Michael K. Winder

Mike Winder
Mayor of West Valley City
In office January 4, 2010 – January 6, 2014
Preceded by	Dennis J. Nordfelt
Succeeded by	Ron C. Bigelow
Personal details
Born	(1976-01-27) January 27, 1976 Salt Lake City, Utah
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Karyn Hermansen
Children	4
Profession	Business Executive and Author
Religion	The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon)

Michael Kent Winder (born January 27, 1976) is an American businessman, author, and politician. He was the mayor of Utah's second-largest city, West Valley City between 2010 and 2014 and is the Republican Party (GOP) nominee for the Utah House of Representatives, District 30 representing a portion of West Valley City.^[1]

Education and family

Winder was born in Salt Lake City, Utah. graduated first in his class from Taylorsville High School, where he was student body president and the state Sterling Scholar in Social Science.^[2][3] From 1995 to 1997 he was a missionary in Taipei, Taiwan for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, where he learned Mandarin Chinese.

He holds a Masters in Business Administration and an Honors B.A. degree in History from the University of Utah. He has also completed an executive leadership programs with Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government.^[4]

Winder is married to the former Karyn Hermansen, a native of West Valley City and piano teacher who was elected to the Granite School District Board of Education in November 2014.^[5] They have two daughters and two sons.^[6] His older sister, Aimee Winder Newton, is a Salt Lake County Council Member.

Business career

Winder was Business Development Manager for West Valley City from 2000-2004, during which time he also chaired the Chamber West Economic Development Committee, was a founder of the Granger Crossings Business Improvement District, and was named as one of "40 Rising Stars Under 40" by Utah Business magazine.^[7]

From 2004-2009 he was vice president of marketing for Winder Farms, part of the sixth generation to be involved in the business.^[8] He was director of public affairs for The Summit Group Communications from 2009-2011.^[9]

Winder founded Neptune Strategies in 2012, a marketing and development firm.^[10] During the 2016 election cycle, Neptune Strategies was paid at least $65,000 for consulting by Friends of Traditional Banking, a Super PAC.^[11] Winder is the executive director of Friends of Traditional Banking.^[12] Since July 2014, Winder has been employed as director of entrepreneurship programs for Zions Bank.^[13]

Political career

Winder has served as a member of the State and Salt Lake County Republican Party Executive Committees, deputy campaign manager for Congressman James V. Hansen, and chair of the Research and Policy Committee for the Jon Huntsman, Jr. for Governor campaign. He is the founder of the GenX GOP Network.^[14]

He was elected to an at-large seat on the West Valley City Council in November 2005 with 71% of the vote over 12-year incumbent Barbara Thomas.^[15]

He was elected on November 3, 2009 as the seventh mayor of West Valley City, Utah, with 76% of the vote; his opponent was Kevin Fayles.^[16] As mayor, he has helped oversee the economic turnaround of the city, including the revitalization of Valley Fair Mall.^[17]

In 2010, other local officials from around the state elected Winder president of the Utah League of Cities and Towns.^[18] Salt Lake City Weekly honored him in their "Best of Utah 2011" edition^[19] and he was named Utah's "Best of State Mayor" in 2011.^[20]

At 29, he was the youngest council person in city history, and when sworn in on January 4, 2010, at age 33, he became the youngest mayor in city history.^[21]

In 2012, Winder and former county council member Mark Crockett emerged from the Salt Lake County Republican Convention field of six to face off for the GOP nomination for county mayor.^[22] Crockett narrowly defeated Winder in the GOP primary election, 50.7% to 49.3%.^[23]

In 2016, Winder ran for the Utah State House of Representatives, defeating incumbent Fred Cox 62% to 48% in the Salt Lake County Republican Convention. The margin of victory was large enough to avoid a primary election, and Winder advanced as the Republican nominee.^[24]

Author and historian

An historian, he is the author of twelve published books on Utah and LDS history, including Presidents and Prophets: The Story of America's Presidents and the LDS Church.^[25] In 2005 Winder was appointed by Governor Jon Huntsman, Jr. to a four-year term on the Utah Board of State History, and reappointed in 2009. In 2012, he was appointed by Governor Gary Herbert to a four-year term on the Advisory Board for the Office of Museum Services.^[26]

Winder presented an academic paper as part of the Abraham Lincoln Sesquicentennial in 2009 and was published in the Journal of the Theodore Roosevelt Association in 2011.^[27][28] As mayor in 2012, he also authored the first photographic history of West Valley City for Arcadia Publishing.^[29] Winder is a past president of the Utah British Isles Association. ^[30]

Controversy

Winder wrote articles for the Deseret News and KSL.com (the website for KSL-TV) using the citizen-journalist program Deseret Connect, on West Valley City, under the assumed name of Richard Burwash. The name was made up and inspired by his ancestor Richard Winder that lived in Burwash, Sussex, England in the 1500s. Winder quoted himself in the articles and used a photo of a real person, Peter Burwash, a former professional tennis player in his internal profile at the Deseret News.^[31][32] Winder said he wrote the articles because, "he was frustrated that the newspaper had drastically reduced its city government coverage after layoffs last year but not its crime coverage and wanted to try to restore balance."^[33] As a result of his confession, Winder accepted a reprimand by the West Valley City Council, resigned from his job with a public relations firm, and issued a public apology to his constituents.^[34][35][36]

Publications

• John R. Winder: Pioneer, Temple Builder, Dairyman; Horizon Publishers; ISBN 978-0-88290-676-8; (1999; Hardback)
• Counselors to the Prophets; Eborn Books; ISBN 1-890718-04-1; (2001; Hardback)
• The Christmas Animals: A Children's Book illustrated by Lindsey E. Ayres; Eborn Books; ISBN 1-890718-09-2, (2002; Hardback)
• Ned Winder: The antics and adventures of a Utah Legend; with Bret R. Bassett, (2002; Paperback)
• Presiding Bishops; Eborn Books; ISBN 1-890718-10-6, (2003; Hardback)
• Utah in 2050: Glimpses of Our Future; Eborn Books; ISBN 1-890718-11-4, (2003; Hardback)
• Presidents and Prophets: The Story of America's Presidents and the LDS Church; Covenant Communications; ISBN 1-59811-452-2, (September 2007; Hardback)
• Life Lessons from Fathers of Faith: Inspiring True Stories About Latter-day Dads with Gary W. Toyn; Covenant Communications; ISBN 978-1-59811-603-8, (2010; Hardback)
• When the White House Comes to Zion with Ronald L. Fox; Covenant Communications; ISBN 978-1-60861-232-1, (2011; Hardback)
• It's Fun to Be the Mayor: A children's book illustrated by Andrea Vitali; Eborn Books; ISBN 978-1-890718-72-5; (2011; Hardback)
• Images of America: West Valley City; Arcadia Publishing; ISBN 978-0-7385-9541-2; (2012; Paperback)
• Called to Serve: Celebrating Missionary Work around the World; Covenant Communications; ISBN 978-1-62108-667-3; (2014; Paperback)
• Guy Stuff in the Scriptures; Covenant Communications; ISBN 978-1-62108-753-3; (2014; Paperback)

Notes

External links

• Official website
• Works by or about Michael K. Winder in libraries (WorldCat catalog)

Mayors of cities with populations exceeding 100,000 in Utah
Jackie Biskupski (D) (Salt Lake City) Ron Bigelow (R) (West Valley City) John Curtis (Provo) Kim Wolfe (West Jordan)
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