A recession devastated Utah homebuilding when Ellis Ivory was an LDS Church mission president in England from 1979 to 1982. It evaporated the fortune he had built as a land developer and left Ivory holding land with more debt than it was worth.

"I was worse than broke," he says. "Many people said to just file bankruptcy. I said, No, if I live in tent, I'll never do that. I've got to pay every cent of interest, every bank back."

After study, he found a solution. He started building affordable starter homes himself, no longer depending on others to build on land he developed. That sold off his debt-laden tracts. Ivory Homes was on its way to becoming Utah's largest homebuilder for the past 17 years. It built 6,000 houses and developed 18,000 lots — and again made Ivory wealthy.

With such experience, Ivory sees problems as opportunities. So coming up with the idea of running for Salt Lake County mayor just a month before the election was not just a wild fantasy to him. He made some calls, measured the odds and dived in — quickly. Now he says he is working 18 hours a day, or more, aiming to win. He says lessons he has learned would help the county.

Ivory, 64, was born in Fountain Green, Sanpete County, the youngest of five children. His father worked in a variety of jobs, from shearing sheep to construction. When Ellis was 10, the family moved to Salt Lake County. His father started to build a home there but could not afford to finish it. He did manage to complete the basement, and that is where the family lived for three years. The family returned for a time to Sanpete County — and lived in a home without indoor plumbing.

As a junior back in Salt Lake County, Ivory entered Granite High School, where he had his first taste of politics. His friend Jim Dunn ran for student body president, and Ivory was his running mate for vice president. The campaign was based on "Ivory," the soap; elephants; and the Ivory Tower.

Dunn lost, but Ivory won. Ivory said he thought of resurrecting that old campaign theme in his mayor's race this year. "We were tempted because there is a mess in the county government, and we could clean it up with Ivory," he says. Instead, it opted to focus on the possible need to write him in on ballots as the "write candidate."

Ivory was the first in his family to attend college, at the University of Utah. A Sigma Chi fraternity brother, Roger Boyer, lined him up on a blind date with Katie Stohl. They were married in 1964 and subsequently had seven children.