With five members of the Ogden City Council voting to override Mayor Matthew Godfrey's veto of three line items of the FY2010 budget, we would like to explain the rationale for the override. Lots of people have been asking "why?"
First of all, the mayor has been using words like "unconstitutional," "illegal" and "unlawful" to describe the council's decisions. All of these claims would need to be sorted out in a court of law. We believe that we were well within the boundaries of state law when we set policy for the city. And for the record, we have no immediate plans to take the mayor to court.
We disagree with the mayor's description of the separation of powers. The purpose of the council-mayor form of government is to ensure "two separate, independent and equal branches of municipal government." This form of government is designed to have both a "strong Mayor" and a "strong council."
We believe that the mayor has overstated his authority in the veto and subsequent statements. We would like to share two of many examples.
It is asserted by the mayor that "... any ordinance that reserves to the council, or removes from the mayor, the power to make ultimate decisions regarding property management issues constitutes an unlawful usurpation of executive powers by the legislative branch."
The council frequently adopts ordinances that have the effect of limiting the mayor's power regarding property management, e.g., zoning and land-use ordinances. As asserted by the mayor, a zoning regulation that prevents him from managing or selling property as he chooses would be unlawful.
The mayor asserts, "Ultimate decisions related to the provision of city services at city pools, community centers and golf courses are necessarily executive functions." If the mayor were correct, the council would have no role in determining what services would be provided. We believe that the council determines "what" programs and services are provided and the mayor determines "how" the services will be provided. The mayor's authority to manage property does not give him all authority to decide what services will or will not be provided by the city.
As pointed out in these examples, we believe that the mayor's authority is different from what he has represented. We don't believe that invoking contracts to turn over operation of taxpayer-funded recreational facilities to a private entity is a healthy course of action unless there is an open public process before the contract is signed.
The truth is that the council exercised its authority to set policy for our city. It is now the mayor's responsibility, according to state law, to execute the policies adopted by the council.
Wicks, Stephens, Gochnour, Jeske and Garcia are members of the Ogden City Council.
Related link: This article is a topic of discussion at Weber County Forum.
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