By Travis Barton | [email protected]

Bluffdale officially has a new mayor.

Residents packed Bluffdale City Hall on Jan. 4 as new mayor Natalie Hall and two incumbent councilwomen Wendy Aston and Traci Crockett took their oaths of office. 

“It’s exciting,” Crockett told the Journal of her second time being sworn in. “The energy is a little different this time. Having a new mayor brings a lot of excitement.”

Mayor Hall takes over after former mayor Derk Timothy chose not to run again, having held the position for 12 years. 

Hall won with an overwhelming 75% of the vote in November. 

“I'm just really excited to get to work,” she told the Journal after being sworn in. “All this time you campaign and then get elected and then you wait some more, so I'm just excited to get to work.” 

For the past seven years Hall worked for the city in various roles from being the public information officer and emergency manager to being involved with business licenses, economic development and various committees. 

She said it gave her a “unique experience” where she’s already worked with residents, businesses, city staff, surrounding cities, the county and the state. 

“I am really excited to take those relationships and move forward with my new job,” Hall said. 

Those relationships extend to the city council as well, with Hall working with both Aston and Crockett on the campaign trail. “Now we can just jump right into it,” Hall said. 

Crockett told the Journal they tried to contain that excitement during the campaign but are now “excited” to work together and “keep the city moving in the right direction.” 

For Aston, beginning her second term, being sworn in signals the delight of getting started. 

“Campaigns are really hard and they're a lot of work and really stressful,” she said. “And now it is like a feeling of relief, it’s done and excitement because we get to move forward.” 

Aston is confident about the next four years with everything she’s learned creating that knowledge base. Originally she felt one term would be enough.

“But after I did one term, I felt like I finally had it down,” she said. “There's a pretty steep learning curve and now I feel like I can be really impactful. I know what I'm doing. I already have the lessons of the past and I've learned from them and can move forward in the future.”

Crockett, also entering her second term, is known for her work getting the city’s recreation program off the ground with the city’s first spring soccer season kicking off this year. 

“Those are the fun things, the big parks,” she said. “That’s our everyday lives, that’s what people see. The budgets are super important as a councilmember, but you don’t see that in your everyday life.” 

She also mentioned her enthusiasm for the upcoming 18-acre park that will feature a skate park in the Independence area. 

Aston is also anxious to keep working on the city’s parks, trails and open space. “I would love to see Bluffdale connect trails to Draper and to Herriman all through the Jordan River and become part of this really extensive trail system.”

Both Hall and Crockett spoke enthusiastically about working towards more economic development over the next four years. With Wendy’s recently being built along Redwood next to Bangerter and other retail development coming in, elected officials are excited to see the city’s future come to fruition. 

Hall also mentioned transit will be crucial as the city, more than doubled in size over the past 12 years, continues to grow. 

“We can't do this alone,” Hall told those in attendance for the mayor’s seat. “We have to do it together and I know I can say that on behalf of all the councilmembers here that we are really excited to work together.”