Hansen hoping to find a new normal on the council

As a retired urban planner for South Jordan for 20 years, new councilmember for District 2, Judith Hansen, has already been on the staff member side of city hall.

“I have presented before the city council and before the planning commission, and I’ve done ordinance changes on the general plan, on so many different things in my career, that I think I have a little bit better understanding of what is required of a city council person,” Hansen said.

While Hansen has never been in politics before, she believes she brings a new voice to the city council.

“I’m not a career politician,” Hansen said. “I think you should limit yourself. It should be something you give to the community, and then you should give someone else the same opportunity.”

Hansen was unaware at first that there was even an upcoming election.

“My husband had passed away and I was living in a dense fog,” Hansen said. “But when people started calling, knowing my experience, and knowing that I had retired, I think I was the only one who didn’t think I could win.”

She decided she had to quit feeling sorry for herself and get on with life.

“We only go around once,” Hansen said. “It’s like finding a new normal. I think this will occupy my mind, my time and I’m willing to give whatever it takes.”

Hansen has lived in West Jordan since 1965 and has watched it change over the years, with some of the changes being fantastic and some being mistakes.

If she could make one difference while on the city council, it’s to make West Jordan more of a place where people want to live.

“I want it to be a place where when they move out of an apartment, they look for a home here and they stay within the city. And I’m not sure we have as much of that as we should,” Hansen said.

And code enforcement is a big part of that.

“I am walking these neighborhoods and I can see that we badly, badly need it,” Hansen said. “I have seen some places where you could hide a small child in the weeds, and I think we need to take more pride in our city.”

Hansen acknowledges that the code enforcement issue is a revenue problem that all cities are facing, and that West Jordan is already running on a lean staff.

But Hansen is hoping to create an entity separate from the police department, as they don’t have enough police officers as it is, she said.

“I’m going to have to get into it to see where we are budget-wise. I have ideas, but that doesn’t mean that I’m going to accomplish them, due to the fact that we are in a recession,” Hansen said.

And is it any surprise that an urban planner loves the outdoors? When she’s not at city hall, Hansen loves to golf and travel, especially on her boat to Lake Powell.

She also sews, crochets and is a voracious reader.

“My husband always said I’d read the phone book if I didn’t have anything to read,” Hansen laughed.

She has three sons, including one who passed three years ago, four granddaughters and one great-granddaughter.