His speech comes following last week's immediate resignation of a 28-year Logan city administrator - the fourth top-ranking city official of this northern Utah community to suddenly step down in the past 10 months.

The crowd at Logan City Hall couldn't be contained in the Council Chambers, and it spilled into the hallways while an emotional Thompson told his employees that two terms are plenty.

"If it's good enough for the president of the United States, it should be good enough for me," he said. "The primary reasons for the decision are family related. Being mayor in a city like Logan is sometimes tough on the family."

Thompson thanked the City Council and staff for helping him build several new facilities including an outdoor aquatic center, skateboard park, power plant, garage and transit center, police courts building, environmental building, zoo education building and more.

Under his tenure, the city of nearly 45,000 residents saw a declining crime rate and a strengthening of emergency fire and medical services, neighborhood councils and retail services. Traffic flow on Main Street, or U.S. Highway 89/91, also flows smoothly with few stops in spite of a steady stream through downtown traffic lights.

But Thompson's administration struggled in the past year to balance the city budget as a result of increasing costs and demand for services. Fiscal reforms, proposed in 2004 by the City Council and supported by the administration, put the city budget back in the black.

ajbrunson@comcast.net