St. George • With the debut of the $45 million new City Hall looming for later this month and the $9 million upgrade to the Dixie Sunbowl slated for completion next fall, St. George Mayor Michele Randall was looking forward to an exciting year.
But after losing to Council member Jimmie Hughes in the November general election, Randall won’t be in office to see those projects come to fruition.
Randall was ousted amid an election that saw incumbent mayors toppled in Provo, Orem, Hurricane and Cottonwood Heights, to name a few. Despite the political upheaval, she said she is grateful for the ride.
Making history
As the first woman to serve as St. George’s mayor, Randall said she finds solace and feels honored “to be in the history books.” She said she is proud of all she and the City Council have accomplished. And after weathering the sting of her defeat, she feels a sense of relief.
“The first week after the election was a little difficult … and I’m going to miss the people I work with,” she said. “But other than that, I felt a lot of stress come off my shoulders.”
Randall’s five-year mayoral run has been a bit bumpy at times. Selected by the City Council to replace Mayor Jon Pike, who left early to head the Utah Insurance Department, Randall has had to wade through some turbulent political waters.
In October 2022, then-City Manager Adam Lenhard was forced to resign several months after he balked at the City Council’s demand that he cancel the permits for HBO’s “We’re Here” drag show at Town Square Park. He also was handed a confidential $625,000 settlement to avoid legal action for wrongful termination.
Randall defended Lenhard, saying revoking the permit would have exposed the city to costly litigation. When The Salt Lake Tribune obtained and published the details of the secret settlement with Lenhard through an open-records request, the backlash was significant.
Council meetings were sometimes riven with division and residents packed municipal chambers on several occasions to oppose drag shows.
In what she said was an attempt to restore civility to meetings, Randall briefly scrapped the public comment segment of meetings in May 2023. She later reinstated it with modifications after taking heat from residents and some council members. For her part, the mayor waxes philosophical about criticism, saying it comes with the territory and often comes from people who aren’t aware of the facts.
Allies and achievements
Randall was not without allies in her job. Council member Dannielle Larkin lauds the mayor as a steadfast and devoted public servant who was outspoken and led with “integrity, courage and an unwavering commitment to the community.
“She has always spoken honestly and directly,” Larkin added in a text to The Tribune, “even when doing so was difficult or unpopular, because she believes that public service demands truth above comfort.”
After arguing over culture war issues, the council has largely stuck to more routine municipal matters, which has led to a much calmer atmosphere, according to Randall. She also said there are a string of successes that everyone in city government can take pride in.
Aside from City Hall and presiding over a booming economy, she notes, the city has built three new fire stations, including the $9 million main headquarters that opened in November, during her tenure. The city also has broken ground on a $15 million airport control tower at the St. George Regional Airport that is slated for completion in 2027. In addition, a $29 million general obligation bond voters approved in 2023 will lead to the creation of five new parks and upgrades to numerous existing ones over the next several years.
Such big-ticket items take a back seat to Randall’s affections to the black granite Gold Star Families Memorial Monument the city installed at Historic Town Square with the help of donors in March 2022 to honor families whose loved ones paid for their military service with their lives.
Randall said people, not projects, are what has mattered most to her during her time as mayor.
“Meeting so many new people from all walks of life that I probably would have never met otherwise has been awesome,” she said. “We also have an amazing staff, and our department heads are incredible. I’ll miss being able to rub shoulders with them as often.”
Now that her mayoral duties are ending, Randall is eyeing a future outside of politics. She said she is leaving public office with no regrets. It took more than 150 years for St. George to elect its first woman mayor. Her hope is it won’t take voters another century or more to elect another.
Larkin doesn’t see that happening.
“Her legacy as the first female mayor of St. George will endure far beyond her term,” she said. “For generations of young girls in our community, she has helped shatter a century-and-a-half-old glass ceiling and shown them that leadership is not limited by gender, but guided by conviction and heart. … Her impact will be felt for years to come.”