For Dean Dickerson, serving on the council is the most down-to-earth political experience. "It's nonpartisan. . . . it's the closest to the people," he said.

Having served on the council for the past four years, Dickerson said he loves the service and would be honored to serve again for another four years.

Before the Orem City Council, Dickerson, 41, served on the SCERA board for 12 years and was the chairman of the Summerfest committee for five.

Dickerson, who has a degree from Brigham Young University in political science and experience as a former small-business owner, also wants to continue focusing on helping residents feel comfortable approaching the local government with issues.

"The City Council of Orem needs to be very accessible," he said. "People should not feel that they have to kneel at the altar of Mount Olympus."

Married with four children, ages 8 to 15, Dickerson said he wants to continue the focus of neighborhood preservation as well as maintain the financial structure and safety of Orem.

If anyone had asked Karen McCandless if she would be running for her second council term this November, she would have laughed. But this homemaker campaigns every day, going door-to-door, spreading the word: "Karen4Council."

"I love Orem," she said. "I don't have an agenda, I'm not out to get certain pet projects done, I just want Orem to be the best it can be."

With a degree from BYU in geography, emphasis in land-use planning, McCandless, 41, brings a planning background to the council. She said she's grateful she can help Orem residents who call with questions about the confusing zoning process.

McCandless said she is concerned about the quality of life in the city's neighborhoods. So she wants to ensure that business zones are sensitive to neighboring residential zones, increasing safety in neighborhoods and creating strong business districts.

A wife and mother of two, McCandless said being on the council is a great chance to serve her community. "Being on a city council was not something that was in my life plan," she said. "But I went ahead and gave it a shot and found I have just loved it."

Even as a teenager, Zachary Napierski wanted to be on the Orem City Council. Napierski, 29, who was born and grew up in Orem, said he enjoyed politics so much that he would attend council meetings for fun. During one of those meetings, he decided to go into law, as well as run for Orem City Council.

With the support of his wife and five children, Napierski is running for a council position with the goal to make Orem an even more family-friendly place.

If elected, one of his first matters of business would be the creation of a Family Action Committee to help address the needs of families, whatever their stage of life or age of their children.