After four years on the Heber City Council and an unsuccessful campaign for mayor, Scott Phillips is leaving public office. His final City Council meeting happened Tuesday, and incoming City Councilor Morgan Murdock will be sworn in on Jan. 6. Phillips has lived in Heber City for 20 years, worki ng as a financial advisor for Odyssey Wealth Management Group of Wells Fargo Advisors.  But Phillips’ civic itch goes back to childhood, hearing about city operations around the dinner table. His father was the city manager of Vail, Colorado, and later worked as a transportation director in Fort Collins.  Phillips has a better appreciation for his father’s career now that he’s served in city government himself “I can’t say enough about our city staff, and the sacrifices they make with family to do the work that they do, and to do it so well,” Phillips said. “There are moments like this summer, where we lost a water pump on our main well in the city. And public works had to go to great lengths to repair it, and they repaired it, and we just kept moving forward without even missing a beat.” After serving a mission in Uruguay for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and completing a bachelor’s degree in Leisure Studies at Brigham Young University and master’s of Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Management Penn State University, Phillips lived in Vail for a couple of years, but struggled with the cost of living.  He moved to Heber City in 2005, a more affordable option where Phillips could set down roots.  His civic engagement began with the Heber Valley Rotary Club, Wasatch Community Foundation and Heber Valley Hospital board, culminating in a successful campaign for City Council in 2021. Of the hundreds of issues tackled during his first term on the City Council, a few accomplishments stick out in Phillips’ mind, such as the water, sewer and pressurized irrigation replacement project on the east side of downtown. “That was a massive undertaking, a very expensive undertaking, but necessary,” Phillips said. “I mean, there were wooden pipes in the ground from the 1800s.” Phillips’ other highlights included the 2023 settlement of a six-year lawsuit filed against the city by the Heber Valley Airport operator, the construction of city roundabouts and Heritage Farms Parkway and the opening of the columbarium at Heber City Cemetery. He also feels there’s been a lot of “headway” in how the city and public communicate with each other. Phillips declared his candidacy for mayor in June due to dissatisfaction with incumbent Heidi Franco’s leadership style.  Phillips said he felt staff was being undervalued, collaboration was not happening among city councilors and city communications were not being vetted for truthfulness. That final issue is why Phillips introduced the idea of a city communications policy last month. “Mayor Franco has been extremely difficult to work with. She is uncompromising,” Phillips said. “What I seek out in a leader is someone who is willing to listen, to collaborate, to negotiate, to compromise, to come to a better solution together, not someone who’s just trying to push their own agenda upon everybody else.” Franco, however, said similar things about Phillips. “I think any voter that attended the meetings could see how it was to work with Mr. Phillips. … I really look forward to 2026 and restoring civility and focus on the debate of the issues,” she said. “I do think that he is just as uncompromising in his own views and issues. And maybe that’s why we were elected, right? To stand up for what we believe the majority wants.” In the mayoral election, Phillips received 2,006 votes, or almost 47%, while Franco received 2,263 votes, or just over 53%. “I tried to put it out there and be the same person on the political stage that I am in real life, and I was amazed at the response,” Phillips laughed. “One thing I have learned is that the only difference between business and politics is with politics, the truth is optional.” While the election left “a bad taste in (his) mouth” because of the contentious campaign with Franco and things that were said about him on social media, Phillips encouraged anyone who has had “any sort of desire to serve in the community to run for office.” “Don’t be scared of the politics,” he said. “I think everybody that can do it has some way to enhance the community.” Phillips isn’t sure whether he will run for public office again. For now, he’s looking forward to a “recovery period” of evenings with his family and what he calls “normal community service.”  Phillips will remain involved with the Rotary Club and the Heber Valley Chamber of Commerce. He would like to be re-appointed to the Airport Advisory Board as a citizen rather than an assigned council member. He would also like to become involved with the Community Alliance for Main Street to stay involved with the shaping of downtown. Heber City has certainly changed over the two decades for Phillips, becoming akin to “a resort town” with the introduction of Deer Valley East Village. That’s brought a shift in demographics, bringing in an influx of “folks who have the ability and the means to live wherever in the world they’d like.”  But despite the challenges facing Heber City, Phillips remains optimistic about its future. “I’m not one to say Heber has changed for the worse. I think it definitely has changed, but it’s up to us if it’s good or bad,” he said. “I really feel like our best days are still ahead of us, as long as we manage it correctly.” The post Scott Phillips’ Heber City Council term comes to an end appeared first on Park Record. ...read more read less