Two lawsuits receiving attention in the Sandy mayoral race have prompted complaints by each candidate that his opponent or opponent's supporters are stooping to last-minute smears in the fierce electoral contest.
One suit is new - a taxpayer suit against incumbent Steve Newton and other city officials. It was filed in 3rd District Court Thursday by opponents of Newton and supporters of challenger Larry Smith. The other suit, which named Smith as a defendant, is three years old but was brought to press attention recently by Newton supporters and Smith opponents.The new suit accuses the defendants - the city itself, Newton and City Council members Bruce Steadman, John Winder, Dick Adair and Ron Gee - of misuse of public money and violation of the state open-meetings law. At issue is the officials' use of taxpayer money to send a letter to voters before the October primary rebutting a prior mailing by the Sandy City Police Alliance. The officials said they planned all along to repay the money with private donations and have done so.
The named plaintiffs, who also seek to represent other taxpayers, are Gary and Linda Saville, Chuck and Diana Albrand, Ronald Larsen, Albert and Kim Nortz, Brian and Cathy Small, Stan Short, Cynthia Schoewe, Randy and Wendy Oakason.
The cost of the suit is being borne by the Utah Chapter of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Workers, to which the Sandy police union belongs, said Al Avila, police union president.
Newton called the timing of the lawsuit political and predicted it would backfire against the union. He said the last-minute attempt is a predictable part of what he called a push by police unions statewide for political power.
Avila acknowledged that the suit and its timing are political. "It's politically motivated but we wouldn't be filing the suit had they not done what they did. . . . They gave us the ammunition. . . . They made a mistake and now they're going to be held accountable for it."
Avila said the union was disappointed that Salt Lake County Attorney David Yocom, who investigated the incident, didn't go further in his investigation. Avila has also asked Attorney General Paul Van Dam to look into the matter, and he said he hopes Van Dam will do so despite the filing of the suit, because the complaint doesn't raise all of the issues that warrant further investigation.
The complaint seeks a permanent injunction to prevent the defendants and their successors from holding closed meetings without public notice pertaining to non-exempt matters and from using public money for their own political purposes. It asks that the defendants be disqualified from holding public office and seeks court costs and attorney fees.
The three-year-old suit involving Smith accused him of wrongful termination and religious and sexual discrimination when he was marketing director at H.S.A. Riverwood Hospital in Provo in 1986. The employee who filed it, Deborrah Norris, and the defendants - Smith, the hospital and Healthcare Services of America Inc. - settled the case out of court in 1987, with Norris receiving an undisclosed amount of money.
Smith called the case a groundless suit that was settled for a nominal amount - "nuisance value" - and said the fact that it's being brought up now "just outlines the kind of politics that our opponents have gotten into - they're desperate people." Norris' attorney was in court and could not be reached for comment before deadline.
Newton said he had asked several people not to bring up the lawsuit because it would just look like mudslinging. But he told the Deseret News he couldn't control the actions of his supporters. The paper was supplied a copy of the suit by John and Blanch Linton, who said they are Newton supporters by default - they think Smith has even greater flaws than Newton does, and they want voters to know about the suit before casting their ballots Tuesday.
Norris maintained that Smith had asked her to make untrue statements on certain reports to the hospital and was fired after she refused. Smith denied ever having told her to lie. Attorney Fred Edwards, who defended Smith and the hospital, said the incident was just a difference of opinion between the two over how certain statistics were to be reported to the company.
Norris also maintained in her suit that Smith had maliciously blacklisted her by making an unsolicited telephone call that resulted in her being refused employment by H.S.A. Mountain River Hospital in Idaho Falls. Smith said he called the Idaho hospital about a different matter, and when he was asked his opinion of Norris he did say he would not hire her.
Smith said he had recommended that Norris be fired from her job in Provo because she had a very difficult time following directions, but the final decision was made higher up in the company and for other reasons.
Howard said Smith had made a comment about Norris "regarding her conduct as a woman - the way she conducted herself as a woman - but only in passing" and not as any kind of threat. He said Smith had not engaged in any form of discrimination or done anything improper, and, in fact, had gone out of his way to give Norris opportunities to change her behavior and keep her job.