The Washington City Council officially chose its newest member on Tuesday, voting to nominate businessman Ben Martinsen to fill the seat recently left vacant when former council member Kress Staheli was elected mayor.

Choosing from 10 candidates, the council voted unanimously for Martinsen, the 4-0 vote marking the culmination of an 11-year journey to secure him a seat in city government. He first ran for mayor in 2011, then did so again in 2017, failing to win the election each time. In 2019, he ran for city council, again missing the votes needed to secure a seat. But on Tuesday, after his speech about how he feels connected to Washington City, the four incumbent council members elected him.

“I’ve always had a desire to serve in Washington City because there’s something unique we have here in Washington City that the other cities around don’t have,” he said. “It’s our heritage. Other cities have this, but I feel like Washington’s is deeper. This is where Dixie started.

After speaking with the 10 nominees, the board narrowed the list down to two finalists, Martinsen and Kody Mitchell. Both finalists spoke about the need for collaboration as a city council, with Mitchell talking about the importance of government protecting people’s rights as citizens while encouraging the community to be an open and welcoming place.

“When I was young, celebrations were a highlight. We knew each other,” Mitchell said. “Events can help keep a community close.”

Martinsen was asked about pressing issues surrounding Staheli’s growth, including his position on two proposed projects, the Lake Powell Pipeline and the Northern Corridor. He said he supports the Northern Corridor, a proposed highway that would cross part of the Red Cliffs Desert Reservation. , although he said his views on the pipeline have evolved over time.

“I’ve always been of the view that we should conserve where we can,” Martinsen said. “We have to start there so we can continue to live in the desert. I also think the Lake Powell pipeline would be needed and so we have to do those things in an effort and not just rely 100% on that pipeline because it may or may not come.

The open term on city council had been available since Staheli won the mayoral election in November and still had two years left of his four-year term. Martinsen gets to complete that term, with another election scheduled for the seat at the end of 2023.

Martinsen, who has a background in sales and business development, says he’s been attached to the city of Washington since he had multiple opportunities to leave, but always found a reason to stay. While in Washington, Martinsen spent seven and a half years on the city planning commission, which he described as “a good learning experience.”

He said he knows how to help people understand regulations and wants to use that experience to help support city plans to revitalize downtown. That revitalization could include more events and an effort to attract more business ventures to strengthen the tax base, Martinsen said.

“Eventually, if we don’t get that tax base, we will become a bedroom community,” he said. “And that will hurt everyone’s wallet more than inflation is hurting our wallet now.”

Bunch communities are places where the predominant revenue that the local government collects comes from property taxes and limited sales tax.

Martinsen said he was also concerned about growing transportation options and water resources.

“All the issues that come with this growth are the biggest issues facing our community,” he said.

Growth and business development were also mentioned by the other nine candidates for the position. They all said they like the current vibe of Washington, but the city needs to tackle growth head-on in order to manage growth smartly.

“[Washington has got] so much growth coming our way. We’re at a crossroads,” said Cory Anderson, one of those candidates. “We can either become a suburb of St. George, where we basically get all the suburban sprawl, or we can stay, you know, our own entity. We can remain a viable and thriving community in our own right.”

The other nine candidates included a variety of Washington residents, including relative newcomers to Washington like Cameron Black, who said he had only lived in the city for the past five years, while others were born and had grown up in Washington like Anderson.

Marissa Thayn, who ran for the 2021 City Council election, ran for the open council seat but did not get enough votes to be a finalist for the spot.

No matter what happens in the future, Martinsen said he will remain committed to Washington City because he feels connected to the city. His family has been in the area since the time it was settled.

“It is our responsibility to the members of the city council to serve the community, in whatever aspect,” he said. “If that means going out and helping with sandbags on Main Street at three in the morning, because there’s a flood, you’re there and helping out.”

Sean Hemmersmeier covers local government, growth and development in Southwestern Utah. Follow @seanhemmers34 on Twitter. Our work depends on subscribers, so if you want more coverage on these issues, you can subscribe here: http://www.thespectrum.com/subscribe.