Salina City Mayor

Jim Reynolds

In the municipal election of November 2005, Jim was elected mayor of Salina . Prior to his mayoral election, Jim served on the Salina City Council for 8 years. Jim has pin-pointed some of the problems facing Salina in the future and some of the projects he sees as necessary. The biggest challenge facing Salina over the next few years is to provide more employment. In order to keep Salina 's young people here, employment that carries with it something more than minimum wage must be created. He sees the Salina Commercial Center as a major step in that direction. Jim would also like to see more participation in local government by the citizens of Salina . At the last four council meetings in 2007, other than the council members and press representatives, no one was in attendance from the public. He wants to see an end to the divisiveness that seems to have continued from the great "horse and livestock" controversy. It is time to bury those old resentments and have the people of Salina pull together to make Salina live up to its potential.

Jim Reynolds: Background
Jim Reynolds was born in Escalante , Utah . He graduated from Escalante High School in 1949. Shortly after his graduation from high school, he joined the Navy. During his four years in the Navy he was stationed in San Diego , California , Memphis , Tennessee , and at Barbers point, Hawaii . After his service in the Navy, Jim returned to Escalante. The nearest dentist was in Panguitch. While in the dentist chair, Jim noticed the lovely dental technician, Effie Marie Miller. He asked her out. Note that the day they met was July 12, 1953 and the couple was married on August 29, 1953 . They were later sealed in the St. George temple. It was apparently love at first sight or something close to it.

Effie and Jim moved to Richfield , where Jim worked for Utah Wholesale, hauling groceries for two years. He then worked for WYCOFF Company for two years, hauling mail from Richfield to Salt Lake City . In 1956 he was accepted as a Highway Patrol trooper and was assigned to Wendover for a few months. He was transferred to Kanab where he patrolled for the next 14 years. While the Glenn Canyon Dam was under construction, Jim left the Highway Patrol and worked for Merritt, Chapman and Scott as a contractor for the dam project for 4 years. Jim worked in the purchasing and warehouse department. With the completion of the dam, Jim returned to work for the Highway Patrol. He spent one year in Escalante and then was assigned to Salina , where he would work for the next 16 years. He retired in 1990 with 30 years of service with the Highway Patrol.

Aside from his municipal duties, ask Jim and Effie what they like to do and they both answer, "FAMILY". They have five children; Jan Marie Hales of Redmond, Jim E. Reynolds of Centerfield, Joseph C. Reynolds of Loa, Jill Lynn Porter of Redmond and Joni Denise Reynolds of Sandy. They have 16 grandchildren and 3 great grandchildren.

Effie and Jim enjoy gardening and their home is bursting with color from the beautiful flowers they plant each year. Effie plants many beautiful varieties of flowers, but her favorites are the many colors and varieties of roses she has in her garden. Effie and Jim also have a fish pond and lots of bird houses and bird feeders. Jim says he likes fishing, but just doesn't seem to find the time to do much of it.

We wish Effie and Jim well with their family activities. They are an asset to our community. Jim's willingness to sacrifice his time and efforts to serve the people of Salina , first as a councilman, and now as mayor, is admirable.