CLINTON, Utah — In 1994, Clinton was a small, rural community.
That was the year Dennis Cluff moved his family to Utah and became City Manager.
“It had a little gas station with a little convenience store inside,” he said Cluff. “That was kind of the community gathering spot. And across the street, they had a mechanic shop. That's it.”
After 30 years in the position, Cluff is retiring in January.
“Instead of moving on, like some managers do after four or five years, looking for something better, we had plenty of growth, and with growth, you have lots of issues and opportunities to do things. That was more exciting, so I stayed.”
The city has seen tremendous growth under Cluff’s leadership; the population has tripled since he moved here, he said. There are now big commercial businesses and many small ones too.
“It's gotten a lot more populated, which causes a lot of traffic and other issues,” said Cluff. “Now we have two state highways that go through Clinton.”
He’s most proud of the projects that make Clinton stand out, like requiring new subdivisions to put up streetlights so people can walk safely at night.
“If you go up in the mountain and look down and you can see a bright area, that’s Clinton,” said Cluff.
Although he’s looking forward to getting outdoors and writing more, he’s going to miss the people he’s been working with for years, he said.
“I think that they have grown to like me over the years,” Cluff joked. “Even though I cut up a little bit and have a few puns once in a while, I think they actually appreciate that, or they've grown to appreciate it.”
