Bluffdale feud festers

BLUFFDALE — For a city that touts itself as the final place for rural living along the Wasatch Front, things aren't very peaceful these days in Bluffdale.

Signs dot front yards throughout the southwest Salt Lake County city, some instructing residents to "vote against weakening Bluffdale city government" and others encouraging them to "vote for Bluffdale" and "save our city."

Meanwhile, Mayor Claudia Anderson is pointing fingers at the Bluffdale City Council for a recent lawsuit filed against the city, and council members are deflecting blame back at the mayor.

This latest feud among Bluffdale's elected officials is another example of why a community divided will cast its ballots Tuesday in a special election about the city's form of government.

Voters will decide whether to uphold or nullify the council's decision in September to strip Anderson of her administrative powers and shift them to a city manager.

Residents upset with the council's action gathered enough signatures on referendum petitions to bring the issue to a vote. They contend that the council's ordinance changes the city's form of government — a decision they say should be made by voters.

Mayor Anderson said the council is trying to take away the vote of residents who elected her to the position expecting her to have the same duties and powers as the previous mayor.

"This isn't about me," Anderson said. "This is about the citizens' right to vote. If they vote for (the council's ordinance), they're voting to take their vote away."

Members of the council say Anderson has been unwilling to work with them since she took office in January 2006 and left them no choice but to use their legislative authority to create a city manager by ordinance.

"She is a very poor leader," Councilwoman Martha Speed said. "We cannot do our jobs because she gets in the way every time."

Speed cited events that led to a recent lawsuit filed against the city as an example of Anderson hindering the council's decision-making.

Cedar Hills resident H.R. Brown filed a civil rights complaint against Bluffdale after being denied a business license to operate a residential alcohol- and drug-treatment center in the city.

Brown has appealed the denial, but the city doesn't have an active Board of Adjustments to hear the appeal. In the lawsuit, Brown claims he has been denied due process, and he's suing for $100,000.

Anderson has presented the council with nominations for the board during at least two recent council meetings, but the issue has been tabled by the council for lack of information.