not an advocate of zoning for open space. If developers do it, there won't be a plan."

The County Council must look toward groups such as Utah Open Lands and the Nature Conservancy to find ways to preserve Heber Valley's rural appeal, he said. "We need public input and we need to educate the council on what is available tous."

csmart@sltrib.com