Mayor's Office

ADDRESS:
125 S Main St.
Vineyard, UT 84059

Hours of Operation:
M–Th: 8:00am–5:00pm
F: 8:00am–12:00pm

EMAIL:
mayor@vineyardutah.org

TERM

  • 2018 THROUGH DECEMBER 31, 2025

RESPONSIBILITIES

    • ULCT Board of Directors
    • UTA Advisory Council
    • MPO Regional Planning Committee
    • MPO Executive Finance
    • Utah Valley Community Development Block Grant Chair
    • InterMountain Hospital Committee member
    • Utah Lake Authority board member
    • Women Mayor Caucus member
    • Wasatch Front Regional Council member (MAG)
    • Joint Policy Advisory Committee
    • Vineyard: Federal, State and regional Transit-Transportation Funding
    • Mayor’s Youth Council
    • Children’s Library 
    • Community Safety
    • Active Transportation
    • Alpine School District community liaison
    • Economic Development EDC-utah, SMA, and GOED
    • Legislative Policy Committee member

BIO

Julie Fullmer is the first female mayor of the fastest-growing city in the nation, Vineyard, Utah. Fullmer is also the 3rd Mayor of Vineyard. She offers over a decade of public service in various capacities: Mayor, City Council, Planning Commissioner, State, Regional, & County board and committee member, legislative policy board member, and former board director of ULCT.

As Mayor, Fullmer additionally chairs a $360+ million investment board focused on redevelopment efforts. This board is dedicated to revitalizing the environment, fostering economic prosperity, and promoting innovation. Under Fullmer’s leadership, the RDA board is transforming an economic epicenter in Utah Valley, once known for its steel production and dairy farms, into a dynamic mixed-use innovation hub. 

Situated in the heart of the rapidly growing Wasatch Front, Vineyard’s regional development stands out in the top-performing metropolitan area in Utah and top in the country for several years. This recognition comes from the Milken Institute Best-Performing Cities ranking, which evaluates various factors such as labor market conditions, high-tech impact, and access to economic opportunities across 403 metropolitan areas nationwide. 

Vineyard Regional Development Redevelopment Agency (VRD) provides resources and infrastructure for creating, growing, and supporting companies, properly planning tourism, and enhancing sustainability and quality of life. VRD administers applications and contracts based on strategic infrastructure and vision, targeting industries that demonstrate the best potential for development. Additionally, VRD planning and community development improve and support small businesses and create vibrant commercial corridors.

Under Fullmer’s leadership, the city transportation plan transformed into opening access points throughout the city, creating a grid network of roads, and moving state funding priorities to meet the growth of the community, creating community parks, educational partnerships, places of worship, businesses, multi-modal transportation connectivity, open space, and development that have been master planned to bring the greatest ability for people of all ages to live, work, play. Fullmer has served with multiple city councils that have also worked together and supported Fullmer in implementing technologies, pilot programs, and systems for Vineyard, which has placed Vineyard as a leader in the state for efficient and effective procedures and policy. 

The strategies formalized by the VRD achieve incredible returns on investment by working in partnership with key stakeholders to promote economic vitality, affordable living, connectivity, ease of transport, and advancement of economic opportunities for small businesses and entrepreneurs. VRD uses local, state, and private sector resources and contracts to fulfill its mission. VRD produces agreements and assurances to protect Utah's air, land, and water to better Utah residents' health and economic longevity.

For over a decade, Fullmer has focused on creating strategic partnerships, building strong community and key stakeholder collaboration, strengthening communication, and discovering innovative solutions for diverse industries and communities. Fullmer actively forges strategic partnerships with businesses, economic partners, and universities to strengthen the labor force in the region and prioritize infrastructure. By collaborating with these key stakeholders, the mayor aims to create opportunities for skill development, talent attraction, and job growth. Under her leadership, Vineyard's prioritization of homeownership for all stages of life has created a robust workforce and skill base, enhancing community connection and lifestyle. These practices and partnerships are essential for building a robust and sustainable economy and labor force that can drive economic prosperity in Vineyard and beyond.

