Elk Ridge attorney lays down the law

ELK RIDGE, Utah County — The city attorney this week reminded the City Council who the boss is after a near-mutiny.

Last month, the council called a special meeting, when Mayor Kenneth Lutes was out of town, to address certain issues after some council members accused the mayor of stalling. Residents objected, however, and asked the council to table all issues until the mayor returned, which it did.

City attorney David Church said the mayor is the city's chief executive officer and the City Council chairman, unless the council changes that by unanimous vote, which it hasn't.

"All employees report to the mayor," Church said.

At an earlier meeting, Lutes accused the council of harassing city employees, suggesting they didn't have to follow the mayor's direction.

Council members accused Lutes of attempting to have staff modify a Planning Commission recommendation before it went to the City Council, which led to the resignation of planner Shawn Eliot. The council is now in the process of finding a new planner.

Elk Ridge's six-member City Council allows the mayor to break ties or vote when his powers are to be modified. If his powers are threatened, the mayor needs just one council member on his side to overcome the council, Church said.

The mayor's duty is to carry out the policies and ordinances of the five council members in city matters. The mayor can also assign duties to council members, but the member isn't required to accept the assignment.

The council may also decide how meetings are to be run, but since the Elk Ridge panel has never done that, it's up to the mayor to run the meetings as he wishes.

— Rodger L. Hardy