Critics of Hutchings - including some members of the Kearns Town Council - say that hundreds of thousands of dollars awarded for community development and youth education programs were not adequately accounted for.
Hutchings, R-Kearns, says the money was secured through grants written by his wife, Stacey Hutchings, and leveraged local matching contributions in the form of money, goods and volunteer labor to develop or enhance numerous programs designed to improve the quality of life in Kearns.
Stacey, as chairwoman of the Kearns Coalition, wrote and secured the grants from the state of Utah and the U.S. Department of Justice, whose Drug-Free Communities grant accounted for $332,000 of the half-million total over four years.
Some Town Council members, however, say most of the money went to salaries and expenses for Stacey and Eric, who was hired as the coalition's economic developer, and other program administrators, including Stacey's mother and siblings. Only 26 percent, they say, went to programs.
Because the coalition was not a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, the grants were written under the authority of the Town Council, which froze about $20,000 of unspent money left over from the Department of Justice grant. The council was ordered recently by a DOJ official to return the unspent money to the department. So far, the council has not complied with that demand because some members want better documentation of the expenses.
Eric Hutchings says it is true that more money went to salaries and expenses than programs and that family members have been on the payroll, but he says it all was approved by the Department of Justice, the granting agency. He says the employees or contractors, whether relatives or not, have provided valuable consulting and counseling services.
One $30,000 grant was leveraged into $250,000 worth of beautification and infrastructure improvements done in Kearns through volunteer efforts and in-kind donations from local residents and companies, he says.
The coalition has justified all its expenses to the Department of Justice, which does not have a problem with the coalition's activities, Eric says. He also noted the Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office investigated the accusations and took no action.
Council member Claudia Nabos gave an impassioned speech at a recent council meeting, accusing some of her colleagues of allowing the council's name to be used for the grants without adequately following through. A "Citizens for Ethical Government" group also has been formed in Kearns and wants answers about the coalition's expenses.
But Eric Hutchings says those who criticize him and his wife have a political agenda. They resent that he was appointed as a Democrat to fill the unexpired term of former Democratic Rep. Gary Cox, then switched to the Republican Party after he was appointed. He says the two leaders of "Citizens for Ethical Government" are his 2004 and 2002 Democratic opponents.
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