OGDEN -- A state lawmaker is questioning whether city council candidate David Phipps has met residency requirements allowing him to legally seek office.
Rep. Neil Hansen, D-Ogden, said Thursday he has received records from the Salt Lake County Elections Division indicating Phipps, who is running for the council's At-Large Seat B post, may not be in compliance with a state law that requires him to live in Ogden for 12 consecutive months prior to the upcoming Nov. 3 general election.
"There is some dishonesty about his residency and there needs to be some accountability," Hansen said, adding he obtained the records on behalf of a constituent whom he declined to identify.
Phipps said in an e-mail Thursday to the Standard-Examiner he has complied with residency requirements, and he provided the newspaper with a lease-purchase option contract signed on Sept. 27, 2008, for his home on 25th Street.
City Recorder Cindi Mansell said she has spoken with officials from the lieutenant governor's office, which oversees state election law, and has been told there is little that can be done about Phipps' eligibility because the deadline for filing a challenge passed July 20.
However, if Phipps wins the election, it is possible that voters could challenge the result, Mansell said.
The Standard-Examiner, using the state's Government Records Management Act, obtained the same documents that Hansen received.
The documents show that Phipps lived on East Ramona Avenue in Salt Lake City when he voted in the Nov. 4, 2008, general election in Salt Lake County.
Phipps' Salt Lake County voter registration was cancelled on July 21 because he had registered by mail to vote in Weber County and listed his address as 1083 25th St. in Ogden, records show.
Phipps said after moving to Ogden a month after signing the contract he attempted to switch his voter registration but failed to meet the deadline to register for the 2008 election.
He added that Weber County election officials did not inform him he could have voted provisionally at an Ogden polling place.
As a result, Phipps said, he voted in the 2008 election in Salt Lake County, where he was still registered.
Phipps said his residential eligibility to run for city council has been vetted by Cindi Mansell, who is Ogden's recorder, the city attorney's office and the office of the lieutenant governor.
"They are also very clear when it comes to intent for residency," Phipps wrote in the e-mail. "My belongings were moved into the home and we didn't sleep there while we were painting because my wife was seven months pregnant. We were attending church here and had our church records moved, we trick-or-treated here for Halloween, and this is where I would come home to after work."
Hansen still questions whether Phipps moved into his home in October 2008.
Hansen said Phipps, who lives a block away from him, began living in the house in early December 2008.
In addition, Hansen said, an online blog posted by Phipps' wife, Janelle, indicates she and her husband and children planned to move into their home on Dec. 9, 2008.
Phipps said questions about his residency smack of dirty politics.
"It is a shame that this suddenly comes up two weeks before the election, though not surprising," he said in the e-mail. "The opposition already knows that they don't have a leg to stand on. I know that they've spoken to authorities on the issue and they know they won't win, but that doesn't matter to them. The opposition is trying not to beat me on the issues on election day, but rather disenfranchise Ogden voters by trying to get my name off of the ballot on a technicality -- a false one for that matter."
Bart E. Blair, who is running against Phipps, said Thursday he's isn't involved in pursuing elgibility issues involving Phipps.
"I'm just focused on running my own campaign and not concerned about his," he said.
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On the Net:
PDF: David Phipps' Voting History
PDF: David Phipps' Ogden Lease
Related link: This article is a topic of discussion at Weber County Forum.
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