Boundary shift a factor in Provo council elections

PROVO — New districts formed to give Provo residents a better say in government do just the opposite, said Lori Huntington, who is running for a citywide position on the City Council in Tuesday's primary election.

When the city voted to redraw districts, boundaries shifted and positions on the council switched. The move changed the council from four district positions and three citywide positions to five district positions and two citywide seats.

Proponents of the move say central-city neighborhoods finally have a say in city government, but opponents think otherwise. The current alignment gives way to the possibility that three members of the council could live in the same area.

"You could have seven people on a council and three of the seats are from a very small geographical area," Huntington said. "The people are just not being represented."

But Councilman Stan Lockhart said the council had the people's best interest in mind when it voted to alter the districts and it is too soon to tell whether voters will truly get better representation.

"The new districts will begin Jan. 1, so we'll get a better feel for whether they give better representation at that point in time," said Lockhart, who is running against Huntington and four others for the citywide seat. "Certainly the discussion leading up to the choices that were made is that it would give better representation, and we need to wait and see if that's true or not."

Fourteen candidates are vying for four City Council positions in Tuesday's primary election. That number includes three incumbents craving another four years on the job.

Other candidates include Matthew Baker, Lynn Sorensen, Cynthia Dayton, Mark Hathaway, Thomas Kirkham, Theron Harmon, Midge Johnson, Melanie McCoard, Shari Holweg, Barbara Sandstrom and Howard Stone.

City officials say Provo's list of candidates is one of the longest in years.

"There is a discontent for an awful lot of people on the streets of Provo," said Steve Turley, who is also running for the citywide seat. "It's the Provo City Council's lack of leadership, oversight, and providing the checks and balances that are supposed to be there."

The council hopefuls say they want to change Provo's political landscape, which many candidates claim has been dominated by longtime politicians.

"There is a lot of frustrations in the way the City Council has operated," Huntington said. "That's why there is such a big number of candidates."

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