As Vineyard has grown significantly during her tenure, Fullmer has helped bring over 200+ million dollars of external funds in a few short years to the community, building and maintaining infrastructure in one of the state's largest regional developments. Fullmer has helped hire and train innovative high-performance teams, which has helped her manage growth, develop policy, and build procedures and matrices for policy and performance in Vineyard. Fullmer has helped develop state policy to better the community of Vineyard and other local municipalities in Utah, keeping the government closest to the people. These policies have opened city access, closed contracts, managed growth, and created sustainable solutions for city-wise management. Her fiscal management has been demonstrated in balanced budgets, high bond ratings, and infrastructure investment that has produced high yield returns in anchors that have built and diversified the Vineyards tax base. Her fiscal approach has also been showcased in Vineyard's emergency and project savings and high council participation. These impactful, collaborative, fiscally conservative, and strategic approaches highlighted have helped allow Vineyard to pay outright for important community needs, such as a firehouse station.

Fullmer serves on boards throughout the state. Her involvement on numerous state boards underscores her commitment to placing Vineyard as a leader in the state in various crucial areas. By advocating for political initiatives, driving economic development, and propelling multi-modal transportation projects, Fullmer has put Vineyard in a strong position to enhance infrastructure and economic opportunities. Fullmer's representation on boards, commissions, and committees dedicated to education, women, health, workforce development, attainable housing, public safety, homeless service, community services, etc., demonstrates her dedication to Vineyard improving the quality of life for its residents. Fullmer is anchored in proactive principles, investing and leading out to place Vineyard in paths for investment, infrastructure, and partnerships that will build Vineyard for residents today and future generations.

Fullmer has rooted herself in hard work and political efficacy, initiating groups like Citizens Champion Change, bringing communities, organizations, and youth groups together to make a difference, such as large clean-up projects, the creation of a small volunteer community children’s library that has grown into larger scale services, an arts cultural recreation and heritage committee, a community garden program, communication tools and other important initiatives within the community, bringing a stronger voice to local communities. These opportunities have brought early amenities and connections to a fast-growing community that otherwise wouldn’t have access to these services.

Fullmer has been nationally recognized as a champion of democracy and regulatory innovation for her work in strategic fiscal management, deregulation, streamlining processes, and successful technological advancements. Through these efforts, Vineyard has been nationally recognized for several years for its innovative successes.

Re-Elected in Mayor of Vineyard 2021 (2022-2025)
Elected Mayor of Vineyard 2017 (2018-2021)
Elected to the Vineyard City Council 2013 (2014-2017)
Appointed Vineyard  Planning Commission 2011 

Personal: 
Fullmer was born in Texas, attended college in Kansas City, Missouri, where she met her husband, and later transferred to Utah Valley University. Fullmer built her house in Vineyard in 2010 and moved in when there were only 139 people.  Fullmer has founded and operated several businesses, allowing her to work from home. 

“This lifestyle has contributed to giving my family the freedom to travel the world and serve our community wholeheartedly. Out of everywhere we have been, we love coming home to Vineyard, Utah! I love this growing Community! It is beautiful and friendly, and I believe everyone has a voice in this community! I love the opportunity I’ve had to serve with my neighbors and build something incredible together.  I have a beautiful family and kids born and raised in Vineyard, and we are all very dedicated to making this the best place for our family, friends, and neighbors, and greater community.” 

———

In 2017, I spoke about the need to create clear communication and transparency in the city. I expressed the need to focus on transportation and economic development, manage density, and create a safer cleaner Vineyard. After the city elected me in 2018, we set out to update the general plan to manage density, bringing in sustainable development to the right places, and updated planned areas to be more connected, cleaner, safer, and designed in ways that facilitate better overall quality of life for the community. 

We held massive public engagement forums, invited key stakeholders, and created a plan for the zoning to better suit the community's needs. For the last four years, the City Council has successfully defended the plans in this document.

Five infrastructure projects that needed to be accomplished that the city was struggling to complete due to lack of funding and complicated relationships with Union Pacific Railroad, state entities, and private landowners, including:

  • The Center Street overpass
  • The Vineyard Connector
  • The FrontRunner Station
  • The Water Tank
  • The Removal and Realignment of Railroad Track

These projects were critical to our city's economic center and moving people throughout the community and region. The Center Street overpass (10MM) came in on time and under budget. The air rights went through the US Supreme Court and, after a lot of effort, was turned over to the Community. We developed an excellent relationship with Union Pacific railroad, and we were able to finalize this west to east connection. The rail spur line realignment (20MM+) had been unsolvable for many years. However, several meetings with federal senators, state reps, and Union Pacific railroad moved the contract forward. We found additional funding and are currently in the designing phase of the realignment. 

