LEEDS — The status quo in the town of Leeds is being challenged this year by a planning commissioner who would like to see a past wrong righted. Two council seats are available this cycle and the incumbents are seeking to retain those seats.
The general election is Nov. 3.
Commissioner and water board member Elliot Sheltman said his hope for his term in office, if elected, is to leave the town in better shape financially than when he came in. And if Sheltman is not elected, he said he’ll go on with his community organizing.
“I don’t know if you’re aware of the Grapevine Wash situation we had here,” Shelton said, referring to a yearslong dispute between the town and a housing developer. “We had developers that came in and … basically took advantage of councils and got things that either weren’t legal or didn’t make any sense in the overall scheme of the general plan of Leeds.”
One council member that voted for the Grapevine Wash development is current council member Joe Allen.
Allen is hoping for re-election to the council.
“I would like to see a successful, fair and equitable resolution to the Grapevine Wash development,” Allen said.
And if his election is not successful, Allen said, he’ll remain active in town affairs.
“(I will be) giving my advice when it’s sought after through the public hearing process.”
Read more: Conflict over development leads developers to sue Leeds
Incumbent Nate Blake is also up for re-election. His reason for wanting to serve Leeds is simple: Just keeping the balance between the farm town atmosphere and a growing economy, he said.
“We live in the best small town in Southern Utah so keeping that balance is tough,” Blake said, “but a good balance and great people here seems to work just fine, thank you.”
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Does Elliot ever tell the truth? I believe he is a power hungry bad actor that has a track record of spreading misinformation and vilification of people and groups. His track record of being unfair with his operations in LDWA also disqualify him as a public servant in my view. The idea that you can pull people water meters to get away with charging a hook up fee all over again may even violate the law.