Layton races

l Mayor (no incumbent): Steve Curtis, Stephen G. Handy, F. Renny Knowlton, Robert J. Stevenson.

l Council (two seats open, no incumbents): Michael Bouwhuis, Michael W. Cooper, Michael W. Courtney, Nicholas J. Ferre«, Scott Freitag, H. Loran Hubbard, Kathy Hyde, Ryan C. Jenkins, Mike Norton.

Traffic congestion and growth are two topics dominating conversations in Layton these days. But so, too, is the news that longtime Layton Mayor Jerry Stevenson has decided not to run for a fourth term.

The opening in Davis County's largest city drew the attention of four current and former City Council members: Steve Curtis, 50; Stephen Handy, 54; F. Renny Knowlton, 57; and Robert J. Stevenson, 51.

Curtis is in his third council term and wants to see through such projects as commuter rail and fixing Layton's busy interchanges on Interstate 15. As someone who travels along the Wasatch Front for his communications job, Curtis says Layton has bigger potential to become a destination city.

"There are several undeveloped areas in our city," he says. "I would work to see those become business and research parks that would provide family-sustaining jobs to our residents."

Handy, who works in mass communications, has already conducted Web polls asking residents their opinion on what Layton's legacy should be. One of his goals is to form neighborhood advisory councils to help increase communications throughout the fast-growing city.

"Current growth trends show we are about 20 years from build-out," the two-term city councilman says. "We need to prioritize the needs and wants of our community how best to use the $9 million that comes into our city."

Knowlton, an optometrist, is finishing up his second City Council term. He says the city's benefits include parks, recreation and arts opportunities for its residents, and he hopes to capitalize on the city's proximity to Hill Air Force Base for filling its business and research parks.

"We have about 300 or 400 acres to devote to that, and so there is the potential for a wide variety of businesses to participate," he says. "I believe our transportation problems will eventually work out. We just need to keep pursuing and working with the state and federal entities responsible for that to see it through."

Stevenson is a former council member who says Layton needs to take greater care in its remaining land-development opportunities.

"In our of concern over growth, we need to remember that we have older neighborhoods, too," says Stevenson, who is the store-brands manager for the Nestle« company. "We need to include programing that helps us improve and maintain our community so that it stays a nice place to live."