Dan Snarr will continue to run Murray.

Voters sent the incumbent back to work for his third term Tuesday, choosing Snarr over Dave Wilde, a county councilman and Snarr critic who had contended he could better direct Murray's growth.

Snarr, a former contractor, said he was glad for the vote of confidence in the city and was looking forward to another four years.

"The message was that they liked what they've seen happen the last 8 years, and they want to see it continue to happen," Snarr said of Murray voters. "My plans are to stay the course with what we've been doing."

Voters also chose incumbent Robert D. Robertson to return as the District Two city councilman, and they re-elected Patricia Griffiths, who ran unopposed for the District Four council seat. Both will serve four-year terms.

Wilde, who kept his county council seat, said his defeat was a matter of voters disagreeing with his message.

"At least I don't have to hang my head because I didn't work hard," Wilde said. "Nobody could have worked any harder than I did."

Wilde had said that Snarr's focus on businesses in Murray came at the expense of the city's neighborhoods, which he said were neglected and overlooked because they didn't produce as much revenue for the city's coffers. Snarr disagreed, saying that he valued Murray's neighborhoods just as much, if not more, than the dozens of businesses that opened in the city during his tenure.

Snarr has said that his focus on business comes because the sales tax revenue from those companies helps support a library system, low property taxes, a power company, a school district, and numerous other independent city services. With that in mind, Snarr and other city officials will be watching the Legislature carefully this January as lawmakers tweak the sales tax distribution formula to pull money away from Murray, which now collects most of its revenue from point-of-sale taxes rather than population-based taxes.

The Legislature also will is reshaping redevelopment agencies, or projects that Murray has used several times to collect increased property tax on developments that then goes toward improvements within the development. The Fireclay RDA, from approximately 4100 South to 4500 South roughly between State Street and I-15, is the last major development site within Murray.

Snarr has been pushing for a transit-oriented, walkable development with a mixture of retail, office, housing and open space at the site. He has said that Murray has the chance to make the Fireclay district an example to the rest of the valley. Now, he will see that project through the next four years.

"You'll continue to see major new developments occur in our city," Snarr said. "Politics all comes down to one thing: the power of discernment of the voters."

As of one week before the election, Snarr had raised around $37,000 and spent about $14,400; many of his large-ticket contributions came from businesses that have interests in Murray, including Larry Miller ($5,000), Hamlet Homes ($5,000), and BMW of Murray ($1,000). Wilde, on the other hand, raised about $13,800 from individuals and businesses and spent about $8,700, most of it on advertising and campaign signs.

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E-mail: kswinyard@desnews.com