Syracuse to vote on mayor's role, beer licensing

SYRACUSE — Should Syracuse have a mayor who acts as the chief operating officer or a city manager who acts as the CEO?

It sounds simple enough, but this issue, called "Citizens city referendum No. 1," (not to be confused with voucher referendum) has divided the city like no other controversy in recent years. It's one of two referendums the city's voters are facing on Nov. 6.

Syracuse city currently has the strong-mayor form of government, where the mayor is also the CEO of the city.

The referendum, if passed, will remove the mayor's title of chief executive officer. It changes the title of the officer of city administrator to city manager, who reports to the governing body as whole, rather than the mayor only, and designates the manager as the CEO of the city.

The proposed ordinance also states that the city manager shall review and recommend contracts to the City Council and sign contracts on behalf of the city.

Most cities in Utah operate under the form of government that Referendum 1 is calling for.

"An elected official should be the CEO," Delore Thurgood, former Syracuse mayor said, opposing Referendum No. 1. "It should be someone we can hold accountable."

Thurgood helped overturn the Syracuse City Council's action earlier this year to strip the mayor of his CEO power.

"They violated the constitutional rights of the people," Thurgood said. "The people should be able to vote on it."

Four of the city's councilmen — Daniel Hammon, Lurlen Knight, Phillip Orton and Dean Steel — remain firmly for the referendum. That's because they feel it offers the most balanced and open form of government.

"There's better accountability," Steel said at a recent debate on the referendum. "Six people are making decisions, rather than one."

Syracuse Mayor Fred Panucci is encouraging residents to vote against the referendum. If the residents don't agree with the mayor's decisions, they can simply vote him out, he said.

• While city referendum No. 1 is stealing most of the attention in town, there is also a "Referendum 2" — also unique to Syracuse voters — that would amend the city's beer-licensing regulations.

The ordinance was approved in February but is now up for a vote to continue or replace it.