Community "meets the candidates" for City election
by Kenny Fallon Jr.
On July 29th, Green River residents gathered in the GRHS auditorium to hear from the candidates running for the open positions of mayor and two city council seats. There were reportedly about 50 people and nearly every candidate in attendance: incumbent council candidate Larry Packer was instead at his granddaughter’s wedding and council candidate Scott Ryan was instead working with the San Juan EMS at the Deer Creek fire.
Aidan Mortensen, the news director at Castle Country Radio in Price, mc’ed the event with assistance from timekeeper Kathy Ryan and organizer Gayna Salinas. The questions touched on taxes, economic development, and how local politicians might involve the public more. Here’s how each candidate present explained their reason for running:
William Travis Bacon (candidate for mayor) - He was born and raised here, family’s been here for generations, and the reason he’s running is that every single one of us up here believes we need economic development. It is his view that “it is imperative to diversify the economy.”
Ren Lloyd Hatt (incumbent candidate for mayor) - He’s a homegrown Green River resident that has been serving as mayor for the last three years. He loves Green River and that’s why I came back after getting his education and working in the private and public sectors as an attorney. He believes that economic diversity is really important for Green River. If re-elected as mayor he plans on continuing moving in that direction.
Conra Weber (candidate for City Council) - She is a third generation Green Riverite and is running because Green River has always been home. The people of Green River have helped her become successful as a registered nurse. She is for growth, but curious what that looks like. She said that “I hear your voice and I share your voice. I want to know what the citizens want.”
Kenneth Silliman (candidate for City Council) - He was born and raised in Green River and would like growth.
Mary LeiAnn Chidester (candidate for City Council) - She is also from Green River and loves it. She owns two businesses and she “would love to see the community come back together. From the inside out. We need to work together to move forward.”
Tonya Bigelow (candidate for City Council) - she was actually born in Green River City, when there was a doctor here that delivered babies. She wants the town to become “a little stronger place for families. I want to invite economic growth so that a lot of families could be raised here. Our schools have gotten pretty small, and if it wasn’t for new people that have moved in, we probably wouldn’t have a school.” She’s served on the Planning and Zoning commission for a year and half, and she said that “it’s opened my eyes to a lot of things that go on in our community, including things I think we can improve on, and there’s things that we’re doing great.”
Stephanie Crabtree (candidate for City Council) - She came to Green River after graduating school to work at Epicenter on housing development, and fell in love with the town. Eleven years later she’s still here, and years ago bought a house. She’s currently the facilities manager at the [JWP] River History museum, the assistant chief of the fire department, and the chair of the City Planning and Zoning Commission. Her main goals are: to improve and streamline the City’s approach to planning, zoning, and code enforcement; strengthen emergency services by supporting capacity building, enhancing cross-agency communication, and expanding the City’s emergency planning efforts; and to promote thoughtful, well-planned, and responsible development for Green River.
Jay D. Madsen (candidate for City Council) - He was born and raised in Green River. Madsen believes in “growing smart and increasing new opportunities for new generations.” and “that every voice matters.”
Ben Leroy Lehnhoff (incumbent candidate for City Council) - He is running for re-election after serving for the last four years. Lehnhoff also serves as fire department chief and as board chair for the Emery County Fire Protection Special Service District. He said that “I think I’ve learned a lot about how this city works and feel there’s a lot of improvement that needs to be done. We need to work on our EMS, work on our fire, and get the people in the community more involved in their city.”
Scott Jacob Ryan (candidate for City Council) - While not present at the event, copies of a letter from Ryan to attendees were distributed. In the letter, Ryan outlined his top priorities: Support, improve response time, and invest in the people of the River EMS; Establish policies that ensure new businesses coming to town “give back to the community that welcomes them”; Investing in housing and infrastructure; and creating “real opportunities for public input, hosting regular town halls, and ensuring transparency in every decision we make”.
The candidates for mayor were also asked about the “assets and experience” they have for the position. Here is each of their responses, in brief:
William Travis Bacon - “I’ve got extensive executive management experience in both the public and private sectors. My family has been in business for almost 75 years here. My degree is in criminal justice and political science. I’d say one of my biggest assets is that I love this city like nobody’s business. I will be a full-time mayor. I’m semi-retired, so I have a lot of time on my hands. You can call me 24/7/365.”
Michael B. Silliman - “I’ve been here for 58 years, so I don’t think I’m going anywhere. My qualifications[are] I watched my father serve as mayor for eight years. I’ve been a councilman and seen how it works. I would like Green River to grow rather than shrink. I’ll be as accessible as the other two candidates. I’d like to become mayor because I’d be obligated to locals.”
Ren Lloyd Hatt - “One of my major assets is that I graduated from Case Western Reserve law school in 2014, and that’s been a huge boon to the things that I’ve done in my capacity as mayor. I’ve drafted things so we don’t have to send them to the lawyer immediately, and then the city attorney just redlines it, and I think it’s saved us quite a bit of money on the agreements we’ve done over the last little while. In terms of why that’s also an asset: the legislature passed an entire bevy of laws last year that changed a lot of the specifics on how a municipality can collect money, and which revenues we collect as a city are how we deliver services to the residents.” He believes his legal expertise helps him understand how to implement these laws and help him better pursue grant opportunities for the city. Hatt added that “this is the place that I chose, and I want to be back in the place that formed me.” When he moved back to Green River several years ago, he noticed so many of the opportunities he had growing up were no longer here.
Before any of these questions organizer Gayna Salinas set the tone with this introduction:
“The residents of Green River have basic needs like the residents of any other location. We are concerned about places to work, affordable places to live, law and order, the basics of water and sewer, education of our children, medical attention and emergency services of EMT’s and fire, should we need them. There are some special challenges to the geographical place which add to its uniqueness as a small town in the midst of a desert with a river running through it. We are thankful for the river and we want to emphasize that any project –business or residential– that is proposed to come to Green River needs to be considered carefully for the water that will be used. We are in a severe drought and without water there would be no life here. We expect our elected officials to listen to us and represent our views in the best possible way for the betterment of the community. We do not want to feel as if “the old boys club” makes all the decisions without community input, something that erodes community trust in the city-elected officials. We understand there are competing views about what each believes is best for the city, but we wish to have dialogue, to feel listened to. We hope the public will continue to ask questions after tonight if there is something that needs more information.”