WEST JORDAN — A group of residents seeking to change the city's form of government so that its mayor is more powerful won't have the support of the current mayor.

Mayor Bryan Holladay, who said he will seek re-election and could therefore be affected by any change in mayoral power, issued a statement at a special City Council meeting Tuesday saying he opposes the change for several reasons.

The issue came before the council because a group of residents is planning to distribute a petition calling for a citywide vote on changing to a form of government that focuses power on the mayor.

"We want the checks and balances that go with the form of government the state runs under," said Jay Sheen, a spokesman for the residents seeking the change.

Residents see the mayor as serving in a role similar to governor or president — a powerful elected official who works full time on the needs of the city. Sheen said the mayor is more accountable to the people than the city manager, who is currently the city's CEO under the manager-council form of government.

But Councilman Mike Kellermeyer had called for the council to pass a resolution opposing the change. It touted "a period of success and prosperity" overseen by the manager-council form of government and said 63 percent of cities nationwide, whose populations are greater than 25,000, operate with a strong city manager.

That resolution was tabled Tuesday because the petition sponsors are working with the city attorney to fine-tune "the nuances" of their proposed ordinance, Sheen said.

Holladay's statement outlined several reasons for his opposition to the change:

• Cost: He said the city would maintain a city manager and would have to add such staff members as a deputy mayor, in addition to increasing the mayor's salary. Holladay recently voiced opposition to a proposal to increase the mayor's salary within the manager-council form of government.

• Lack of clarity: Holladay said the currently proposed ordinance calls for a form of government that "has not been tested either for its effectiveness or for legality." He called it a hybrid between the strong mayor-city manager form and the mayor-council form. That may change after the residents update their proposal.

• No reason: "The most common reason given for the change is our growth, and yet that does not alone seem reason enough to make such a change," Holladay's statement said. "In fact, the complexity of the growth of the budget and the infrastructure is a reason not to change."

• Propriety: Holladay said that, as a sitting mayor, he sees it as "poor form to petition for a change of government. . . . Since I am planning to run for mayor this fall, it would be wrong for me to support a change that would directly benefit me."

Sheen said he hopes the residents can have a revised proposal soon, and Kellermeyer said the issue may be taken up at a future council meeting.

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