First, Std-Ex reporter Shad West reports that yet another Utah city is in the process of clipping the wings of another autocratic and information-stingy Mayor. There's a council proposal afoot to strip Syracuse Mayor Fred Pannuci of his executive power, and transfer it to a more council-friendly city manager. Some on the Syracuse city council, the article reports, believe that the Syracuse Mayor has overstepped his power, and left the council out of the information/power loop. Thanks to Syracuse City's compliance with the Std-Ex's GRAMA request, our home-town newspaper is able to furnish its readers the gravamen of some Syracuse council-members' complaints:
In September members of the council publicly expressed concern over the power Panucci has seemed to gain in the city. Some accused him of overstepping his authority by not sharing information with members of the council. Of particular concern was his authorizing work to be done at the Jensen Nature Park, Hammon said.Whereas we would frame this story as just more evidence of a grass-roots-inspired movement in Utah politics to restore the rightful system of checks and balances in city government, Mayor Panucci dismisses the council proposal (in classic neoCON style,) calling it "a power grab by some members of the council." Judging from the above evidence, we would speculate that such a "power grab" (we prefer the more gentle term power reallocation) may be just what doctor ordered for the good taxpayers of the City of Syracuse. What think out gentle readers about this?
The Standard-Examiner, through the Government Records Access and Management Act, received documentation from the city containing financial information on Jensen Park.
It shows a contract was awarded to G & G Sprinkling and Landscaping, a Syracuse landscaping firm for irrigation work in the park. On March 28, the council approved the $140,000 contract.
However, the city does not have any record of design plans for that work. Instead, the city had designs for landscaping, which the contractor used in planning the sprinkler system. The city did receive bills from the contractor for work on the irrigation system and landscaping supplies and labor.
City Administrator Ken Hubler told the Standard-Examiner that city officials did not ever see plans or specifications for the irrigation system.
"It looks like we didn't have real plans or specs drawn up," Hubler said. "The city did not follow proper procedure. This should have gone out for bid according to the state statutes. The communication just wasn't there."
In the second Std-Ex story, a denial of a GRAMA request provides the story theme itself. Yes, gentle readers, Ogden city has formally, arrogantly -- and predictably -- denied the Standard-Examiner's request for material relevant to the full array of recent council Seat "A" applicants. Ace Reporter Schwebke provides some interesting and enlightening quotes, straight from Std-Ex Managing Editor Andy Howell:
Standard-Examiner Managing Editor Andy Howell said the newspaper will seek a legal opinion on the city's refusal to turn over the letters of the four other finalists.The Emerald City neoCONs have plainly thrown down the gauntlet. Oh what will the Standard Examiner do next? We have lots of respect for editor Andy Howell. We sincerely hope the Std-Ex will back him up, and put Emerald City's feet to the fire on this.
"Obviously the city's response is unsatisfactory. We submitted the request for the five finalists under the council's old policy. The new policy was adopted after the request, so it is irrelevant," he said.
"Providing us with the letter of the one candidate picked by the council after the fact is of no service to the public. We requested the letters from the five finalists so readers could compare qualifications of the candidates before one was selected.
"We plan to consult our attorney, not only on the insufficient response to our original GRAMA request, but the legality of the new policy under the state's open records laws."
The floor is open. Feel free to comment on any of the above.
