Some Kanab residents, still fuming over the way their mayor and City Council voted in favor of a "natural family resolution," are fighting back on various political fronts.

"We are reaching out to a broad spectrum of individuals and political groups to make sure they know about the resolution and the way it was handled down here in Kanab," said Scott Clemans, a member of a grassroots organization in Kanab that is calling for state legislators to create a method for recalling elected officials who fall from favor.

"I don't know what kind of a response we'll get, but I do know there are many folks who recognize the need for a recall law."

Among the groups contacted was the American Civil Liberties Union, which has not yet responded to an invitation to weigh in on the group's request, Clemans said.

"One thing that we have learned is that we are going to have to be organized for the long haul," he said. "This community is really in transformation right now. People are bringing new ideas in here all the time. Our desire is to be able to master and manage the changes that are coming."

While Kanab Mayor Kim Lawson narrowly defeated a challenger in 2001, no one stepped up to face him during his re-election campaign last year. Incumbent council members also faced little opposition. To date, only one council member, Carol Ann Sullivan, has publicly pulled support for the resolution.

The Sutherland Institute, a Salt Lake City conservative think tank, provided the resolution to Utah cities and towns. Kanab is the only city out of more than 260 in the state to pass the nonbinding resolution that promotes traditional marriage and gender roles for its residents.

For Cathy McCrystal, another member of the Kanab Take Our Community Back committee, the resolution doesn't represent her views or her city.

"The mayor and City Council members are autocrats rather than public servants," McCrystal said. "This is not a partisan issue. When elected officials are more interested in suppressing public opinion than listening to it, they've violated their sacred trust and need to be removed from office."

Utah has no provision for recalling elected officials. The Kanab group hopes to gather support in the state Legislature to consider passage of a recall law, Clemans said.

"I truly believe the word is getting out that there is a vast majority of people in this town that do not support this resolution, or the mayor and council in their actions," he said.

One Salt Lake County attorney said he believes the group of Kanab citizens could have legal grounds if they were to seek help through the court system.

"I believe the disgruntled folks of Kanab may indeed have a legitimate claim against Kanab officials for a violation of the First Amendment under the First Amendment's anti-establishment clause," Victor Sipos said in an e-mail to the Deseret Morning News. "The religious nature of Kanab's resolution is virtually beyond question. Regardless of the actual text of the resolution, most people understand it to be religious in nature."

Sipos pointed to a similar case involving a Bible Week proclamation issued by the town of Gilbert, Ariz., that was challenged in court. The judge in that case stated some residents' civil rights had been violated by passage of the proclamation, Sipos said.

---

E-mail: nperkins@desnews.com