Photo: Wasatch County Council Member Kendall Crittenden. Photo Courtesy of Kendall Crittenden.

WASATCH COUNTY, Utah – Kendall Crittenden, who has been serving on the Wasatch County Council for twenty years and counting, is currently running for reelection for Wasatch County Council Seat D.

Crittenden, running as a Republican, is currently facing Jami Smith-Hewlett and Tori Broughton for the seat, which will be decided in November’s general elections.

Crittenden has personally witnessed and contributed to the significant growth and development that has shaped Wasatch County over the last two decades, yet he would like to see the county maintain its rural identity, something he believes comes from the people rather than the government.

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“As growth comes, you get the people that come with it, and we’ve had really great people move into the community. We always welcome new people and new ideas,” Crittenden said. “Whether we maintain the identity of a rural community -which I would love to see- that’s really probably up to the people that are here more than government.”

“There’s not a lot we can do to mandate and say, no, you got to have cows, you’ve got to have this or you’ve got to have that as the farms go away. Maintaining the character as a community, in my opinion, is up to the people that are here, if they want to maintain rural ideas and the attitude that most rural people have that is different than city folk.”

While Crittenden believes most of the rural identity stems from the community, he did describe a few initiatives the government has taken in the past twenty years to try and preserve some of Wasatch County’s rural aspects.

Crittenden pointed to the county continuing to fund the annual fair, rodeo, and derby in Wasatch County, as well as Heber City’s own party in the park on Thursday nights in the Summer time.

A specific issue that Crittenden has been prioritizing and will continue to prioritize if reelected pertains to the bypass route, intended to remove traffic from Heber City’s Main Street.

“I’ve worked very hard on what we call the future bypass. I’ve been involved in that and we’ve worked as a county to try to prepare for that and to assist Heber City, as they’re very interested in getting traffic off of Main Street,” Crittenden said.

Crittenden’s district he represents on the Wasatch County Council covers much of Heber City’s Old Town and through Main Street.

While the bypass is currently waiting input from UDOT, Crittenden would like to minimize development around the new bypass road.

Looking forward to the upcoming elections in November, Crittenden doesn’t have a specific platform he is campaigning on, rather he is banking on his experience in local government, his expertise in all things Wasatch County, and his values of representing people to the best of his ability.

“The different elections I’ve been, I’ve not been one that comes up with a big platform, saying if I’m elected I’m going to do this or that,” Crittenden said. “I recognize that I’m just one of seven council members, and I can’t make a bunch of promises because I’m not the only one voting. I can mention that there’s things that I can work towards, but I’m not one to make big promises.”

Drawing on his past twenty years on the Wasatch County Council, Crittenden emphasizes the fact that he never accomplished something alone.

“I look at things that I’ve been able to accomplish on the council over the past 20 years, and I can take credit for working and being involved in some of those things. Sometimes candidates say look what I did look what I did- no, you did those things along with your fellow council members.”

Crittenden also touched on the fact that he has always tried to represent the people from his district the best way he can in his past twenty years.

“I believe that if you’re elected, you’re elected to represent the people and they deserve to have your time as much as you can give. So I remain committed to take in as much time as I need to to find out what the issues are, and then I study the issues. And I think most of the time I try to be prepared when it comes up for discussion, whether it be an issue on the county council, or whether it be an issue on one of the boards or committees that I’ve served on.”

Crittenden explains that he has become a resident expert of sorts in the County Council, and fellow council members will refer to him for paperwork or details on projects and issues from years ago.

“My fellow council members tease me quite a bit. When we come to council board reports they always say, we know you’re gonna have something, because I used to have several things to share with them, either programs that are going on in some of my boards or committees, or things that I want to remind them that’s coming up. They all know I’m going to have that material available.”

In his twenty years Crittenden has accomplished a lot, but what he is most proud to be involved in has been projects that directly benefit Wasatch County residents, including the establishment of the recreation center, expanding sports amenities, and lowering county tax rates.