City of St. George seeks new mayor

The council chambers, St. George, Utah, Nov. 19 2020. | Photo by David Dudley, St. George News

ST. GEORGE — Mayor Jon Pike resigned from his role as mayor at 5 p.m. Monday to step into his new role as commissioner of the Utah Insurance Department for Gov. Spencer Cox’s cabinet. Now the city of St. George is searching for a new mayor.

Mayor Jon Pike stands before the wall of mayors. Photo taken Dec. 16, 2020, St. George, Utah. | Photo by David Dudley, St. George News.

The City Council will accept applications until Jan. 11 at 5 p.m. Interested applicants must be U.S. citizens registered to vote in St. George and must have lived within city limits for 12 months. It’s also important that applicants have a clean criminal record, as felons are ineligible to apply.

The council will hold a special meeting Jan. 19 at 3 p.m. to interview eligible applicants. That meeting will conclude with the council voting to determine the next mayor.

Until then, senior councilman Jimmie Hughes will serve as mayor pro tempore. And that’s all right with Hughes.

“I’m all you’ve got from midnight tonight till Jan. 19,” Hughes jokingly told St. George News.

Though Hughes is only one year into a four-year term as councilman, he intends to apply for the role of mayor.

L-R: St. George City Council incumbent Jimmie Hughes and challengers Dannielle Larkin and Gregg McArthur during a candidate forum held at Dixie State University, Oct 2, 2019 | Photo by Mori Kessler, St. George News

“I’ll have my application in tomorrow,” Hughes said. “Some people think I’m crazy to campaign again, but I intended to run in November. So if the council believes in me, I will be happy to serve as mayor.”

Of course, that would mean that he will have to resign from his seat on the council, which will begin a process to find a replacement for Hughes.

As Pike only had one more year in his current term, the incoming mayor will serve until January 2022.

“We’ve got a great staff, though,” Hughes said. “The city manager is good at keeping everyone on the same page. The process is pretty seamless.”

Pike served as mayor for seven years, after serving on the council for six. In addition to transitioning out of his role as mayor, Pike is also leaving his role as southwest Utah operations director for SelectHealth, the health insurance division of Intermountain Healthcare.

It’s unclear whether any of the other council members may apply for the job, but Hughes said he expects a high number of applications.

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2021, all rights reserved.

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