Font ResizeSouth Salt Lake has released a receipt that shows that Mayor Bob Gray paid for his portion of two city newsletters in which he cast himself as the "election truth referee" and attempted to rebut claims by one candidate.
Utah law forbids the use of taxpayer dollars for political purposes.
Gray paid the city $416 on Oct. 29, reimbursing the city for 13 percent of the two-page ads that ran in August and October editions of the privately owned South Salt Lake Journal . The total cost for both ads was $3,200.
The payment came the same day as The Salt Lake Tribune filed an open records request seeking verification that Gray paid for the political message out of his own pocket. But City Attorney David Carlson said Thursday that the mayor wrote his check before The Tribune inquiry.
Last week, Carlson said he thought Gray's use of his monthly "Mayor's Message" to debunk the claims made by one mayoral candidate, Wes Losser, was "reasonable." But out of an "abundance of caution," Gray chipped in to cover his portion of the city-paid ad.
Losser, a former mayor who was ousted by Gray in 2005, lost Tuesday's race for South Salt Lake mayor to Cherie Wood, Gray's assistant mayor, by a 24-point margin, according to unofficial returns.
Last week, Losser called the use of the official city newsletter to attack his campaign "worrisome." He also complained about another ad that ran in the October Journal
The full-page ad was paid for by Citizens for a Progressive City of South Salt Lake Inc. But a search of the state's financial reporting Web site shows the group had not registered as a corporation, political action committee or political issues committee.
Any group that collects more than $750 and spends more than $50 is required to file financial disclosures. A full page ad in the Journal would cost about $800.
There also was no registration for the entity with the Utah Division of Corporations.
Wood also reported possible illegal activity in the 2009 campaign season. Last week, she filed a complaint with the U.S. Postal Inspector's Office, alleging mail fraud. In a news release, she said residents received packets that falsely listed her campaign as the return address. The mailers included disparaging allegations against the city's Fire Department. The firefighters' union endorsed Wood.
U.S. Postal Inspector Randy Tuckett said his office received Wood's complaint and is reviewing it. But, he noted, the technical definition of mail fraud requires using the mail to defraud people of "property or money."
