Years ago Helper was a town on the brink, but now it has redefined itself and has begun to flourish into one of Utah’s hidden gems. Leading the way in this rebirth of the town is Mayor Lenise Peterman, who recently stopped by the KOAL newsroom to reflect on 2024 and look ahead to the new year.
“ The events have been amazing this year. You know, Helper Vibes has taken hold. And then obviously, First Friday is making a big comeback,” explained Mayor Peterman,” And of course, the standard Helper Arts Festival, Christmas Town. They’re just our steady slate of 30 years or older events. And we’re proud to have them … We often hear that we have a positive vibe and it’s a very community-friendly place. We welcome guests and visitors. So, you know, I’m proud of the community, the local area businesses and all the people who put on these amazing events.”
Peterman also looked back on her trip earlier this year to Washington D.C. for a Western States event,” You know, I’m still not clear how I got invited to participate in a Western States event at the White House. But I was honored to do it. And I’m very proud, again, to represent Helper and southeastern Utah, because, you know, a lot of times our rural areas, they’re forgotten at that federal level.”
The Mayor switched gears, talking about all of the change that Helper has seen throughout 2024, which includes a new Chief of Police, City Council Member and City Recorder, ” I really embrace change and tend to be optimistic. So while I was sad to lose Zack Tonc, I also felt like it opened up a window that we should be looking at and doing some things differently administratively. So I’m excited about the future and where we’re going. And I certainly hope a lot of people step up and want to serve the community and apply for that council role, because I think that’s a great way to give back to your community.”
Continuing on the topic of change, Peterman discussed the biggest changes she’s seen in Helper since taking over as mayor in 2018,” the Main Street revitalization effort, I think, has been the base for all of the positive changes that you see. With Gary DeVincent coming in and rehabilitating buildings and other property owners stepping up and making a nice, welcoming, historic Main Street. I think that’s kind of the base of everything. But we’ve got to be looking at our infrastructure and we’ve done a good job with that. We’ll continue to work on that.”
Building off her statement on the infrastructure Peterman discussed a city council meeting earlier this year where the council faced the tough task of raising water rates to improve the pipeline that carries water from Scofield Reservoir to the city,” when you get into rural areas, the people that are serving you are more service volunteers than they are paid experts. So it’s important to rely on the expertise of different organizations. In this case, it was the Rural Water Organization to help articulate the importance of what we needed to do, why those rates needed to go up, and then to have the citizens embrace that and actually encourage us to do more than,” she continued,” I told someone, I said that reaffirmed my faith in humanity, that if people understand, they get it, and they come through more than you can even expect.”
In closing, Mayor Peterman shared a holiday message for the citizens of Helper and beyond,” we wish everyone a very happy holiday. Merry Christmas. And if you’re traveling this year, please be safe. We want everyone to come back home reenergized and ready to embrace 2025.”