Bountiful City’s 2025 Municipal Election will take place on Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025, giving voters the opportunity to elect a new Mayor and two new City Council members.
Here at The Bountiful Forum, we spoke with all the candidates for both the mayoral and city council races to get more information on their positions and ideas so that you, as a Bountiful resident, can make a more informed decision about who to vote for.
Here is a summary of our meeting with city council candidate Beth Child.
Who is Beth Child?
Beth Child grew up in Holladay, Utah, and earned a degree in English from Brigham Young University, followed by a master’s in teaching English as a Second Language. She taught at BYU’s English Language Center before moving to Bountiful.
While raising three children, Child continued to teach English as a Second Language on a volunteer basis, working with refugees and community members through organizations like the Guadalupe School in Salt Lake City. She now has three grandchildren and one more on the way.
Outside of public service, she enjoys traveling, reading, writing, and hiking, especially in southern Utah. She and her husband recently visited Israel, one of many trips they’ve enjoyed together.
Child is the only incumbent in this city council race, having served on the Bountiful City Council for a year since the passing of Jesse Bell in 2024.
It’s an experience Child describes as both challenging and rewarding. “This last year for me has been a huge learning curve,” she said, but one she’s embraced. Child has spent the that time digging into every facet of city management that she could, from roads and water to public safety and parks.
She credits her background in teaching and volunteer work with shaping her approach to public service. “One of the greatest benefits of being a teacher is that you learn the best way to understand needs is to get to know people,” she said.
Her experience has also informed her approach to handling city budgets. “One thing about both education and volunteerism is that you want to make things happen, and you have very little to no budget to do it,” she said. “So what you have to do is depend on relationships, building relationships to make them happen.”
Should she win a full term on the city council, Child believes her professional and previous public service experience will help move Bountiful in a good direction.
Economic Growth and Sustainability
Addressing the idea of the economic growth of Bountiful, Child said one of the ongoing challenges for Bountiful is keeping the local economy vibrant. “It’s tricky, because there are only so many tools you can have in the toolbox for economic development.”
But Child mentioned areas like Main Street, Fifth South, and portions of Orchard Drive as opportunities for revitalization. Her idea would be to invite more business into those areas to make them more attractive and keep more tax dollars in Bountiful. She thinks that hiring an economic development director could help the city develop new strategies in those areas.
Child also believes that as Bountiful continues to grow, preserving its character is essential. She described Bountiful as one of Utah’s first true “bedroom communities.” But, she said, “Look at communities to the south of Salt Lake, which also developed like we did, but have become part of the megalopolis. I feel like some communities have lost their character.”
Preserving Main Street, the Town Square, and the city’s culture of service, she said, are key to maintaining that small-town feel. “Bountiful isn’t a small town, but it feels like one. I want to keep it from becoming just another stop on I-15.”
For Child, another big part of the sustainability of Bountiful is maintaining the city’s base needs. That includes things like keeping the lights on, the water running, and the streets maintained. As an example Child mentioned that two of the city’s water reservoirs are getting old and need replacement. “As someone on the city council we know we have to do it, but how do we do it? How do we do it without raising taxes?”
Child wants to have a priority of planning ahead to think about how they will pay for things like that in a timely manner, and also plan inflation and unexpected factors like the pandemic.
Housing and Community Resilience
Housing is one of the most pressing issues across Utah, and Child acknowledged that Bountiful is not immune. People need places to live.
Child has seen the issue firsthand. “My son in North Carolina paid half of what he would have paid here for a similar home,” she said. Her parents also want to downsize from a larger house in Salt Lake, but because it is older and in need of improvement, even after selling they would have a tough time finding an affordable place to live.
Child doesn’t know if there is a golden ticket answer for this. But she thinks that ADU’s are helpful, and that finding places that allow for light density housing would be ease the burden a bit. Child wants to find answers, but she said that eventually the city will have to face the reality that there just isn’t that much space left in Bountiful.
Communication and Community Involvement
Child believes that the best public service happens through connection.
“The best conversations I have are when I’m at the Farmers Market or at a football game. I think just showing up and being part of a community helps me really have a ground level view of the needs in the community. And I will answer texts and emails and calls and all those things and that’s good communication but it’s the boots on the ground that is the best way to show it.”
Child currently is assigned to the Bountiful Community Service Council, which connects groups such as the Lions Club, Rotary Club, Veterans, CERT training, and local churches. “It’s a great way to see what’s happening across the community,” she said.
She hopes to expand opportunities for residents to get involved by improving the city’s website and linking it to platforms like JustServe, where residents can find volunteer opportunities. “I want it to be easy for people to see what’s happening in Bountiful this weekend,” she said. “The city does a great job sharing information, but we can make it even more accessible.”
How/Where to Vote
For more information on how/where to vote, you can visit Bountiful City’s website here, or Davis County’s website here.
