Review, revamp city codes
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ur guess is that many Utah cities and towns exist in a legal netherworld, blissfully unaware that their ordinances governing powers and responsibilities may be confusing, and perhaps are not in strict compliance with state statute.
This assumption is derived from the recent, unfortunate experience of Syracuse, currently embroiled in a battle over executive powers. City ordinance, the one in place when municipal voters elected Mayor Fred Panucci, identified him as Syracuse's "CEO." Voters naturally expected, then, they were casting ballots for a chief executive officer who would have authority similar to CEOs in the private sector.
But while Syracuse's own laws were specific regarding the mayor's title, they were fuzzy when it came to the definitions and limits of his powers -- as well as those accorded to the City Council. In October, a majority of the City Council decided to revise the city ordinances, in the process removing the CEO title from the mayor, and bestowing it on the former city administrator -- now called city "manager." Because it was not put to a vote of the people, more than 1,700 Syracuse residents have signed a petition they hope will give them a vote on the change-of-government question next year.
While Syracuse politics roil, other communities with similarly out-of-date and out-of-focus ordinances on the books proceed without incident. For now.
The only difference between them and Syracuse is that they have so far been absent a motivating conflict between the mayor and city council. Nobody in Syracuse had imagined that city's laws were in need of a tune-up until disagreements popped up over who could and could not approve various city projects and the expenditure of city funds. Suddenly, both the mayor and council members were asking themselves: Who's in charge?
This may not be the situation in the Top of Utah's larger cities and towns, but smaller communities now beginning to experience rapid growth will surely have to confront the subtleties regarding powers and responsibilities in their own municipal codes soon enough.
For this reason, we caution city councils and mayors across the Top of Utah to begin reviewing their ordinances outlining the powers of mayors, councils, and city administrators or managers. Make sure there are no conflicts between executives' responsibilities and duties. Be certain that your cities are functioning according to the letter of state laws which spell out the permissible forms of local government -- there are various forms to choose from, and the differences can be minor or major.
We make this plea not only because, based on Syracuse's experience, local governments may be able to save themselves a headache down the road, but because the good citizens of these cities and towns deserve to be governed by elected leaders and taxpayer-funded staffs who take their jobs seriously and who abide by the law.
A little work now could save a heap of trouble down the road.
