County Democrats criticized the letter in a May 7 press release, accusing the mayors of seeking to “overturn county elections.”
In their April 14 letter, Mayors Kay Richins of Henefer, Mark Marsh of Coalville, Matt McCormick of Kamas and Jeremie Forman of Francis asked state leaders to strengthen a new law districting the at-large county council.
Mayors from Park City and Oakley did not sign the letter.
House Bill 356 forces Summit County to abandon its current at-large council structure and establish five voting districts. Under the law a committee — mostly made up of the mayors — would draw the new districts this year. Current councilmembers would be assigned to them at random and allowed to serve the remainder of their terms.
Lawmakers are expected to revise HB356 during a special session this month, after inadvertently roping Wasatch County into the same requirement to draw districts.
The mayors’ letter says they want the law changed to allow for an election to seat new councilmembers as soon as districts are in place. Forgoing an “immediate special election,” they wrote, “only prolongs the inequity HB356 was designed to fix.”
The bill, which local Republicans said they initially drafted, has been praised by some eastside residents who say it gives them a voice, geographically and politically.
Most current councilmembers and county officials have said they don’t oppose districts but that HB356 boils down to a partisan power grab. They’ve criticized the lack of public input during the legislative process and held their own public hearings on the bill after the fact.
Council Chair Tonja Hanson, who lives in Coalville, is one of those who’d likely be challenged in the event of a special election.
“I was so disappointed and heartbroken to see that letter. I really felt betrayed by the mayors, and the reason I say that is because I had spoken to each one of those men individually and talked about this bill, House Bill 356, and not trying to change their opinion on everything, but giving them the facts,” she said on KPCW’s “Local News Hour” May 8.
All of the current councilmembers are members of the Democratic party, which claims the mayors who wrote the letter are Republicans. The Democratic party is now asking the four mayors “to reconsider and rescind their request.”
It is framing the letter as an effort to overturn the results of November’s election.
Marsh and McCormick did not respond to KPCW’s requests for comment May 8. Richins declined to comment, and Forman said he was unable to provide comment by press time.
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