From Deseret News archives:
GOP commissioner in Davis won't run again
The one-term commissioner says he wants to ensure his health stays good and to spend more time with his family.
"The role of commissioner is very challenging and time-consuming," he said in a prepared statement at the close of Tuesday's commission meeting. "I wish to express my thanks to the residents for allowing me to serve."
Davis County Republican chairman Ben Horsley said Hansen's decision is understandable.
"As a party, we've appreciated his service and wish him well," Horsley said.
Hansen, 53, said his retirement at the end of the year will allow him to continue to control his diabetes. And his two granddaughters want to spend time with grandpa.
The decision to not run again has nothing to do with 2006, Hansen said.
In 2006, Hansen was teamed up with outgoing commissioners Dannie McConkie and Carol Page, and the three voted in a 37 percent tax increase on the average Davis County home with the goal of fixing ailing flood channels, increasing services in the county's Aging Services Department and operating the Davis County Jail.
Some residents during a preceding public hearing on the tax increase predicted Hansen wouldn't be re-elected if he ran.
"That was a struggle," Hansen said in an interview Tuesday.
But raising taxes to prevent flooding and damage to homes near Davis County's flood channels was a wise decision considering the legal liability the county could have if the storm channels failed, Hansen said.
During the past three years, Hansen voted to consolidate two departments to save $500,000, helped get a new vendor for better meals at the county's senior centers and lobbied the Utah Legislature to keep big game hunting off Antelope Island.
Hansen spent four years as Clearfield city councilman and eight years on that city Planning Commission and has been involved in politics since 1972.
Already, interest and speculation is forming about who will take his spot on the three-member commission.
Randy Minson, a 41-year-old communications consultant from West Point, says he's ready to take up the reins as a member of the commission and plans to run for Hansen's seat.
"Davis County needs the kind of leadership that will fight for lower taxes and that understands the importance of capitalizing on our existing economic resources to stimulate the local economy," Minson said in an e-mail.
In 2007, the Davis County Board of Commissioners elected not to raise property taxes for 2008.
But that may not be enough, Minson says.
"Cutting taxes and increasing economic development are critical to ensure Davis County does not slip into a poor economic trend," he said.
