By Travis Barton | [email protected]

Holladay officially has a new councilmember.

Ty Brewer, replacing the departing Sabrina Petersen in District 1, officially took office on Jan. 6 when he, along with incumbents Councilman Paul Fotheringham and Mayor Rob Dahle, were sworn in to their respective public offices.

“I’m truly honored at this opportunity to serve at a very local level on the city council,” Brewer told the crowd in attendance at City Hall after taking his seat on the dais.

It was a sign of the times that Mayor Rob Dahle, entering his third term in office, took the oath of office virtually from his house, done so as a precautionary measure after his wife was Covid exposed.

“I’m really disappointed I’m not able to be there tonight, this is really difficult,” Dahle said.

Gratitude was the common thread for each elected official as they took the stand for the next four years. While Brewer enters his first term, Fotheringham begins his second and Dahle his third.

“In a democracy it’s the citizens that allow you to do this job,” Dahle said. “And I continue to be both humbled and honored and privileged that they allowed me this opportunity to serve once again.”

After winning the mayoral office in 2013 by a mere 88 votes, Dahle has run unopposed in the previous two elections. Despite no opponent, almost a quarter of the registered voters in the city still voted for him.

Fotheringham also ran unopposed after winning the office four years ago for District 3 where he defeated his opponent with 67% of the vote.

He too received almost a quarter of registered votes from his district.

But Fotheringham said he expects a few more candidates in 2025 as he urged more people in his district to run.

“I'm happy to give it up to someone who also wants to do it, because part of the value in this job is turning it over periodically,” he said.

Fotheringham, who thanked his mentors in attendance (and state representatives) Jani Iwamoto and Carol Spackman-Moss, spoke highly of the city council position repeatedly describing it as a “great gig.”

“Thanks very much for the opportunity to serve the city of Holladay once again,” he said. “I'm delighted to do it and I look forward to the next four years serving with this council.”

For Brewer, whose wife and children were in attendance, said it was a government regulations class he took in business school that proved “formative in sparking an interest and appreciation for government and laws and a greater appreciation for our country and the constitution that I recently swore to uphold.”

Brewer, having lived in Holladay most of his life, was earnest in his desire to serve his council seat well.

“What I most appreciate about (Holladay) I think is the goodness of the people that are here and the sense of community that we have,” he said. “I look forward to seeing that continue and I’m hoping to exercise good judgement and use good discretion in the influence that I'm able to contribute.”

The elected officials thanked their families and staff with the incumbents voicing extra levels of appreciation for city staff from police and fire to administration.

“The city staff here really is top notch,” Fotheringham said. “We really do punch well above our weight in terms of the size of our city and quality of staff we have.”

“It’s been a tough, tough two years,” Dahle added. “And our staff has not been exempt from that. It’s been challenging.

“We’ve got some challenges ahead of us,” he later continued. “But we're going to attack them, we're going to come out on the other side stronger and I look forward to that challenge.”

Both Dahle and Fotheringham also emphasized the work of the city and volunteer organizations, with Dahle saying they “really create the character that is Holladay.”

They highlighted the city committees, the chamber of commerce, rotary club as well as religious organizations and school PTA’s.

“You're the heart and soul of Holladay,” Mayor Dahle said. “And we want you to know that we recognize the contributions you make to this city and understand how important your work is to keep moving this city forward.”