Less than half of Coalville City’s registered voters showed up to vote in the City Council’s primary race Tuesday, but it was enough to choose eight City Council candidates to move on to the General Municipal election in November. Two candidates, Merlyn W. Johnson and Carlos J. Tavares, Jr., were eliminated.
Coalville City has 665 registered voters and 157 voters cast two votes each: one for a two-year seat and one for a four-year seat.
Cody Blonquist, an electrical contractor from Coalville, earned the most votes, with 121. Blonquist is running for the two-year seat. It is his first time running for public office.
“I thought it was exciting and a little surprising,” Blonquist said of the number of votes he received. “The other two candidates that I was competing directly against, as far as I can tell, didn’t do any campaigning so I’m sure that had an impact.”
Blonquist, who has three children, said the No. 1 issue he plans to pursue if elected to City Council is the reclamation of the city’s park. The park has been under the county’s control for some years now, but the county is reluctant to spend any money to make improvements, Blonquist said.
‘It’s incredibly old and hasn’t been updated. We live in one of the wealthiest counties in the state and you would never know it if you went to the one thing the county controls in Coalville,” Blonquist said.
Another area that needs to be fostered is event planning, Blonquist said. With events like the Ragnar running race and Tour of Utah coming through the city, Blonquist said an opportunity is being missed to benefit from these events.
“There are more and more events that don’t take place in Coalville, but occur in and around Coalville, and the city gets kind of brushed by,” Blonquist said. “I think we could do something to take advantage of the people and, instead of having citizens detest the congestion, maybe if the city promoted it more we could get more involved and attract more events.”
Tuesday’s primary election narrowed the candidate field from 10 to eight. Coalville City was the only municipality in Summit County required to hold a primary election.
Three incumbents, Adrianne Anson, Arlin B. Judd and Steven B. Richins, plus Tyler J. Rowser, Walter Brock and Colby G. Willoughby, are still in the running for the three four-year seats. Anson, who currently holds the two-year seat, earned the most votes from the four-year seat field with 87. She was appointed to fill the position when Cuyler Scates moved.
“It’s humbling and it’s kind of a pat on the back. It felt really good,” Anson said.
The stay-at-home mother of three young girls said her position as a move-in resident creates a unique opportunity as a council member and candidate.
“It’s exciting for me because where I am a move-in people can tell me stuff they can’t tell regular people because they are related to them,” Anson said. “It’s kind of a nice situation to just say what you would like to happen and get more of an open dialogue.”
One of the things Anson would like to see is a revamping of the city’s tree board. Anson’s husband is an arborist and she says she wants to see more trees planted throughout the city.
“We have had one in the past, but it has mostly just been names on paper. So we are hoping to start a stronger tree board to get more trees in Coalville,” Anson said.
Looking ahead to the general election, Anson said she is excited to talk to residents and attempt to understand what they would like to see done in their city.
“That’s what is exciting about being in this position, I can talk and get a little bit of feel for what people would like,” Anson. “I think for my campaign I would like to kind of have it feel like a fresh perspective and a little more of someone ready to learn. I’m sure I’ll hear lots of ideas.”
Niki Sargent, Coalville City recorder, said Tuesday’s results will be certified with a canvass at the next Coalville City Council meeting on Aug. 24.
Sargent said the city is still receiving absentee votes and will continue to accept them if they are postmarked before Aug. 10.
- The total votes received for each candidate who filed for the three four-year seats were:
- Colby G. Willoughby: 64
- Adrianne Anson: 87
- Arlin B. Judd: 84
- Steven B. Richins: 67
- Tyler J. Rowser: 68
- Carlos J. Tavares, Jr.: 14
- Walter Brock: 53
- Total votes for candidates who filed for the two-year seat:
- Merlyn W. Johnson: 11
- Edward Keyes: 20
- Cody Blonquist: 121