GRAMA

SYRACUSE — The appointment of a new police chief has been delayed following a lengthy disagreement Tuesday about whether resumes of prospective candidates legally should have been made available to all members of the city council before this week.

The council voted 3-2 to table a motion to appoint Garret Atkin, currently a Layton police lieutenant, as the new chief to replace Brian Wallace, who is retiring. The vote followed a sometimes pointed exchange among members of the council, Mayor Jamie Nagle and members of the city staff, including Wallace and Fire Chief Eric Froerer.

SYRACUSE — The process of hiring a new police chief in this community appears to be creating a political firestorm along familiar lines.

The storm appears to be another showdown between Mayor Jamie Nagle and several city council members, notably Karianne Lisonbee and Brian Duncan.

The two sides clashed earlier this year when the council went about the process of hiring a new fire chief.

Lisonbee, Duncan and Councilman Larry Shingleton want to review potential candidates for the police chief’s job, but the process may not give them that chance until it’s time to vote on Chief Brian Wallace’s replacement.

KAYSVILLE -- The city wants to be more transparent, so to accomplish that goal, City Recorder Linda Ross helped launch a "Government Transparency" tagline on the city's website Friday.

OGDEN -- Moving vans pulled up to Ogden schools to cart away office contents of top administrators who had introduced themselves to students just weeks earlier at start-of-school assemblies.

New Ogden School District Superintendent Brad C. Smith on Monday sent out a memo outlining the immediate reassignment of three principals, three assistant principals, a coordinator and an instructional coach.

The changes involve all of the district's mainstream high schools and all of its junior high schools, as well as one undisclosed elementary school.

SALT LAKE CITY -- A working group appointed by Utah lawmakers says the state's open records law doesn't need an overhaul, but was far from consensus on several issues of public access.

The kerfuffle over HB477 and the state's GRAMA law left such a sour taste in my mouth that I called up an old friend to talk it through.

Sen. Pete Knudson and I go way back. He was mayor of Brigham City when I was hired by the Standard-Examiner. Our favorite memory together is when he threw me out of his office.

SALT LAKE CITY - The ACLU of Utah announced today that it will voluntarily withdraw its petition seeking emergency relief from the Utah Supreme Court in connection with the HB 477 referendum.

Amidst a storm of controversy over HB 477 -- the notorious "anti-GRAMA" bill -- the legislature voted last Friday, March 25, to repeal HB 477.