The gist of the story is that it's finally dawned on at least one councilmember (namely Councilwoman Wicks) that City Attorney Gary Williams has an inherent conflict of interest in his capacity as legal advisor to the council in this matter, inasmuch as he is also the official legal representative of Boss Godfrey, the individual whose rash actions set this whole mess in motion.
Garcia stopped short of calling the request for an opinion from City Attorney Gary Williams a formal investigation into the July 27 incident involving Officer Matt Jones. Jones could not be immediately reached for comment. Garcia said he would like to know whether the First Amendment free speech rights of Jones and his wife have been violated."Awkward" is a gross understatement, we think. Williams is also the guy who'll be called upon to apply his considerable legal talent to bail Boss Godfrey out, euphemisticly speaking, and provide Chief Greiner much-needed political cover.
“I would be interested in seeing what’s going on,” he said. “I am getting calls and e-mails daily about it. I want to make sure we have answers.”
Williams, who represents all municipal departments including the administration and City Council, declined to disclose his opinion on the van incident to the Standard-Examiner.
“My legal opinion has to be reserved for my clients,” he said.
An opinion from Williams would help address questions and concerns from residents about the van incident, City Council Vice Chairwoman Amy Wicks said.
“I’m concerned because it has caused a lot of citizens to be upset with what’s happened, and police officers are upset,” she said. “It’s a bad situation that needs to have some resolution to it soon, or it’s going to fester and get worse.”
It’s possible the City Council could hire a private attorney to provide a legal opinion since Williams is in the “awkward” position of representing both the council and administration, Wicks said.
And in a truly unique reportorial tangent, Ace Reporter Schwebke meanders for a few paragraphs into an examination of the manner in which Vangate may be affecting the ongoing District 18 State Senate race:
Former Ogden Economic Development Director Stuart Reid, a Democrat who is challenging Greiner in November’s General Election, said he considers the chief a friend and declined to comment on the van incident.Before we leap to the conclusion that Reid is behaving as a mere patsy for his Republican opponent, we must recall Reid's experience in his unsuccessful 1999 Salt Lake City mayoral election race. Although Reid had been leading in the polls prior to November of that year, Rocky Anderson came from behind and trounced Reid late in the game, after Reid's campaign "went negative." We're sure the memory of this setback is still painfully fresh in Reid's mind, and that whatever he does with respect to the Vangate controversy, he'll do with the utmost caution.
“I made the decision that I’m not going to say anything bad about him,” Reid said.
So what about it, gentle readers?
What say you about all this?
