PROVO — Whoops. Before you head to your city council meeting today, check to make sure it hasn't been moved to another time or date.

City councils around Utah scrambled last week and as late as Monday to reschedule meetings planned for tonight because they forgot Republicans and Democrats are gathering at the same time in neighborhood party caucuses.

Decades-old tradition always reserved Monday nights for the meetings, where precincts gather in homes or schools to select delegates to county and state conventions.

That's what several cities were banking on again this year when they scheduled council meetings. But two years ago, after LDS Church President Gordon B. Hinckley urged school and community organizations not to schedule events on Monday nights, both parties moved their caucuses to Tuesday.

Provo's City Council decided late last week to accommodate council members and others who would have been torn between the meeting and their neighborhood caucuses. As a result, the council meeting won't start until 9 p.m.

"There are some very important items on the council agenda that should draw a lot of public interest," Provo City Council chairman George Stewart said. "We thought it was important to allow people to go to both our meeting and their party's caucus in their neighborhoods."

Springville Mayor Fritz Boyer agreed Monday afternoon to make an arrangement similar to Provo's. He said all of Springville's City Council members felt strongly about attending the caucuses.

Spanish Fork and Lindon decided Monday to hold their meetings around the caucuses — literally. Both will start at 6 p.m., adjourn before 7 and then reconvene after the caucuses.

"We'll conduct some other business, then adjourn so we can go to the caucuses and then come back — unless we're really, really efficient and get everything done in 45 minutes," Spanish Fork Mayor Joe Thomas said. "In the future, we're going to make sure we don't schedule meetings that conflict with the caucuses."

In Davis County, Woods Cross and Fruit Heights planned ahead for the caucuses but kept the same date, moving their meetings to earlier in the day.

Other cities took different tacks. Eagle Mountain, Pleasant Grove and Saratoga Springs canceled their meetings. Cedar Hills moved its City Council meeting to Wednesday. Highland moved its to Thursday.

"Thursday was the open date the majority of the council could be in attendance," Highland City Councilwoman Kathryn Schramm said. "We changed our meeting because we want to support the patriotic-duty kinds of things and we'd like to go to those meetings as well. We'd like to be involved in our neighborhood party caucuses."

Davis County's Centerville, Kaysville and West Point also changed dates.

Council members throughout the state are among those who want to become delegates or who will be seeking precinct offices. Highland's Schramm is running for precinct chairman. Eagle Mountain Councilman Dave Lifferth said he will be running, too. Lifferth has served as a Utah County delegate and has been his Republican precinct's vice chairman and secretary.

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