Cottonwood Heights winnows candidates

Cottonwood Heights residents took a key step Tuesday toward becoming Salt Lake County's newest incorporated city, narrowing the field of candidates for mayor and City Council in November's general election.

The campaign can now begin in earnest to garner support from the 34,000 Cottonwood Heights residents who make up Salt Lake County's 16th incorporated city.

Kelvyn Cullimore Jr. and Suzanne Bitter were the top vote getters out of five candidates and will face off to become the city's first mayor, while eight candidates will vie for four council seats.

Cullimore, who led the polls with 61 percent of the vote, worked on the Cottonwood incorporation committee for two years, an experience he said prepared him to lead the city as mayor.

"For two years, I've been working on the very issues that are critical to incorporation," Cullimore said. "I'm well-versed on those things, and I'm in a position to hit the ground running."

Cullimore, 48, is the CEO of Dynatronics Corp., a medical device manufacturer, and is a member of the board of the Jordan Education Foundation.

Bitter, who followed Cullimore with 16 percent of the vote, has served for two years on the Cottonwood Heights Community Council. Bitter, 40, said her main goal for the new city is self-sufficiency. As for the next months of campaigning, Bitter said she will be going door to door to chat with residents.

"My main thing has been going right out to the people. I want them to have a voice," she said.

The turnout of 5,259 was just over 25 percent of the 20,621 registered voters.

The new city, which will become official Jan. 1, stretches from the Holladay border on the north to the Wasatch-Cache National Forest on the east, 1300 East on the west and Creek Road to the south.

Out of the 29 candidates for City Council, those advancing to the Nov. 2 final election are:

• District 1: Gordon M. Thomas and Winton Aposhian

• District 2: Scott Bracken and David Kubinski

• District 3: Gordon W. Nicholl and Don J. Antczak

• District 4: Bruce T. Jones and Josh Reid

The mayor will serve as both a fifth member of the City Council and as its ceremonial head but will not have veto power. Under the council-manager government, which residents chose in a May 4 vote to incorporate, a city manager will oversee the actual implementation of laws. In the early stages of incorporation, however, the mayor will be responsible for the daily operations of city government.