Voters in Farmington, Kaysville, Sunset, West Bountiful and Woods Cross ousted incumbents in this week's general election. Clearfield voters banished their mayor, Thomas Waggoner, twice - once in the primary and again by nixing his write-in campaign.
Other Davis mayors decided not to run. Layton's mayor, Jerry Stevenson, moved on after 12 years in office. Mayors in Centerville and Fruit Heights, Michael Deamer and Rick Miller, respectively, each said the part-time gig was too much of a time drain on personal and professional lives.
"It's not fun to run as an incumbent," says Bountiful's Joe Johnson, one of the few survivors of the political overhaul. "You get to that September/October timeline and you start to wonder: 'What do people really think of me?' I can only imagine what those [soon-to-be former mayors] are thinking today."
During his first four years in office, Johnson brought together the five southernmost Davis County communities on projects such as a new recreation center and a fire district.
Three of those mayors won't be around when the new rec center opens or fire stations are built.
Johnson expects those projects will go forward, but he knows there are no guarantees.
"I have to say, it was a little weird to get up this morning and realize that I'm going to be going down that road without those guys. We've been through so much together."
The county, as a whole, hasn't been without controversy the past couple of years, according to Farmington Mayor Dave Connors, who lost his seat to newcomer Scott Harbertson. Connors believes residents were emboldened two years ago after talking county officials out of a plan to hike taxes by 138 percent to build a bigger jail.
"That got people thinking negatively about their local government," Connors said. "If you've got a local issue in your community that has people on edge - as mayor or whatever elected official - you embody that."
More big changes are coming to Davis County that could be contributing to the political anxiety in many of the communities. Legacy Highway - from North Salt Lake to Farmington - finally is getting on the map. Commuter rail and the resulting commercial and residential growth such rail brings to the county's western edge are all on the horizon.
"Land and tax issues abound in Davis County," says Weber State University political science professor Frank Guliuzza. "Each of these communities is searching for an identity. Change doesn't come easy."
Sunset voters opted for change, dumping the county's lone woman mayor, Janice Galbraith, in favor of Timothy Isom, who will become Utah's second African-American mayor, along with newly re-elected South Ogden Mayor George Garwood.
Meanwhile, Kaysville Mayor-elect Neka Roundy will replace Galbraith as Davis County's only female city CEO.
Newly elected James Behunin made growth of West Bountiful an issue in his race against one-term Mayor Carl Martin.
"We had a clear message about managing growth and maintaining our rural charm that resonated with the electorate," said Behunin, a current city councilman. "People I talked to were looking for someone to make sure we don't give into pressure for development in areas we've committed to horse property."
A closer look at the vote tallies in Woods Cross, for example, show three-term Mayor Jerry Larrabee's support waned on the city's west side in homes and subdivisions that didn't even exist five years ago.
"I don't want to make it an east-versus-west issue," says incoming Mayor Kent Parry.
"You could make that argument because of where the numbers came from. But I knocked on enough doors to know that there is a lot of love out there for Mayor Larrabee. I just think people were ready for a change."
lorib@sltrib.com
