Ogden City Council tabs former state lawmaker Jeremy Peterson to fill vacancy

OGDEN — The Ogden City Council picked a former state lawmaker to fill the seat of a member who will be stepping down.

The seven-member council on Tuesday picked Jeremy Peterson over 18 other hopefuls to fill out the term of Councilman Shaun Myers. Myers will step down from the post on July 31 to take on a volunteer role with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and Peterson will serve the remainder of his term, which goes through the end of 2027.

Peterson is an Ogden real estate broker and property manager and a former Republican member of the Utah House who served in the District 9 seat from 2011 through 2018, according to Ballotpedia. He received four of seven votes from the City Council to replace Myers on Tuesday, enough to win the special election.

"I've dedicated my profession to making the city a better place, whether that's through improving homes, preserving our historic heritage, honoring its architecture, keeping its landmarks intact, improving the standards of rentals in the city so that we can have safe neighborhoods," Peterson said. "I love this city, and it's got me kind of emotional talking about it."

Arlene Anderson, clinical informatics manager for Intermountain Healthcare and a member of the Ogden School District Board, received two votes. Jeffrey Heiner, vice president of client services for MarketStar in Ogden and a former member of the Ogden School District Board, received one vote.

Each of the 19 hopefuls had four minutes to address the City Council on Tuesday before the officials voted.

Myers is stepping down to take on a role as second counselor in the presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' Ogden Temple. "I will always strive to be a champion of Ogden," he said.

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