Editors Note: This article was originally published in the Nov. 8, 2023 issue of the Chronicle Progress. Some information may be outdated.
Hinckley race gets heated after vandalism
Millard County officials are already receiving ballots back from voters ahead of the Nov. 21 general election.
Most area eligible voters should have received ballots in their mailboxes over the last several days.
Five competitive races are on the ballot for local offices, all contests for municipal board and council seats. These races are for town board seats in Kanosh, Holden, Leamington and Hinckley as well as council seats in Delta City.
The most closely watched race, perhaps, will be the sole federal contest on the ballot, the race to fill former Congressman Chris Stewart’s seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. Stewart stepped down in September.
Of the local races, the most interesting so far is probably the heated race among write-in candidates taking place for Hinckley Town board. A clerical snafu earlier in the summer advertised a race for three, two-year seats on the board. But that was later corrected and the town advertised one two-year seat and two four-year seats.
Gina Tolbert and Chris Mork are vying for the two-year seat.
Three write-in candidates filed to run for the two four-year seats: current town board member and former mayor, Donald Brown, Ray Searle and Skip Taylor.
The race became more contentious recently after reports surfaced last week of at least one candidate having their signs defaced with paint, the words “liar” and “thief” scrawled on at least two large campaign signs.
The contest was further inflamed by a reported election law violation when a makeshift sign asking residents to cast ballots in favor of Brown and Searle was scrawled on the back of a town-owned vehicle, ostensibly by a town employee—campaigning using public property is generally not legal. The makeshift sign was quickly painted over.
The violation forced Hinckley Mayor Brian Florang last Thursday to address the matter briefly during a town board meeting—members of the public were not afforded a chance to offer their opinions since nothing about the election was on the meeting’s agenda.
Florang attempted to lower the temperature of the race among the write-in candidates.
“I believe that everybody who is running for political office is doing so fairly and responsibly. I don’t believe any individual running is doing anything nefarious. I just simply don’t believe that,” he said. “That does not mean there are not other people in the community, outside the community, that may do things that are inappropriate.”
The mayor went on to encourage the candidates to help each other ensure the community holds a good, fair election.
“We don’t want bad behavior by any candidate. And I don’t think we got it. We don’t need to attack each other. We are a small community. We need to be banding together, not driving a wedge in this little town,” the mayor said.
He further encouraged candidates to stay focused on why they are running for office and to “be fair, be honest, be responsible and be kind.”
However, Florang’s message didn’t quite resonate with one candidate, the one whose signs were defaced. The candidate and Florang engaged in a heated back and forth at the end of the meeting, with the candidate threatening to call police and Florang, exasperated, exclaiming, “What police? What are you going to do?”
“I was trying to engage you so that we don’t have this,” the mayor said, the back-and-forth continuing long after the public meeting had ended.
Candidates for public office, coincidentally, sign a pledge when they file to run, promising to faithfully uphold the highest standards of fairness, honesty and decency in all they do while running for office. The pledge calls it a “moral obligation” of each candidate.
No similar reports of political skulduggery have surfaced in the county’s other municipal races.
Delta City’s four candidates—they are vying for three seats—participated in a candidate forum Monday night at the city’s community center, hosted by the Chronicle Progress and the Delta Area Chamber of Commerce. Two incumbent council members, Nick Killpack and Brett Bunker, are facing challengers K.C. Bogue and Kelly Carter.
In Leamington, Dean Palmer, Clark Nielson and write-in candidate John Aagard are vying for two four-year seats.
In Kanosh, four candidates—Geraldine Minton, Dan DeGraffenried, Joshua Whitaker and Hayden George—are competing for two four-year seats.
In Holden, four candidates—Tamara Dallin, Melvin Bennett, Laree Stephenson and Roger Stevens—are competing for two four-year seats. A write-in candidate, James Blodgett, also filed to run in the contest.
Alongside the municipal races and the contest for Stewart’s seat is also a ballot initiative from the school district. The district wants voters to support a $47.5 million general obligation bond issuance for renovation projects. The district is planning to fund the construction regardless of the vote’s outcome, however. If the initiative fails at the voting booth, it will simply saddle taxpayers with about $4 million in additional interest payments.
Voters can track the progress of their ballots by signing up to an online program that “will tell you when your ballot was mailed, received by the Clerk’s Office AND if it was counted or challenged,” according to the county clerk’s office. That website is http://ballottrax. utah.gov/.
Early in-person voting started on Tuesday and runs through Nov. 17 at the clerk’s office in Fillmore, except for holidays and weekends. The office is open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. In Delta, early in-person voting will take place on Nov. 17 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the county satellite office.
Both Fillmore and Delta locations will be open for in-person voting on election day from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Each municipality within the county also has a drop box for ballots. Those will be collected up to 8 p.m. on election day.
The deadline to register to vote is Monday, Nov. 13 at 5 p.m. for those wishing to vote but are not registered.
More election information, including sample ballots and voting progress, are available online at the clerk’s election page: https://millardcounty.org/your-government/elected-officials/clerk/ elections/2023-municipal-election/
