By Sarah Mulholland

HYDE PARK -- Reed Elder was sworn in as a member of the Hyde Park City Council on Jan. 22. After David Kooyman was elected mayor, the council position opened up and Elder applied.

"Having lived in Hyde Park for the past 20 years I have a feel of what my constituents want in order to keep Hyde Park a great place to live," he said.

Elder has owned and managed Co-ax Enterprises, Inc., a construction business, for more than 28 years. This has given him experience in land uses and development, which is beneficial to the city. He also owns Cache Honda Yamaha. Having owned and operated a business has given him a good understanding of what it takes to manage and spend city resources, he says.

"The city is a business and needs to be accountable to its shareholders, the citizens of Hyde Park," he said.

Elder has two sons and four daughters. His oldest son lives in Arizona and two married daughters live in Logan. One of his daughters is in Chile serving a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. His other son and daughter live at home and attend high school and middle school.

One of his assignments right now is to oversee economic development in the city. He plans to spend a lot of his efforts in creating an atmosphere of cooperation and good will between the business owners and the city. He would like to see the business district grow and improve to benefit the citizens and the businesses in Hyde Park.

Elder sees himself as one of the five council members having the responsibility to organize the ordinances and zoning, in accordance to the needs and wishes of the people of Hyde Park, as they plan for the future.

"I will not hesitate to vote against what I feel is an unwise use of the funds of the city, so I hope to make our dollars count for all they are used for," he said.

Elder has found the toughest part of this position to be standing against and ending previously approved studies that he felt were a waste of the city's time and money.

He enjoys working with people, solving problems, and finding common ground to work on, moving things forward.

"I believe I can make a difference in the city government for good, that is the real payment in this position," he said.

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