Council appoints Dustin Phillips to fill Pleasant Grove City Council vacancy

Dustin Phillips was selected by the Pleasant Grove City Council on Jan. 27, 2026, to fill a vacant council seat for a term ending Dec. 31, 2027. The council conducted a secret-ballot vote after interviewing 16 applicants; the final tally in the second round was Phillips three votes, Peter Steele one vote. Administrator Scott Darrington announced the result and said Phillips would be sworn in at the Feb. 3, 2026, council meeting.

Council members followed a multi-stage nomination process explained by Administrator Darrington earlier in the meeting: candidates spoke for up to three minutes, the council asked follow-up questions, and then members nominated and voted by secret ballot. Recorder Wendy Thorpe reported the first-round tally as 2-1-1, which led the council to hold a second round of statements from the three finalists prior to the final ballot. The appointment will be executed administratively with a swearing-in at the next regular meeting.

Phillips, a member of a local bank executive team with prior Planning Commission experience, emphasized safety and infrastructure concerns during his remarks. On roads, he stated the issue in part "was held up by lawsuits for a number of years," drawing attention to long-standing maintenance and funding constraints. Council members commended all applicants for civic engagement and noted the difficulty of the decision given a deep applicant pool.

The council's selection followed the procedures described by city staff and conforms to the city's nomination process for filling vacancies. The council approved the special meeting agenda unanimously at the outset and adjourned at 8:34 p.m.