From Deseret News archives:
LeBaron fills Clearfield Council vacancy
Decision ends game of political 'musical chairs'
The City Council filled a vacancy Monday by installing Mike LeBaron, 34, a three-year resident, in the place of Don Wood, who was appointed to serve as mayor on March 22.
Wood, who was elected to the council in 2003, took the place of Dan W. Phelps, who was elected in November and sworn in Jan. 3. Phelps resigned as mayor after seven weeks in office, citing personal and family reasons.
Monday's vote during a special council meeting wasn't unanimous. Wood cast the deciding vote to break a 2-2 tie.
Councilman Doyle Sprague, who voted against LeBaron, told LeBaron he did so because he believes the appointed person should have either held office before or at least run during the previous election.
But there are no hard feelings, the two men said.
"We will move forward," Sprague said.
LeBaron said he plans to work hard to earn the trust of Sprague and Kathryn Murray, the other council member who voted against his appointment.
He also said he will work to not betray the trust of Vern Phipps and Marilyn Fryer, who voted for him.
"I recognize that this was not unanimous," LeBaron said.
Ten men initially planned to be among the candidates for the council seat, but Jim Barlow, a former council member, dropped out early, LeBaron said.
The other eight candidates were Ivan Anderson, Cornell Griffeth, Robert Horn, Glen Mills, Paul Poorte, Mark Shepherd, Tab Uno and Jeff Woodall.
During the interview process Thursday, LeBaron was asked why he didn't run for election in November. He said it wouldn't have been fair to his wife, who had given birth to the couple's second child in April 2005. But he had since thought about it.
LeBaron acknowledged he has lived in the city a short time, but since moving to Clearfield, he has been on the city's community council and on the city's commuter rail station committee.
LeBaron, an employee of EnergySolutions, formerly Envirocare, for the past four years, moved to Clearfield after earning a degree in chemical engineering from the University of Utah.
LeBaron's first official act after being sworn in by city recorder Nancy Dean was to vote on a resolution opposing the storage of nuclear waste and the operation of a storage facility in Utah. The resolution passed unanimously.
E-mail: jdougherty@desnews.com
