Turnout reportedly reached 5 percent for Tuesday's contest, which elected five district representatives and four at-large members to the newly legitimized community council serving the west-side area of 35,000 residents.

"This was the most representative election in the history of Kearns," said Jeff Waters, president of the Association of Community Councils Together, which shepherded the transition.

Waters also defended the extra days it took for the results to be tallied. "We wanted to make sure we did it right."

Very little went right for the old Kearns Town Council, crippled by infighting during the past year.

Questions over the flow of $1 million in state and federal grant money, funneled through the group, prompted Mayor Peter Corroon to take action in March. He ordered the group to disband, adopt new bylaws, change its name to a "community council" and then apply to the county for recognition.

A criminal investigation by the District Attorney's Office is ongoing.

A June special election date was moved to August, allowing several members of the original council to register as candidates. Seven did, and four were elected this week to the new nine-member body.

Still, Corroon is confident all the candidates are committed to change.

"We have a group that is willing to move forward instead of being bogged down in the past," he said.

Grant money still could be handled by the new group, but Corroon said he will "leave it up to them to decide how to proceed."

The new community council has no legislative authority, but can weigh in on planning, zoning and budget issues.

Overall, 22 candidates ran for the nine seats.

Three of the four at-large members are new, while three of the five district members served on the old council.

Claudia Nabos, a former Town Council member who chose not to run, said Thursday she was pleased with the results.

"We need to go forward and get on with what we're going to do with this community."

Chuck McDowell, the top vote-getter and a new at-large representative, agreed.

"I'm very encouraged," he said. "We have some fresh faces with some talent. We're going to have a fresh start here."

Besides the grant money mess, McDowell says other items must be cleared up in the township. For instance: Do the residents want to incorporate? Will there be consensus on a master plan? And how can the community stimulate after-school programs while continuing to quash crime?

djensen@sltrib.com

Convicted felon wins seat, says her past is 'not an issue'

One member of the new Kearns Community Council is so intent on moving forward she refuses to look back.

For good reason. Paula Larsen, elected this week to one of four at-large seats, is a convicted felon.

According to court and prison records, Larsen, then known as Paula Mansell, was convicted twice in the 1980s on theft counts.

She served nine months at the Utah State Prison between 1989-1990 after pleading guilty to third-degree felony theft.

"It's a dead issue. It's done," Larsen said Thursday. "The past has been the past, and it's not an issue."

Still, Larsen's criminal record became the subject of a whispering campaign in Kearns over the summer.

Yet, now that she's been elected - she also served a number of years on the Kearns Town Council - Larsen has some new backers.

"She's mended her ways," said fellow at-large winner Chuck McDowell. "I actually respect people who can put that behind them and start a new life. And Paula's done that." During the campaign, rumblings swirled about the propriety of Larsen's candidacy, considering the special election was prompted partly by a criminal probe into the former Town Council's mishandling of state and federal grant money.

But Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon dispelled any notion Thursday of a problem. "Nobody felt it was appropriate to do criminal background checks on the candidates," Corroon said.

"Hopefully, those things are in the past and she's paid her dues."

- Derek P. Jensen