Five candidates — including a Clearfield High School senior — have stepped into the race for Clearfield mayor, seeking a seat left vacant after the sudden resignation last month of the previous mayor, Dan W. Phelps.

The deadline for letters of interest to be submitted to the city recorder closed Tuesday at 5 p.m. Andrew Higham, an 18-year-old student who couldn't vote in the November election, and Richard Waite, a former Clearfield city recorder, were the most recent applicants for the job.

The other candidates are Mark Shepherd, who ran against Phelps in the November election; Jim Barlow, a former city council member; and Don Wood, a City Council member who is now acting mayor.

Political newcomer Higham said he realizes he's up against an experienced field of politicians and city administrators.

"They're as qualified as I am, in different ways," Higham said. "The city could use a fresh face."

The City Council, according to law, must pick a new mayor by March 23. Wood, who is on the council as the mayor pro tem, cannot participate in the selection process because he is a candidate for the job.

Phelps stepped down Feb. 21 and cited family and personal issues as the reason for his departure. He also resigned as an instructor at a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints seminary at Central Davis Junior High School in Layton.

Phelps recently was released as a stake president of the LDS Clearfield North Stake.

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E-mail: jdougherty@desnews.com