Eagle Mountain mayor resigns from UHP over credentials claim

EAGLE MOUNTAIN — Mayor Brian Olsen, under fire for falsely claiming he had a master's degree, has resigned from the Utah Highway Patrol amid an investigation into his wearing a ribbon on his uniform that indicated he had earned the degree.

Olsen resigned from his job as a trooper, from which he'd taken a leave of absence to be a full-time mayor, nearly two weeks ago. In his resignation letter, he cited the desire to focus on his "mayoralship."

UHP spokesman Lt. Doug McCleve said the patrol was doing an internal investigation of Olsen after he admitted to lying about having a master's of public administration.

"He resigned in the process, but we were pretty much done," McCleve said, "We did determine he did use that information internally, he represented to the Highway Patrol that he had a master's degree as well. ... Everybody here thought he did, which by the way may create some big issues for us."

McCleve said those issues are credibility, honesty and integrity.

"If we testify in a court of law, honesty and integrity is of the utmost importance and not just in court, everything that we do every day," he said. "Credibility to a trooper's career is probably one of the most important things that we do."

Olsen said he should not have worn the ribbon.

Olsen said he submitted documentation from a public management program in 2003, which he initially believed would give him credit toward a master's degree.

"When they sent me the pin, it was in my box one day, I shouldn't have put it on," he said. "I should have looked into it further. At the time that I received the ribbon I thought that my course work upon completion would transfer over to a master program."

All but one member of the City Council said they would continue to support Olsen, although with caution. Councilman Vincent Liddiard said he thought the mayor should resign.

"I'm not being vindictive. I'm not mad at Brian. I'm very disappointed and I think the only way for the city to recover is for him to step down," Liddiard said. "I'm willing to work with whoever sits on the council. I'm willing to move forward."

Councilwoman Heather Jackson said Olsen has her full confidence in being able to conduct city affairs, but, "I won't just be taking something that the mayor says as absolutely true, I will be checking it as well."