Tuhaye resident Craig Savage filed voter challenges Sept. 18, calling into question the residency of 18 people slated to vote on West Hills incorporation weeks before the election.
Opponents of the town proposed between Kamas and Hideout successfully blocked the election in court last year. This summer, the Utah Supreme Court put West Hills back on the November ballot.
KPCW obtained voter challenges submitted to the Summit County Clerk’s Office through a public records request. The submittal says 92 people were registered to vote in West Hills’ proposed boundaries.
Interim Clerk Malena Stevens said her office is reviewing the allegations and has not decided whether to disqualify anyone yet. Staff notified the challenged voters, who have until Oct. 13 to submit evidence of eligibility.
Savage claims the voters have conflicting addresses, some pointing to residency along the Wasatch Front. The challenges cite mailing addresses, school enrollment, hunting licenses and motor vehicle registrations.
He enlisted Tom Perez, an attorney with Mayer Brown and a prominent figure in national politics, to help with the voter challenges.
“If you live down in Salt Lake City or you live in Provo or somewhere else, and you've got your weekend place, that is wonderful,” Perez told KPCW. “But that weekend place is not your primary residence, and therefore you can't vote there.”
Savage claims one property, with three registered voters, does not have any permanent structures, only an RV.
Two other properties each have two white, doublewide homes. Savage challenged two voters registered at one property and seven at the other.
Both lots are owned by LLCs associated with the West Hills incorporation sponsor, Derek Anderson.
The Salt Lake City real estate attorney told KPCW he could not speak to anyone’s residency but his own, saying “where people live is their choice.”
Anderson has previously raised concerns about whether West Hills detractors were considering moving people into RVs to vote against incorporation. He cites text messages another critic of his, Lindy Sternlight, exchanged with the mayor of Francis last year.
Sternlight told KPCW they were actually discussing the fear that RVs would bring in people to vote “yes” on incorporation.
The fight over West Hills has largely played out as a referendum on development and local land use control. Only residents within the proposed boundaries can vote on incorporation.
Supporters have advocated for “modest new growth.” Critics have complained the process allowed for gerrymandering and believe West Hills wouldn’t mesh with the Kamas Valley’s rural character.
“Our goal is to make sure that only eligible people vote. If someone has established residency in a bona fide manner, and can demonstrate that, then they should be able to vote,” Perez said.
Anderson characterizes the voter challenges as “an effort to intimidate voters and decide in advance who gets to vote.”
“The clerk has a defined process for these challenges, and we will respect the outcome,” he added.
In a still-pending state lawsuit over incorporation, anti-West Hills parties were formerly represented by Michael Judd. Judd is a shareholder at Parsons, Behle & Latimer, which is a financial supporter of KPCW.
Court records show attorney Sean Egan replaced Judd in the anti-West Hills lawsuit in August.
