A flurry of filings throughout Utah County ended the two-week filing period for prospective city officials. Some races are wide open, some are hotly contested, and some are shoo-ins.

Provo is the only city in the valley with districts for its city council; every other city has council members who represent the entire city, so the top vote-getters take the available seats.

Six people waited until the last day to file in Provo, which has several wide-open races. Three of the four open seats don't have incumbents.

Mayor Lewis Billings decided in June he wasn't going to run for re-election, and four local businessmen and legislators stepped up to take his place. Don Allphin, Steve Clark and John Curtis all announced their candidacy prior to July 1, but Andrew P. Thompson, who ran for mayor in 2005, also threw his name in, as did Ammon S. Cunningham and Neil Mitchell.

Two council members are running for re-election, although one's not exactly an incumbent. David Acheson, who was appointed to a citywide seat in January when Councilman George Stewart went on an LDS mission, is running, but this time he's after the District 2 seat, which is his neighborhood. Councilwoman Cynthia Clark, who currently holds that position, is not running; her husband is running for mayor.

Acheson said he waited until a couple of hours before the deadline to encourage other people to run for the citywide seat. Former fire chief Coy Porter has filed, as has Carterville neighborhood chairman Lindsay Wiblin, Carl Mayo, Laura Cabanilla and Howard Stone.

"I love serving the city of Provo," Acheson said. "I love Provo."

The other candidates for the open District 2 seat are Timothy Spencer and Rick Healey, who used to be a Provo police officer. Cindy Richards, who is running for her District 5 seat again, has four opponents: Sterling Beck, Robert Oscanyan, Dean Cofer and Ryan Shaw.

In Orem, filings in recent days have brought the candidate pool for three open city council seats to 10 individuals. But 10 or more candidates filing for an Orem municipal election isn't out of the ordinary, said Orem city recorder Donna Weaver.

"We had a dozen two years ago," she said.

By Wednesday's filing deadline, all three council incumbents -- Dean Dickerson, Karen McCandless and Shiree A. Thurston -- had filed for re-election.

Also joining the field are Kyle Bowler, Kevin E. Clayson, Paul Dean, Steven C. Diamond, Darren J. Johansen, Mary Street and Brent Sumner, according to the latest information from the Orem recorder's office.

Washburn is seeking a fourth four-year term as Orem's mayor while McCandless is bidding for a fourth term on the council. Dickerson and Thurston are both seeking third terms.

Springville Mayor Gene Mangum, who filed to run for his position, withdrew after Wilford Clyde, CEO of Clyde Companies, put his name in for candidacy. In a previous interview with the Daily Herald, Mangum said he would consider not running if there were somebody else who could fill the position well. Clyde is the only candidate for mayor.

In Saratoga Springs, Dell "Superdell" Schanze is running for mayor. He has addresses in both Salt Lake City and Saratoga Springs, and he has said he wants to reduce waste, return taxes to residents and keep the city free from over-involvement from the state and federal government.

He's also up against nine opponents, making Saratoga Springs mayor the most popular single seat in the valley. Fourteen people also have filed for two seats on the Saratoga Springs City Council.

"I think the attention is someone in the mayor's position," said city recorder Lori Yates, who suspects that people could be filing just because of Schanze.

In Eagle Mountain, Mayor Heather Jackson is seeking a second term. She has served for two years, after Mayor Brian Olsen's resignation required a special election in 2007. If she wins and completes that term, she could become the city's longest-running mayor and the first to complete a full four-year term. She is already the first to seek re-election.

Goshen has the opposite problem many other Utah County communities do. The town of about 800 people has three open town council positions and two candidates who filed.

Any race that has more than two candidates will go to a primary election on Sept. 15. The general election is Nov. 3.

For more information on candidates and the election, go to the individual city's Web site.

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