Bluffdale firing irks some on City Council

BLUFFDALE — Deja vu hit the Bluffdale city offices this week when Mayor Claudia Anderson issued a letter of termination to administrative-services director Brent Bluth. Her unilateral move raised hackles among some Bluffdale City Council members.

It's the second time in five months that Anderson has tried to get rid of the administrator, though this time Bluth appears ready to walk away.

In an e-mail to the Deseret Morning News, Anderson said she and Bluth reached an agreement Wednesday in which he would resign and the city would honor a severance package that was put in place by the previous mayor, Wayne Mortimer.

In a recent interview, Anderson described the severance deal as a "golden parachute" extended to Bluth at the 11th hour of Mortimer's term to make sure Anderson couldn't get rid of "his guy."

Specifics of the severance deal were unavailable Friday, but it's believed to include about 50 percent of Bluth's roughly $70,000 annual salary and continued benefits for six months.

Former state representative Dave Hogue has taken over as interim administrative services director. A search for a permanent replacement began Friday, Anderson said. The position is being advertised as mayor's assistant/director of administrative services.

Members of the Bluffdale council were made aware of the agreement via e-mail Wednesday night. The three council members reached for comment Friday all said they were opposed to the mayor's action and challenged her authority to make such a decision.

"She can't legally do it," Councilman Bill Maxwell said, "but nothing she does surprises me."

Maxwell said the mayor called him Wednesday and asked that the council support the decision and honor Bluth's severance package.

"I told her we're not interested in having him terminated," he said. "Of course, as she normally does, she did it anyway. It was never agreed to by the City Council."

The council members also expressed concern over the mayor's decision to appoint Hogue to the post on an interim basis without their approval.

"She has to have the advice and consent of the council to do that, and she just went ahead and did it," said Councilman Jess Kelley. "That's not going to fly with me or other members of the council."

Councilwoman Martha Speed said Bluth was forced to step down as a result of repeated conflicts with the mayor since she took office in January 2006.

"It's something he's willing to do because the situation has reached gigantic proportions of an unlivable situation," Speed said. "He's been forced to want it. It's not what would have been his choice."

Attempts to reach Bluth for comment Friday were unsuccessful.

Bluth was hired as Bluffdale's administrative-services director in June 2003. He has nearly 24 years of experience in municipal management and has served as a city councilman in Elk Ridge, where he lives with his family.

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E-mail: jpage@desnews.com