Eagle Mountain mayor resigns

EAGLE MOUNTAIN — Mayor Brian Olsen resigned Friday, making the announcement by posting letters outside City Hall containing signatures of all the City Council members.

Olsen cited "family and personal considerations" as the reason for his resignation, which is effective immediately.

The posting of Olsen's resignation came after City Council members met in an emergency closed-door session Friday night to discuss "a pending criminal investigation regarding a city employee," according to a public agenda for the meeting that was posted that afternoon.

The City Council called another emergency meeting, which will take place this morning at 8:30 at City Hall to chose a mayor to serve pro-tem.

Eagle Mountain spokeswoman Linda Peterson declined to comment on a potential criminal investigation.

"At this point, I can't say anything," Peterson said.

As of press time, Olsen had not returned phone calls for comment.

Peterson contacted media outlets early Friday afternoon to announce a press conference that would take place later that evening. Then, a few hours later, news reporters were contacted and told the conference would be postponed until possibly Monday.

Two members of the City Council contacted by the Deseret Morning News also declined to comment.

Olsen and members of the City Council have recently clashed over budget issues and the mayor's control over City Council meetings, among other things. Some members of the council circulated fliers in the community that called into question the mayor's use of city funds.

Olsen addressed those questions at a public meeting Oct. 3.

Point by point, he addressed the allegations, saying he made no mistake in transferring money between departments or in other decisions he has made that drew contention from the council.

"My interest is good city government," Olsen told residents at the meeting. "All I'm interested in is being proactive and being constructive in the best government you receive."

Some City Council members also balked at Olsen's request to have their computers scanned for pornography by a city auditor. The scan applied to all city-owned computers.

One council member said he did not "trust" Olsen to scan his computer and he had his computer scanned by an independent company instead.

Council members began openly saying they were wary of Olsen after reports of the mayor's misrepresentation of having a master's degree were made public. The mayor admitted to lying for some time about earning the degree.

Olsen had worked as a Utah Highway Patrol trooper but resigned from his position after the UHP began conducting an internal investigation into whether he had lied about having a master's degree while he was on the job.

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E-mail: achoate@desnews.com