The population of Fairfield, now, wouldn’t fill a third of the long-gone theater. With 160 residents as of the 2020 U.S. Census, Fairfield is the second-smallest town in Utah County — behind only Sundance — and among the smallest in the state.

The town is also the only one in Utah County with the mayor’s office up for grabs on the November ballot — and unlike the last time it was up, the seat will be contested.

Gurney has been mayor of Fairfield for “six, seven years,” appointed after the previous mayor resigned. When he was first elected to the office in 2019, he was the only candidate and won with 73 votes. When the candidate filing period came to a close June 7, Gurney was officially joined on the ballot by Town Council member Hollie McKinney.

Differing visions

Despite being one of the first townships in the territory, Fairfield was finally incorporated into a town in December 2004. Gurney moved to the town about a year before the incorporation and attended planning commission meetings before eventually joining the body. From there, he began helping put together the town’s code book and make the town website more user-friendly.

Harrison Epstein, Daily Herald

From the website home page, residents have access to an events calendar, information notices, the town codebook and can pay their bills. They also have access to most public meeting agendas — April and June are posted for the town council but not May — and recordings of the meetings.

This reflects an issue McKinney has with how city meetings currently operate. The Town Council meets once a month with meetings ranging in length from 90 minutes to four hours.

These marathon meetings, she told the Daily Herald, come directly from Gurney’s communication and management styles.

“We have ordinances thrown at us an hour before the meeting, our finances are thrown out an hour before the meeting. It needs to be organized and it needs to be available to the council to read and to understand what we’re passing well in advance before it’s passed on to the public,” she said.

Over two hours into their public meeting on June 13, after an hour-long closed session, the council was halfway through the prepared agenda.

Harrison Epstein, Daily Herald

Part of the reason it took longer than usual was because of a discussion surrounding a proposed park. Gurney told the Daily Herald before the meeting his plans for the land.

“My vision is to put a trail around that 7 acres and then kind of do like an outside museum or a little history trail and just tell the history of Fairfield as you walk around,” he said.

When he brought up the trail during the meeting, though, members of the council reacted with confusion. Despite the park falling under another council member’s responsibilities, and the history trail/museum being tabled, it became a point of lengthy conversation.

“Mayor Gurney has admitted in a meeting that he tends to manipulate things to get what he wants. I believe when you take on the role as mayor it’s not about what ‘I want.’ It’s about what the town and its residents need to be a strong, healthy community,” McKinney said. “We seem to go in circles in meetings for months if not years because we table things when it’s not exactly what Mayor Gurney wants.”

Not only was the park reflective of McKinney’s concerns about the state of the council, and her reasons for seeking the mayorship, she thinks the way the city government currently operates is a disservice to residents.

Harrison Epstein, Daily Herald

Rehashed discussions like the park debate are why McKinney believes meetings go well into the late evening. Calling them a “waste of time,” she argues the elected bodies can be more effective if subjects are not presented, tabled and presented again the next month for further conversations.

Despite McKinney’s reservations about Gurney’s methods, he stands behind his beliefs on what the town needs as they move forward.

“For me, it’s about what I want to see happen with the town, not so much about what her agenda is or her thing is going on,” he said.

Addressing growth

While the roads in Fairfield are in the same place they were over a century ago, everything around them has changed. To the south is empty space and untouched land for miles, but to the north and east lie fields of solar panels, the Tyson Foods plant and an ever-growing number of Eagle Mountain houses and subdivisions.

Both Gurney and McKinney are aware of what’s knocking on the town’s doors, but differ in their approach.

Harrison Epstein, Daily Herald

“I want to do everything we can to protect the lifestyle that we have. We can’t stop people from coming. But we can, if we write our ordinances right, and we get our general plan put together properly, we can protect the lifestyle that we have,” Gurney said.

The largest cities on the west side of Utah Lake — Saratoga Springs and Eagle Mountain — had a combined population under 40,000 people in 2010. Population estimates for 2022 have them combined at over 100,000. In that time, Fairfield grew from 119 residents to the current 160.

Acknowledging the neighboring changes and managing how they will impact the city — more money and job opportunities for residents and more responsibility for elected officials — are among McKinney’s priorities.

“I feel like we need to take the next steps to move into a medium-sized town versus just a small volunteer town,” McKinney said. “I want to ensure that our town stays the same as much as possible for the residents that live here. We want to stay a small town, and I think we should continue to fight.”

She expressed an awareness that developers are coming to the area. There’s plenty of land to build upon nearby and an ever-growing population. McKinney just wants the town to be a part of the discussion.

“We just have to talk to whoever comes, wants to develop in Fairfield. We need to work with them and help them see our vision of how we want our town to grow,” she said. “It’s hitting us on the door every day.”

Beyond their titles as elected officials, Gurney and McKinney are members of a tight-knit community with history and shared values. In addition to being mayor, Gurney runs a printing company and previously sat on the planning commission. He’s also an unofficial historian, proud to walk down Main Street pointing to the different patches of land and mountaintops with stories of Pioneer times, army soldiers making a home and what came before.

McKinney is “first and foremost” a mother of two, owns a business with her husband and was a PTA president. She leads the charge in organizing the town’s Christmas celebration — as a town, Fairfield buys Christmas lights and decorates every resident’s home with their preferred color and style — and the town’s semi-regular food truck night. Every three or fourth months, McKinney schedules for a taco truck to come, paid for by the town, to feed everyone.

“I send the text out to my neighbors. ‘Hey, don’t forget the taco trucks gonna be here tonight,'” she said. “It’s just a social thing. We live in a town of people who really don’t care to socialize with people, but if we ever needed a neighbor, they would be here in a heartbeat. And that’s just a good way to get them out.”

The election

Fairfield residents have until the end of November for the general election, when they’ll decide between the two, each offering different perspectives and experiences that residents will weigh as they consider the town’s future, along with their personal relationships.

Both McKinney and Gurney offered kind words for the other while acknowledging the choice voters will have. Gurney stressed to the Daily Herald that residents understand the majority of the power in Fairfield is not in the mayor’s office, but with the town council. It’s not about having the power to single-handedly make changes, but be prepared to handle unforeseen situations like an overflowing creek, landfill issues or cemetery with no more plots to sell. McKinney believes the duty of a mayor is to effectively manage a town and prepare residents, officials and town employees for anything.

The duo will see their neighbors frequently in the five months before the election and look forward to a campaign they both expect to include more one-on-one conversations than yard signs and rallies.

“I think people know me, and they know Hollie, and they’ll vote for two of us based on the history they have with us more than us going out and talking to people. They already know who we are,” Gurney said.