The Vineyard Connector is a Utah Department of Transportation road. Despite growing at 10,000% and exhibiting the need for this connection with continuing growth, state funding was out 8+ years for the next phase of this road. However, great partnerships and negotiations helped bring in the second phase of the Vineyard Connector, tying Main St to 1600N. We were able to obtain the funding amount of (16MM) in 2021.

The FrontRunner was another roadblock to Vineyard’s economic center. Large companies stipulated their contracts based on the FrontRunner station's arrival. In 2018, we received 4mm dollars for the project. However, as we started the design, the federal government's unfunded positive train control mandate came in, and another 21MM was needed to complete double-tracking in Northern Utah County for additional stations to open. In 2019, the Utah County Council of Governments, Mayors, Commissioners, and at large members elected me to be on the Utah Transit Advisory Council, where I was able to find 20 million dollars for the double tracking of Utah Counties future frontrunner stations, including Vineyards. This has increased contracts in the transit-oriented development and economic center in Vineyard. 

As the city continued to build out and the need to secure water and build capacity for storage expanded, I worked together with the city council and staff to obtain land, design the tank, and fund the water tank. This is critical to the infrastructure of our economic center and the residents of our community. In the last 3 years, all of the projects were either resolved, funded, completed, nearing completion, or beginning construction. Each of these infrastructure projects creates strong connections to development and resources and opens Vineyard to economic vitality where it was previously severed.

We obtained funding to complete the regional trail connections, beachfront designs, and construction, re-establishing Vineyard as a priority for a new elementary school, and many more projects that will continue to make Vineyard a beautiful home for all of us. 

Economic development has soared in the last several years. When the pandemic hit, I worked with the businesses in Vineyard to help change their business models. Together, we deregulated where possible to keep our economy open. Companies continued to build in Vineyard throughout the pandemic, and contracts with anchor tenants and grocers are underway as the pandemic begins to lift.

In 2017 we had nearly 8 thousand people, and the prior contracts made it so we didn’t have full police coverage. We now have full coverage with exceptional response times and below-average crime rates. We have been setting money aside for a fire station, and we continue to find ways to advance our coverage for residents and make partnerships with our local and regional hospitals to create well-connected, healthy community systems.

In 2017 I had proposed and helped institute a social media platform, building on my rebranding effort as a City Council person to help Vineyard tell its story and get information out to our residents. Since that time, we have implemented robust communication processes with emergency notification systems, online city council and planning commission streaming services, survey applications such as Assemble, a quick online response team on our website with Podium, and a constituent-facing atmosphere within the city. The transparency that had been lacking and the records that had been obscured before are now open, digitized, on time, and easy to access.

There is so much more that could not be mentioned here and so much left to be done. My passion for Vineyard continues to build. The economy continues to rebuild after the pandemic, but with changes in the market that need innovative and creative thinkers to drive our commerce zones forward. As the redevelopment of Vineyard enters a new phase, the community needs fiscally minded individuals that understand how to cut waste, keep us in the black, and make financial decisions that will have long term gains for the community. 

We need someone willing to dedicate their time working with national and state leaders driving industry in while protecting the quiet, safe feeling of home. Vineyard needs someone willing to listen and understand the community's needs while incorporating the data and working skillfully to serve the community. I’ve been serving the people of our community for almost 10 years, actively engaged in bettering the community, coming to the table of decision-making, and fighting for the needs of the individuals and neighborhoods of Vineyard. I’ve met with thousands of you who know me individually. I find time to know the needs of your communities. I visit your neighborhoods weekly to understand the challenges you are facing and help find solutions. I strive to know the information of the city, region, and state, the desires of the people, and then find a way to implement good policy. 

I invite all current and future Vineyard public servants to serve with passion, integrity, an enduring dedication with a forceful work ethic, a listening ear,  and a deep commitment to the people of Vineyard and the Constitution because that is what our city deserves.

BRANDING

City branding refers to all the activities that are undertaken with the purpose of turning a city from a location into a destination, making a city into a place where people want to live, work, and visit." Place branding is a process made up of several sub-processes. Unlike branding, simpler entities like a product, service, company, person, or classical subjects of branding, place branding, and in particular nation and city branding, is a complex process. The complexity comes from the great diversity of stakeholders in the process.

In general, a place brand is derived from existing assets of the place, such as its value offering or public perception. Otherwise, the place brand is derived from created assets, such as events, policies, abstract concepts of tolerance, and so on.