The Wasatch Taxpayers Association hosted a forum for the 2025 Heber City candidates Sept. 29.
Heber resident Tracy Taylor, the association’s president, moderated the debate at the police station, where Heidi Franco and Scott Phillips shared their main campaign issues and leadership styles.
For Phillips, who was elected to the city council in 2021, collaborative leadership is a top priority.
“As mayor, you really don’t have much authority. You don’t have a vote,” he said. “The authority that you bring is how you bring ideas, bring your goals and strategies to the council, and bring people together to help those things come together. I would really like to do that.”
He said promoting events in City Park, supporting small businesses downtown and preparing sewer infrastructure for Heber’s rapid growth will all set the community up for success in the coming years.
Franco, who’s seeking a second term as mayor, said Heber cannot wait for the Utah Department of Transportation to build a bypass – it must redirect traffic away from Main Street and onto roads like 100 East and West.
“The bypass road, if we are lucky, would likely be built in eight to 10 years,” she said. “Until then, we need traffic solutions now, and I am proposing that we do that low-hanging fruit so we can have better north-south and east-west connectivity to get around town that’s off of Main Street.”
She said she would also like to support downtown revitalization efforts.
Environmental quality and open space are other issues Franco said she’s passionate about. She said she worked to get an air quality monitor installed in Heber. She also serves on the Wasatch Open Lands Board, which has helped create hundreds of acres’ worth of conservation easements around the Heber Valley.
“We passed the [memorandum of understanding] that started the Open Lands Board, and I was appointed chair of that board and have been chair since 2019,” she said.
Taylor, the moderator, is also a member of the Wasatch Open Lands Board.
Phillips said the rising cost of living is one of his primary concerns. He said he’s advocated for salary increases for city staff so they can afford to live in Heber, and he’s worked for more aggressive affordable housing requirements for new development in the North Village.
“You don’t get there if you’re not talking to people,” he said. “If we just say, ‘All developers are evil and awful,’ they won’t want to talk to us, and they won’t want to help build a better community.”
The debate was most contentious when talk turned to ethics.
Taylor asked about a “fair campaign practices” pledge all election candidates could sign, as well as an ethics pledge for city employees from the state auditor’s office.
Phillips said he did not like to sign an optional form because it could be used “as a weapon” later. He said his oath of office should be a sufficient promise of his ethics.
“I believe that just being on the council, you have taken an oath that you’re going to act ethically, and that oath should be enough for your behavior,” he said.
Franco said she does sign ethics pledges, that they are “the minimum standard of behavior,” and that she tries to go above and beyond that standard.
“I’m responsible for what I say and what I do, and I’m not here to attack,” she said. “I have always shown respect in the meetings, even though I may not agree with what anyone might be saying.”
The two candidates argued about how they have treated one another in public meetings and behind the scenes, including revisiting a disagreement about ranked-choice voting.
They also disagreed about the role of social media in this year’s election. Phillips said Franco has done nothing to push back against the negativity he’s faced online, while Franco said it’s not her duty to wade into social media debates.
The candidates also debated the proper role of a mayor, how city council meetings should be run and how city leaders should be involved in departments like the airport and police.
Along with the mayoral race, Heber residents will vote on two city councilmembers. For information about all the candidates, visit KPCW's election page.
