This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2008, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
OGDEN - An obscure amendment to a Senate bill passed this year gives Mayor Matthew Godfrey - and mayors in five other cities with the same form of government - more power to run redevelopment agencies.
It's is a move Ogden's City Council has resisted - and it was unaware of the change.
Ogden Council Chairwoman Amy Wicks and Councilman Jesse Garcia say they are angry that neither Godfrey nor the city's pointman at the Legislature, Mark Johnson, told the council of their plans to press for the law that trumps council-approved RDA bylaws.
"It was done back-door, stab-you-in-the-back," said Garcia. "We have a written agreement. How can I trust if they turn around and do this?"
The council learned of the new law - it mandates the mayor be executive director of the RDA - only after it took effect this month.
Godfrey was not immediately available for comment Friday. But a fellow mayor, Salt Lake City's Ralph Becker, said the law will not change much about how his city's RDA is managed because the new law reflects the city's practice.
However, Becker, a former state lawmaker, criticized the way the amendment was slipped in during the harried days at the end of the session.
"This amendment was added as the last possible step and wasn't discussed in committee. I find that objectionable," said Becker. ""That's a very bad precedent for a good public process."
Johnson, Ogden's management-services director, said he didn't view the amendment as a top priority for communicating with the council. He and the city's paid lobbyist, Rob Jolley, both pushed for it.
Godfrey wanted the change so the RDA would mirror the balance of power in city government, Johnson said. The council serves as the RDA board and is in charge of policy issues. The mayor, as RDA executive director, is in control of executive decisions.
As long ago as 2002, Godfrey was pressing the council to change the bylaws to shift more power his way. The bylaws were rewritten in 2003, but Johnson said the mayor was at risk of losing power if the council again rewrote the bylaws.
"There's been continued threats to the mayor of replacing him when they don't like things he's done," said Johnson.
Sen. Curtis Bramble, R-Provo, the sponsor of the main bill, said he liked the amendment because it clarified an ambiguity in RDA law. "The control of the RDA is really an executive function," he said.
But it was Rep. Steve Urquhart, R-St. George, who sponsored the amendment. On Friday, he said he didn't expect it to be controversial, and that he will take a second look if cities don't like the measure.
Meanwhile, council members Wicks and Garcia say they fear the amendment will make for less-transparent government. They fear the council may no longer have a say in RDA property sales, purchases and development agreements.
Their colleague, Godfrey ally Brandon Stephenson, said that while he's not bothered by giving the mayor the job of executive director, he was disappointed the mayor did not keep the council informed.
"It has an impact on a lot of other things . . . joint goals where we really require some trust to pull [them] off. This has been damaging to that."
At the request of Ogden's mayor, the Utah Legislature took away from some cities the right to decide how the executive director of redevelopment agencies will be chosen. Senate Bill 294, which took effect this month, says the mayor gets the job.