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Show Wednesday, June 26, 1374 COALITION Page 8 At a special meeting of the Park City Council held at 6: 30 PM on Thursday, June 20th, the resignation of Mayor John Price was accepted. The Council then proceeded to elect Mr. Price as Mayor. The sequence of events which led to this unusual occurrence are as follows. On Thursday, June 13th, Mr. Price made public a letter of unresignation which cited derhanded and illegal methods employed by the Park City Council. In an interview with the Park City Coalition on Friday, he bitterly attacked Councilman Mary Lehmer and stated that his main concern was the removal of Mrs. Lehmer from office. During the same interview, Mr. Price also made June 14th, some unflattering comments regarding Councilman Clements MARY LEHMER What Is A TOWN COUNCIL - MEETING? There seems to be some confusion as to the various types of meetings which are conducted by the Park City Council. The following provides a brief description of the different meetings which'are held. REGULAR MEETING - A City Council meeting which is held every first and third Thursday in accordance with city ordinances and which is open to the public. Voting can be conducted and legal action may be taken at such a meeting. PUBLIC HEARING - A public meeting concerning a specific issue at which legal action may be taken. Notice of a public hearing must be posted for a specified period of time before the hearing can be held. Hansen. The publication of Mr. Prices comments in a special edition of the Coalition on Saturday, June 15th, resulted in an equally sharp rebuttal by Mrs. Lehmer in the June 20th issue of the Park Record. The dispute between the two city officials and the actual resignation created more controversy and speculation than this small town has experienced in many years. In addition to local coverage, the story was carried by all forms of the media in Salt Lake City. At the outset, Mr. Price characterized his decision as being final but pressure was brought to bear by his supporters for reconsideration. A group calling themselves Concerned Citizens confronted the resigned mayor to affirm their confidence in him and began circulation of a petition which called for the removal of Councilman Lehmer from office. The petition garnered 319 signatures and it was speculated LEON URIARTE that Mr. Price was indeed Wednesday, June 26, 1374 16 sot CITY SULIM Pagin' ai reevaluating his position. Prior to the meetings on Thursday, Mr. Price and Mrs. Lehmer. conferred in private to discuss the tumultuous events of the preceding week. At that time, it was not known if any reconciliation or agreements had been reached. By Thursday, June 20th, in- case of Mr. Prices absence. The special meeting was adjourned at 7 PM, and the Council resumed its executive session. The executive session was concluded and the Council members journeyed to the memorial Building where more than 300 persons waited for the expected confrontation between Mr. Price and Mrs. Lehmer, Mayor Price called the City Council meeting to order and the rest proved to be rather City Attorney Carl Nemelka related the results of the special meeting and the announcement of Mayor Prigs election as mayor was greeted with loud applause. terest in the issue was so pronounced that the regularly scheduled City Council Meeting was moved from City Hall to the Manorial Building in order to ac- commodate the large public turnout that was expected. In accordance with normal procedure, the City Council met in executive session at 6 PM at City Hall. This type of closed meeting is utilized to discuss matters before the Council so as to economize on time at the public meeting. At 6:30 PM, a special meeting was convened at the request of Councilmen Lehmer and Hansen. Except for Mr. Richard Martinez who was receiving hospital treatment for sunstroke, all members were in Mayor Price then addressed the assembly and explained that he and Councilman Lehmer had resoved their differences except for the question of Mrs. Lehmers residency. He stated that in order to serve the best interests of the city and the Council, the residency issue would be settled in court and they would refrain from making their points of contention public and from making the mat- attendance, including Mayor Price. Mr. Price 'called the special meeting to order and the ter a concern of the City Council. The Council then conducted their regular meeting. Council proceeded to elect Mr. Lera Uriarte as Mayor pro tempore. Councilman Uriarte took charge of the proceedings and the resignation of Mayor Price was accepted by the Council. One of the questions raised in light of the happenings is why the Council did not simply refuse to accept Mr. Prices resignation rather than accept it and then Councilman Jan Wilking then nominated Mr. Price for the office of Mayor. No other nominations were presented and a vote was taken. Councilmen Wilking, Uriarte and Hansen voted in favor. Mr. Marinez also voted in favor by telephone. At this point, Mrs. Lehmer, without voting, congratulated Mr. Price on his election to the post of Mayor of Park City. Following the Price action, Councilman Uriarte was elected as continuing Mayor pro tempore, to serve as mayor in the THEi PARK elect him mayor. The reason given was that there was a question as to the legality of refusing the resignation which was not dated. It was feared that this doubt could cloud all Council Bruce Decker Swears in John Price as Mayor decisions and could possibly cause decisions' to be invalid and open to dispute. To clear the air and assure the legality of Council decisions, the alternative method of reinstating Mr. Price was agreed upon. A ramification of this course of action is the tact that Mayor Prices term now ex- - pires at the time of the next municipal election which will be held in November of 1975. The Coalition interviewed Councilman Lehmer after the Thursday .night meeting and she stated she was happy that John sought me out and apologized for, as he said, blowing his cool. She said she and Mayor Price agreed that public accusations were not the way to settle difference. We know improved communications in the future will effect the continuing harmonious relationship that John and I have always enjoyed. Mrs. Lehmer further stated that she has no worries con- cerning the declaratory judgement to be made on her residency. Regarding the petition circulated by Concerned Citizens, Councilman Lehmer said she never saw the petition and that her supporters would have been glad to circulate a petition. Mayor Price was also interviewed. All accusations will be handled amongst ourselves. We will not involve the Council. The business of the City will be handled publicly and our personal differences will be handled privately. Im not trying to tell Mary how to vote. Its simply my contention that she is not a resident of Park City. his Concerning public statements, Mayor Price stated, I think the Councilmen I tacked have been very mature in realizing my attacks have been political, not personal, and I thank those who kept a cool head when I lost mine." I also think the Coalition deserves congratulations for an accurate interview. It was the only paper that printed my exact feeling. The special edition was an unselfish effort in keeping the public informed. JAN WILKING What Is A TOWN COUNCIL MEETING? There seems to be some confusion as to the various types of CLEM HANSON meetings which are conducted by the Park City Council. The following provides a brief description of the different meetings which are held. REGULAR MEETING - A City Council meeting which is held every first and third Thursday in accordance with city ordinances and which is open to the public. Voting can be conducted and legal action may be taken at such a meeting. PUBLIC HEARING - A public meeting concerning a specific issue at which legal action may be taken. Notice of a public hearing must be posted for a specified period of time before the hearing can be held. m SPECIAL MEETING - A meeting SPECIAL MEETING - A meeting of the City Council which can be called by the Mayor or by any two of the City Council which can be called by the Mayor or by any two Councilmen. Either written or verbal notice has to be given to all Council members prior to the convening of such a meeting. A speciar meeting is open to the public but no public notification is required. Legal action may be taken at a special meeting. Councilmen. Either written or verbal notice has to be given to all Council members prior to the convening of such a meeting. A special meeting is open to the public but no public notification is required. Legal action may be taken at a special meeting . EXECUTIVE MEETING - Any meeting of more than one Council member, at which city matters are discussed. No legal action can be taken nor can any voting be conducted. EXECUTIVE MEETING - Any meeting of more than one Council member, at which city matters are discussed. No legal action can be taken nor can any voting be conducted. The Memorial Building filled with Concerned Citizens. |