Syracuse to suspend ordinance

FARMINGTON — A 2nd District judge ruled Thursday that Syracuse must suspend an ordinance passed last October until residents can vote on it next November.

That means Syracuse Mayor Fred Panucci is the city's chief executive officer and that the city no longer operates with a city manager, which the city is currently trying to hire.

Syracuse will now likely be looking for a city administrator.

"I'm pleased that it's over," Panucci said Thursday after learning of Judge Jon Memmott's ruling. "I'm looking forward to working with the City Council and getting Syracuse back on track."

In October, the City Council voted 4-1 to make then-city administrator Ken Hubler CEO and city manager so that he would report to the city's entire governing body and not just Panucci. Hubler has since been fired.

After the council passed the Oct. 10 ordinance, six Syracuse residents began circulating referendum petitions to put the council's ordinance to a vote. They gathered more than the requisite 944 signatures, which were certified Jan. 8.

Over the past six months, four of the petitioners had asked the City Council to rescind its ordinance and threatened legal action if the ordinance wasn't suspended.

They cited the Utah Constitution, which says an ordinance must be suspended if the minimum number of signatures is certified to request a referendum. But the council cited a section of Utah code that states an ordinance may still take effect until a vote happens.

The same arguments were made in Memmott's courtroom Thursday.

"This is a case that there is absolutely clear conflict between the constitution and statutory language," Memmott said.

The section of state code has been submitted to the Utah Legislature in the past because legislative counsel believed it was unconstitutional, Memmott said. But the Legislature never changed it after it was opposed by the Utah League of Cities and Towns and some developers.

Memmott said Syracuse city attorney Todd Godfrey within the next 15 days should draft the language of the ballot measure to come before the city's voters in November.

Larry Shingleton, one of the residents who brought the lawsuit against the city, said the constitution should have been the key for the City Council.

"That's what we've been saying all along," Shingleton said.