5 mayors say vote on splitting from Jordan District would be legal

Following yet another legal opinion regarding a battle that appears to be headed to court, mayors of five Salt Lake east-side cities say they are confident a vote proposed to split their cities from the Jordan School District would be deemed constitutional.

"It was our intent to identify obstacles that we might face in having our own district," said Kelvyn Cullimore, mayor of Cottonwood Heights, representing the cities — Cottonwood Heights, Sandy, Midvale, Draper and Alta — interested in forming a new district on the east side of Jordan School District. They sought an opinion from Frederick Mark Gedicks, a professor of law at Brigham Young University.

"We were very pleased to find out that when it comes to the 14th Amendment, there are considerations beyond the one man, one vote concept," Cullimore said, referring to the opinion. He later said, "The formation of a new district only establishes a new governance for that district, it does not create new governance for a new entity. It simply reduces the boundaries of the existing entity. They still have their representation and they still have their right to choose."

Legal opinions on the matter began with the Jordan Board of Education, responding to a question posed by west-side mayors. The board wondered if SB30, which details how cities have the option join together and vote to form their own districts, violated the 14th Amendment's "one man, one vote" guarantee.

"This was not done by mistake," Cullimore said. "A decision was made by the Legislature that in order to provide for self-determination, there needed to be an opportunity for groups that may not represent the majority in a school district to vote to secede from a district and form their own district."

The law says that when cities initiate the call for a new district, only people living within the proposed new district can vote whether to secede.

"We are convinced that with this opinion, and with the opinion of the attorney general and that of the Office of Legislative Research, the issue of constitutionality of this particular law should be put to rest," Cullimore said. He challenged any group looking to file suit to do so carefully because it "will have an uphill battle."

However, city leaders on Salt Lake County's west side contend SB30 remains unconstitutional and have threatened to sue. Earlier this week, the Taylorsville City Council authorized the use of up to $15,000 for the legal challenge, and other west-side cities are preparing to do the same.