Bluffdale Council may take mayor to court

The Bluffdale City Council says it's willing to go to court to fight Mayor Claudia Anderson's unilateral decision to fire a city administrator.

The City Council contends that Anderson was acting outside her authority last month when she issued a letter of termination to Brent Bluth, who has been the city's administrative services director since June 2003.

Anderson then appointed former state Rep. Dave Hogue to fill the position on an interim basis, until a permanent replacement is hired.

Councilman Bill Maxwell said the council does not support either decision and is pursuing legal action to get Bluth's firing overturned.

"I think (Anderson) is going to force us to do that," Maxwell said in an interview Monday. "We're proceeding to do some things (legally). It will cost more and take longer than we want it to, but we're working toward that end."

Anderson said that as Bluffdale's mayor and chief executive officer, she acted in accordance with state code and the city's policies and procedures when she fired Bluth.

Despite objections from the City Council, Anderson said she has no plans to rescind the firing.

"The decision has been made," she said Monday. "Now we all need to move on and run the city."

In the letter of termination that Anderson hand-delivered to Bluth on Jan. 17, the mayor accused him of functioning as a "chief strategist" working against a residents' referendum and against the mayor over an ordinance that stripped Anderson of her administrative powers.

She also contends that Bluth sent e-mails to members of the City Council that contained "misstatements and criticisms" of her. Those actions, she wrote, "demonstrate that you are wholly incapable of assisting the mayor in her duties or fulfilling your duties under me as the director of administrative services."

Anderson said she and Bluth first attempted to negotiate an agreement in which he would resign from his city post, but the deal was never finalized.

In an e-mail to the Deseret Morning News, Bluth said he believes the mayor's decision to fire him was "unjustified" and that the letter of termination "contains allegations that I believe to be unfounded and potentially defamatory."

Bluth said he and Anderson had reached an agreement in which he would resign and the mayor would release him from the lawsuit she filed against Bluth and the five members of the City Council over the form-of-government dispute.