Highland candidates debate eminent domain, zoning and library funding at youth-board forum

Candidates for Highland mayor and for several city council seats answered six questions on governance, property rights, partisan endorsements, zoning and the city budget at a candidate forum hosted by the Highland City Youth Board. The forum included opening remarks and candidate introductions, six timed questions, and closing statements. No formal votes or council actions were taken.

The candidates who participated were Britney P. Bills (mayoral candidate and current Highland City Council member), Ron Campbell (appointed council member), Wes Warren (planning commission member and library board member), Liz Rice (candidate, former planning commission and open-space committee member), and Scott L. Smith (incumbent council member). Moderator Sasha Bertola and Amy Clawson (Deputy Mayor, Highland City Youth Board) ran the forum.

Why it matters: The answers illuminate how the next Highland mayor and councilmembers might approach routine land-use choices, rare use of eminent domain, the role of political parties in local races after a state law change, and the likelihood of future tax decisions if the city faces budget pressures. The forum also surfaced a specific local question: whether land the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints may sell near Highland Mains should be rezoned from R-1-40 to mixed use.

Most candidates said they…