3 eyeing Provo mayor's seat

PROVO — Mayor Lewis K. Billings hasn't yet said whether he will seek an unprecedented fourth, four-year term as mayor, but three others are testing the Provo political waters.

Don Allphin, Lakeview North neighborhood chairman; Utah Rep. Steve Clark, R-Provo; and John Curtis, executive vice president of Action Target, all are considering a run for the mayoral seat.

Billings "still hasn't told us" whether he will run again, city spokeswoman Helen Anderson said. If he does and wins, he will be the only mayor in city history to hold office for more than 12 years.

The term of office used to be two years. Abraham O. Smoot served six terms from 1868-81, but that equaled a bit more than 12 years.

Allphin says he is considering a run to battle what he terms "secretive" development activities of the current administration and a bureaucratic logjam involving the multimillion-dollar Gardner-Plumb development that has stalled after about five years of trying to meet city requirements.

A year ago consultant David Gardner learned that sewer service in the 300 acres of farmland is nearing capacity and could stop the project south of 2000 North and west of Geneva Road.

"I wish we had found that out earlier," he said Monday.

"It's taken a long time to work out the details, but the biggest issue is how to provide utility service," Provo Community Development director Brent Wilde said.

The area isn't in the current general plan, so it wasn't planned for development, city officials say. Work on a new general plan is just starting.

Gardner is consulting for developers Kem Gardner (no relation) and Walter Plumb of Salt Lake City. The mixed-use project, dubbed Celebration, would have as many as 1,300 homes and a section of commercial development, David Gardner said.

The project is scheduled for planning commission review of an annexation request on April 22. Meanwhile, developers have been waiting for a study on sewer capacity, he said, which has just been completed.

Clark is also poised to throw his hat in the ring. A former Provo city councilman and chairman, he says it's time to get back into local politics and make different choices that would affect the city.

"It's time for a change in the mayor's position," he said. "The mayor's job is a service position, not a job or career."