Suit wants Syracuse government to revert

A group of Syracuse residents has filed a lawsuit against the city and is seeking to take things back they way they were.

In October, the Syracuse City Council voted 4-1 to take away Mayor Fred Panucci's role as CEO and give it to then-city administrator Ken Hubler.

The same vote also meant that Hubler's title would become city manager and that he would report to both the city council and Panucci instead of just to Panucci.

The four council members say they feel the arrangement makes more people accountable for how the city operates.

Hubler was fired by the City Council and mayor on Feb. 8.

Panucci and a number of residents disagreed with the council's October vote.

And from October until the end of 2006, a group of petitioners, led by former Mayor DeLore Thurgood, gathered 1,675 signatures — well above the 944 signatures required — to get a referendum on a ballot this year.

The petitioners have also repeatedly asked the City Council to rescind its decision.

The Feb. 13 council meeting proved to be the last straw.

Thurgood and fellow petitioners told the council they received a legal opinion from a legislative attorney that stated the council was in the wrong.

Council members requested a copy of the opinion and promised to review it but declined to take any action that night.

The residents will see city officials in 2nd District Court in Layton on Tuesday morning. They are asking a judge to grant a temporary restraining order against the council to overturn the ordinance it passed Oct. 10.

Then, if the people vote for the change in November, that's fine, Thurgood said.

The groups' attorney, Todd Weiler, said the council has neglected its duty to make the referendum process happen smoothly.

"They're just sticking their heads in the sand and pretending there's no referendum," Weiler said.

Councilman Phil Orton said he was surprised at being served with legal papers Friday, because he hadn't had a chance to review the copy of the legal opinion Thurgood provided.

"It almost feels like it (the lawsuit) was planned out well beforehand," Orton said.

Weiler said the council has had five months to consider the legal aspects of the ordinance it passed and the ensuing referendum petition.

Though council members maintain that what they did in October was only a clarification of the form of government the city had been operating under, Weiler called what happened a power struggle and said it's similar to a recent power struggle in Bluffdale.

In September 2006, the Bluffdale City Council passed an ordinance that stripped Mayor Claudia Anderson of her administrative powers and created the office of city manager.