Former Highland mayor cleared in conflict of interest case

HIGHLAND — Almost a year after conflict of interest charges were filed against Jay Franson, the former mayor's name has been cleared.

The Utah County Attorney's Office on Monday said there was "insufficient evidence" to charge the one-time Highland mayor who lost his bid for re-election last year.

"There's no question in my mind it was politically motivated," Franson said. "Did it affect the elections? When 65 percent of the residents don't vote, I don't know. But the challenge of being involved in a public office and having people attack you is very difficult."

The allegations stemmed from Jay Haws, a former Highland employee, and Kathryn Schramm, a Highland City councilwoman. They accused Franson of using his mayoral position to reward neighboring American Fork for hiring Franson Civil Engineers to work on a pressurized irrigation project in 2007.

Part of that construction had to take place in Highland, and Franson never declared his conflict of interest with the City Council.

Haws and Schramm filed their complaints with the Utah attorney general in June 2009. The complaints were later passed on to the county attorney.

Haws, who had not heard the ruling Monday, said he still believes Franson is guilty but will not file an appeal.

"I think it's interesting it's taken them this long to decide," Haws said. "There must have been something they were looking at closely. I think it's pretty obvious he violated the conflict of interest statute."

Attempts to reach Schramm for comment were unsuccessful.

According to documents obtained by the Deseret News through the Government Records Access and Management Act, the Utah County Attorney's Office found that Franson Civil Engineers "made reasonable efforts to avoid doing work in Highland city."

Franson claimed he provided a conflict of interest form to Highland, but city officials were unable to find that form and indicated they may have lost it in an office move.

"Nevertheless, even without the disclosure, it appears that Mr. Franson may not have had to make such a disclosure because he was not hired to do work in Highland city," wrote Jeffrey Buhman, county attorney.

Supporters of Franson saw the charges as a political move to sabotage Franson's re-election. Haws and Schramm had been researching the charges since 2007, filed them a year later and took them to a local newspaper a month before the primaries.

It was the first time the rest of the City Council and Franson himself heard of the complaints.

Haws and Schramm said they were hoping for an answer from the attorney general well before elections. They said they believed voters needed to know the issue existed before heading to the ballot box.

Other opponents of Franson, 68 percent who voted for his challenger and new Mayor Lynn Ritchie, say Franson lost the elections because of a tarnished first term during which the city accrued $14 million in bonded debt.

e-mail: astowell@desnews.com