When Holly Daines took over as mayor of Logan, Utah two years ago she not only broke the tradition of predominately male mayors but she also broke the tradition of mayors with no clear vision for this northern Utah town and its residents.
I don’t want this op-ed to turn into a battle of the sexes so I’ll just say that while Daines brings a woman’s thoughtful sensitivity and reason to the job, she can also go toe-to-toe with the “old boys’ clubs” that traditionally have a strong hold on small town businesses and local politics. Holly Daines brings a vision and a passion for Logan that I haven’t seen in a mayor here for a long time. It must run in the Daines family.
I talked with Daines several years ago when she was first elected Logan’s mayor. I asked her just what her vision was for the town. There have been issues about Logan’s unprecedented urban sprawl with developers ostensively in cahoots with previous administrations and former mayors in their pocket. High density residential housing developments both to the north and south of Logan City are growing seemingly unchecked and the downtown business district is becoming a vacuum as stores close with buildings left vacant. Urban blight is a continuing concern.
Daines inherited a nightmare because a momentum of politics and development had already been established by “the boys in the back room” and she knew it. She also knew that she couldn’t fix this overnight. It had to be addressed one step at a time with an eye toward priority, and with fiscal responsibility, attention to aesthetics, logical reasoning, and strength ...and most of all, with citizen input.
There is a dire need facing Logan for growth and development and for its well-being as a municipality. Daines has a difficult job, but she also has a positive attitude and a clear vision for Logan and its residents. Neighborhood Councils have been established for both transparency and much needed citizen input. This is just one element in her critical planning.
Some of the other issues Daines faced as Logan’s new mayor include the City Library. The facility was deemed to be outdated and repairs were mounting to a point where it became viable to consider building a new library. It became an emotional public issue. The Community Recreation Center has similar problems regarding maintenance and repairs with use and need getting ahead of the facility’s capacity.
Another public issue that created both an emotional and practical controversy along with downtown economic development and local business revitalization is residential housing in the downtown area. Overenthusiastic (some say “greedy”) developers, the kind that give all developers a bad name, bought up property adjacent to Logan’s Main Street (U.S. 89) which is also adjacent to traditional downtown Logan neighborhoods. Needless to say, the local residents affected didn’t want a multi-unit affordable housing project in their back yard. The original plans have been re-reviewed and adjusted, and the issue continues with the developer still pushing the City to build.
The other issue, the elephant in the living room, is a downtown business property known as the Emporium. Its location is center block downtown right across Main Street from Logan’s historical Tabernacle. It’s the heart of Logan, aesthetically pleasing, and conforms with the historic flavor of downtown. The Emporium housed a first class restaurant, art galleries and antique stores, a barber shop, other shops and businesses, and state and local government offices. Logan’s former mayor purchased the Emporium property for the City and ordered all the businesses vacate. He considered the property a prime location for a new library building and community center. It has since become a political and financial albatross as the building is still vacant and questionably suspected of being structurally unsound. The former mayor left office at the end of his first term, tail between his legs, not wanting to deal with the mess.
Enter Holly Daines. Although Daines at that time was a member of the Logan Municipal Council that voted in favor of purchasing and tearing down the Emporium and to proceed with the library and development plans, the issue is still controversial today with both sides making strong points for both economic development and the preservation of historical aesthetics. Although plans now call for a community center, a splash pad, ice skating rink, residential downtown housing, and a tiered parking structure, the jury is still out on the fate of center block Logan.
But ‘Center Street’ Logan is another matter and this is where Holly Daines’ vision begins to come into focus and for which I applaud her efforts.
While all these other issues are marinating, Daines put forward an express plan to revitalize Logan’s Center Street business district, the dominant side street block between Main Street and 100 West. The idea and execution is reminiscent of Ogden’s 25th Street business district. Local restaurants, businesses, and Logan’s theatre district are accommodated with wider sidewalks for business activity, outdoor cafe-style eating, improved parking, better lighting, trees, planters (Holly is a champion of planters), and a welcoming, lighted archway over Center Street that distinguishes this unique, historical, and now even ‘friendlier’ area of downtown Logan, Utah.
The Center Street project was recently completed and open to the public in a gala ceremony that included a Christmas tree lighting, a ribbon cutting to commemorate the newly installed Center Street Archway, Santa’s arrival on a horse-drawn, antique fire wagon, music, entertainment, hot chocolate, gingerbread cookie treats, and the Winter Queen riding on a six-horse hitch wagon pulled by Champion Highpoint Clydesdales. It was an exciting day and a memorable event with high attendance and citizen participation.
Daines is the first to acknowledge all the others who have contributed to the project both financially and conceptually, and also the citizens of Logan for their support, but it was her vision that was realized.
Sometimes things just need a woman’s touch ...
Logan Mayor, Holly Daines
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John Kushma is a communication consultant and lives in Logan, Utah
https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-george-kushma-379a5762
Some past articles and op-eds
