BRIAN HEAD, Iron County -- The Town Council recently discarded a petition signed by more than 20 percent of the town's residents seeking a special election to change the mayor's duties.
The county attorney said the petition was fraught with problems and snarled in legal interpretation.Council action seeking a special election was also voted down, 3-2.
Under the current form, the mayor is a voting member of the council but also performs administrative duties not designated by ordinance to the town manager or delegated to other council members.
The petitioners want to change the government to take away the mayor's vote on the council but give him veto power. The mayor or town manager would perform the administrative duties.
Mayor Dutch Deutschlander said the current form of government is best for small towns like Brian Head that can't afford to pay a mayor to be a full-time manager.
"Right now I can delegate things to the town manager and everything gets taken care of," Deutschlander said.
Town Manager Judy Gubler said that, considering Brian Head residents voted unanimously in 1988 to adopt the current government structure, she is surprised that people want to change it back.
But petitioner Rick Flint said the current form of government puts too much authority in the hands of the town manager.
"Under (the current) form of government, the folks you've elected can enact ordinances, make resolutions, OK the operating budget, but when it gets down to it, they have to ask the town manager for permission to do things," said Flint.
But the county attorney deemed the petition invalid due to problems ranging from a missing cover letter to a legal interpretation that said all the elected officials would be replaced if the change was approved, which would be illegal.
Deutschlander also said he believed some of the signatures on the petition didn't belong to Brian Head residents.