Civic service runs in the Woolstenhulme family. Grandfather Elmo, father Ken and brother Wade all served terms as mayor of Oakley, so it was natural for the eldest Zane to continue the legacy four years ago.
Woolstenhulme, the town’s incumbent mayor, is a fourth-generation resident. His great-great-grandfather was one of the first settlers in the Kamas Valley, and Woolstenhulme’s great-grandfather raised the family in Oakley — a tradition continued by his grandfather, father and himself.
“I have memories of the very first mayor of Oakley. I was a little kid at my grandma’s house, and she used to feed him breakfast once in a while,” Woolstenhulme said. “I’ve always had a keen desire, innate, if you will, to serve.”
The Woolstenhulme family has an extensive history of community involvement, and the mayor recalled growing up and helping with city service projects, as well as the Fourth of July Rodeo. Woolstenhulme’s father, uncle Dutch and Gerald Young were instrumental in transforming the event into what it is today.
When Woolstenhulme wasn’t attending school, he was helping out in Ken’s Kash, which his dad bought when he was around 12, and on the family farm.
Woolstenhulme graduated in 1977. He attended Ricks College (now Brigham Young University-Idaho) before transferring to Brigham Young University in Provo and serving a mission in Toulouse, France.
Then Woolstenhulme returned home. He married and transferred to the University of Utah in 1981, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in accounting. Woolstenhulme started working as an accountant in the administrative data processing department at the university.
No matter where he was living or what he was doing, Woolstenhulme always returned home to help with the family business.
Woolstenhulme learned about a job opening in the South Summit School District in 1988, which is around the time the district was considering building a new high school. He was hired on as the business administrator and helped facilitate the construction project, as well as additions to the elementary and middle schools.
From about 1989 to 2008, Woolstenhulme served on the Oakley Planning Commission. He worked on the Serenity Ranch project, which later became Elk Meadows Assisted Living and Memory Care, and subsequently Chateau Recovery, and the Oakley School, now Newport Academy. He was also involved in plans to develop a concept or master plan for the town’s center.
Woolstenhulme is most proud of his work on the North Bench Farms subdivision because the Planning Commission was able to negotiate with the developer to donate 13 building lots to the Mountainlands Community Housing Trust for affordable housing in the area through the self-help-build program.
He was instrumental in running Ken’s Kash for a decade while his parents were in Perth, Australia. Woolstenhulme said that experience gave him an appreciation for local businesses, especially in a small community.
But in 2008, Woolstenhulme’s father became very ill. Woolstenhulme had already taken a job with the Logan City School District, so the family decided to sell the business, and Woolstenhulme moved to Cache County.
He maintained his home in Oakley, though, because he always planned to return.
Woolstenhulme accepted a position with the Ogden City School District in 2014. He said his professional career is helpful as the chief executive officer of Oakley, where the budget is about one one-hundredth of what he manages for the school district.
When he returned to Oakley in 2019, Woolstenhulme was appointed to the Planning Commission and became chairman. He recalled the center of town appeared in disarray, and Woolstenhulme helped resurrect the plans for the city center. People either loved or hated it from the start, but they could see the importance of “doing something.”
Woolstenhulme recognized criticism that there wasn’t a request for proposal for the property, saying officials were not legally obligated to, and that the developer already owned much of the land. He added he never heard from any other interested parties.
His theory of managing growth is that the city needs to have a plan in place that lays out the expectations for people moving in. Woolstenhulme said Oakley has a strong General Plan, which was adopted in 2021 before he took over as mayor, that articulates the community’s vision for the future. The code protects agricultural rights and property rights while guiding the rules for development.
“I can remember riding the horse through town with my cousins. We talked back when we were kids, ‘We should put a big, high fence around this town,’” Woolstenhulme said. “But if the town is not growing, it’s dying.”
Woolstenhulme cited the following accomplishments during his first term as mayor: a new well, expanded open space and trails, more recreation, increased law enforcement, improved rodeo and increased investment, progress on the city center, and facilitating a draft plan for capital improvement projects.
If reelected, Woolstenhulme wants to complete a development agreement for the city center, create a finance plan to start addressing the infrastructure needs highlighted in the capital improvements plan, such as water and sewer, and promote housing affordability through efforts such as zoning, density and different types of construction. His approach is to develop a plan for the future with informed, deliberate decisions that are data-driven, not from the gut.
“We reverence the past, we embrace the present, and we are planning for tomorrow,” he said.
Woolstenhulme is running against current Oakley City Councilor Steve Wilmoth for mayor. Voters will pick one on Tuesday, Nov. 4.