Election season is rapidly approaching for races big and small across the country. In Utah, local elections give voters an opportunity to weigh in on issues that directly affect their communities.
This election season, Cache County voters will be choosing between incumbent Republican Sandi Goodlander and Democrat Mark Nafziger for County Council Seat 3.
Democratic candidate Mark Nafziger said he wants to bring a different perspective to the Cache County Council.
“I'm running because I feel like a person that could ask different questions,” Nafziger explained. “Maybe there would be different discussions that could happen because I would be potentially representing a different point of view than that which has dominated in the council.”
Nafziger noted that for the nearly 40 years that he’s lived in Cache County, all seven of the council seats have been held by Republicans.
Republican incumbent Sandi Goodlander said she wants to continue work on countywide projects, including land-use planning efforts.
“I feel like I'm just kind of hitting my stride,” Goodlander said. “Right now we're working on several projects that I want to stay a part of. We're putting together a fire district for the whole county. We're working on reorganizing how the airport is run. We're working on some land use issues, too, large-scale solar farms, data centers.”
Among the development questions facing the county is the future of data centers.
“I would certainly be an advocate, a strong advocate for not having any data centers in Cache County,” Nafziger said, citing environmental and community health concerns as his primary objections to data centers in Cache County.
But Goodlander said there are still questions she wants answered before making a final decision on the issue.
“How much water do data centers actually use? What are some of the parameters?” Goodlander said not all data centers are created equally. “There's hyperscale data centers, there could be a bank that's considered a data center just because of the way it processes information. How do we define what a data center is?”
Both candidates say they've spent time listening to residents, but they emphasize different concerns.
“I know people that live in this district, and they're concerned about open spaces,” Nafziger said. “They're concerned about preserving the natural resources, whether it's a river or over 100-year-old trees or green spaces that we have, parks that we have.”
Goodlander said residents most often raise concerns about taxes.
“Cache County residents are very concerned about taxes, and I take that very seriously,” she said. “We are one of the lowest taxed counties in the state. But that message is still hard for families who are having a hard time, right? We want taxes to be kept low, and we are working on that.”
Despite their differences, both candidates agree growth will shape Cache County's future.
“We're kind of at a crux or a pivotal time,” Nafziger said. “And I think what we do now is going to determine what this county looks like for the next 50 years.”
Goodlander echoed that sentiment, saying the county is approaching a period of significant change.
“We're kind of on a cusp of some changes,” she agreed. “So that 20 years from now we can look back and say, 'Okay, we got the ordinances right, and we got the growth right so that the valley is still the kind of place where we want to live and where our kids and grandkids can afford to live.'”
While they differ on priorities and policy, both candidates agree the choices made now will shape Cache County's future for decades.
Utahns can register to vote by Oct. 23 at 5 p.m. or on Election Day — Nov. 3 — with two forms of ID. Polls will be open that day from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
