Curtis also knows he is the underdog in the race. During the October primary elections, he finished behind Handy by about 270 votes. One reason was because of geographic location, said Curtis. Handy lives on the east side of Layton, where voter turnout is traditionally better. Curtis lives on the west side.

"To me, that (vote difference) is easily made up," said Curtis, a supervisor for Qwest Communications. "We have only 20 districts, that's about 10 votes a district. It's easily made up if you work hard enough."

But he admits winning the election will be a tight race. Handy is a marketer by profession and he's well-known in his neighborhood. The race will come down to whoever can best market themselves to the public and draw out supporters on election day.

During the primary elections, voter turnout was about 14 percent.

Handy, who benefited from higher voter turnout in east Layton, isn't taking his lead for granted. His strength, supporters say, is face-to-face communication. As of Friday last week, Handy had held 12 cottage meetings with residents.

He's also not afraid to spend money or solicit campaign donations. Handy has gathered donations from about 130 individuals, according to campaign finance disclosures. Curtis had gathered about 11 individual donations, according to his disclosure form.

Said Handy: "I have relationships beyond the city and have confidence that I can build the right type of relationships for the city. . . . The question really is, who has the skill-set to get things done? Mr. Curtis talks a lot about youth and recreation — but unless you have economic prosperity, you can't have quality of life."

Handy pledges to hold open office hours if elected. He wants to maintain fiscal responsibility and provide more for public safety. As a self-employed marketing consultant, he says his time is flexible.

"I don't know how I could do it if I were tied to a desk and driving 25 miles away to work," he said.

As for lack of a backbone? "I like to build consensus," said Handy, "but frankly, you can't always do that."

Municipal elections will be held Nov. 8. Polls are open from 7 a.m. until 8 p.m., when residents will also select two new city council members among a field of four.

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Candidates at a Glance

Steve Handy:

age: 54

occupation: marketing consultant

family: six children, wife's name is Holly

political experience: two-term Layton councilman (has served 6 years)

Steve Curtis

age: 50

occupation: supervisor at Qwest Communications

family: four children, wife's name is RaeLynn

political experience: three-term Layton councilman (has served 10 years)

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E-mail: nwarburton@desnews.com