Mayoral candidate David Newton was an Evans supporter, and Brian Pitts was an Evans opponent who accused the former mayor of intimidating city staff, getting drunk at a reception in Russia, and gambling in Wendover when she should have been at a council meeting. Newton, Evans and a third official were accused of making statements that damaged the professional reputation of the assistant city manager at the time.

Holladay's two other challengers are Richard Jackman and Jeff Haaga, a local businessman. Haaga recently has been at odds with Holladay and some council members over a host of issues, including the city's sign ordinances and Haaga's proposal to change the form of city government from one with a strong city manager to one where the mayor serves as the city's full-time CEO.

Today, many of the personalities at West Jordan have changed, but the issues remain much the same, including questions about how West Jordan should grow, concerns over how the council and city staff interact, and how city money would be spent best.

Of the 15 city elections in Davis County this year, the race for Layton mayor may prove the most interesting.

Layton's three-term Mayor Jerry Stevenson is retiring, and four people have declared their candidacies — three are current city council members. Steve Curtis and Stephen G. Handy have entered an all-or-nothing race because if they lose, they will not retain their current city council seats, which are open for election as well. Councilman F. Renny Knowlton and Bob J. Stevenson also have filed for Layton mayor. Nine people have filed for the two at-large city council seats, making those two seats the most hotly contested in Davis County.

In North Salt Lake, incumbent Mayor Kay W. Briggs is facing a challenge from activist Juan Arce-Larreta. Over the past year, Briggs and Arce-Larreta have battled about 80 acres of open space on the city's east bench — Briggs wants to develop a portion, but Arce-Larreta wants it all preserved.

Briggs, on behalf of North Salt Lake, has been fighting with Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson on the open space, and both cities have asked a judge to rule on which municipality controls the development density on the land. Anderson is not up for re-election until 2007, but four Salt Lake City council districts have races this year.

Dale Lambert's decision not to run again for has opened the floodgates in Sugar House area of the Salt Lake City Council race. In all, seven candidates filed to take over his District 7 seat. In District 3, which represents both the Avenues and Capitol Hill, four people have declared their intentions to run, including incumbent Eric Jergensen. Out west in District 1, four challengers want to unseat incumbent Carlton Christensen, who is seeking a third term but ran unopposed in 2001. This year, District 5 councilwoman Jill Remington Love is running unopposed.