The race that wasn't

LINDON — Lindon Mayor Larry Ellertson wasn't surprised Tuesday night when he was promoted from his current job to Utah County commissioner — a jump from representing 10,000 people to more than 400,000.

After all, he was listed on the ballot unopposed. Ellertson advanced as the GOP candidate on the November ballot after besting four competitors at the Republican County Convention.

Still, said Ellertson, it was a relief once the polls closed.

"It's nice not to worry," Ellertson told the Deseret Morning News Wednesday morning, "but it's always nice to get it over with, too."

Ellertson, 54, will fill the seat left open when Commissioner Gary Herbert opted to make a bid for governor rather than seek another term on the commission.

Herbert dropped out of the governor's race to become the running mate of Jon Huntsman Jr., who became Utah's governor-elect after Tuesday's election.

Ellertson is no stranger to running unopposed. He was appointed Lindon mayor eight years ago to replace Scott Cullimore. Then, he won two elected terms — both without opponents.

Ellertson said his focus now is getting up to speed on the issues that most concern the 420,000 county residents, starting with transportation woes.

As a member of the legislative Transportation Task Force, he was a little concerned when the commission tried to put a local transportation sales tax increase on the ballot, a move Commissioner Steve White admitted was designed to send a message to legislators.

"It was the timing that I was worried about. We had been working to find common ground from a broad perspective," he said.

Ellertson said there are important decisions to be made regarding transportation. It's time to again examine road-construction priorities, given the growth in the county, he said.

He also intends to look at overcrowding problems at the Utah County Jail.

"I think we can be a little creative," he said. "Maybe there are other ways to deal with some crimes and some criminals."

He wants the county commission to work more closely with Utah Valley communities to resolve concerns about such things as library access and parks. He intends to foster open and frank discussion.

"Some issues take more leadership, more ownership in the dialogue and the discussion but we need to be careful to facilitate and not meddle."

Whatever the topic or issue, Ellertson can be both open-minded and no-nonsense — an approach that's worked well for him in Lindon as the community wrestled with hot-button development issues.

He believes in listening and in doing his homework, is not afraid to admit it when he's wrong. "I expect it's just like being the mayor of a city. It really doesn't begin and end," he said. "It's an ongoing process."