Lehi mayor steamed over ordinance

LEHI — Lehi Mayor Howard Johnson expressed outrage on Monday that Lehi's City Council may vote tonight to put into place an ordinance that would effectively take away his administrative and chief executive officer powers.

Although City Council member Mark Johnson said he and some others on the council view the ordinance as a "clarification" of duties of the city administrator and the mayor, Howard Johnson insists that the move, if enacted, would be an act of retribution.

"They want to change the form of government and put the mayor on the sideline because they can't control me and they're mad at me," Howard Johnson said. "It has nothing to do with government. It has absolutely nothing to do with government."

The mayor, who won election in November, found out about the proposed ordinance after a City Council meeting that he was asked to leave. He thinks he was asked to leave the meeting by the members of the council so they could privately discuss the plan to change the form of government.

The lack of communication about the issue, Howard Johnson said, raises a red flag about the council's intentions.

"Does it seem reasonable to make that kind of change in a week's time without public comment?" he said. "The people voted for the mayor to do certain things, and because (city council members) don't like what the mayor is, they're going to change it — contrary to what the people want."

David Church, general legal counsel for the Utah League of Cities and Towns, said the kind of adjustment suggested by the Lehi City Council— to have a city manager by ordinance— is a common step taken when cities expand.

Changing the Lehi city administrator's role this way does not require public comment or vote. Instead, the council can pass an ordinance that turns the city's administrator into the city manager.

Although Church said members of the community would not notice a difference in how the city is run, the day-to-day responsibilities of the mayor would be greatly impacted.

The administrative duties of the mayor, such as the process of hiring and firing city officials, would instead fall to the city manager. The manager, who is not an elected official, would answer to the city council in executing his decisions.

"The mayor becomes a ceremonial mayor only," Church said. "He still chairs city council, still votes in the case of a tie, still cuts the ribbons and he still kisses the baby."