MURRAY — Former Salt Lake County Commissioner Mary Callaghan should be free to break campaign promises like any other politician, her attorney argued this past week.
County resident Michael Martinez, a lawyer, is suing to force Callaghan to return a $279,500 severance package she accepted when her position ended two years into her four-year term. Callaghan had promised voters during her 1998 campaign she would not accept compensation if they shortened her term by switching from a commission to a mayor-council form of government.
The hearing before 3rd District Judge Joseph Fratto was on motions filed by Callaghan's attorney to eliminate three of Martinez's demands from the lawsuit. Those include the return of money earned during Callaghan's final two years as a commissioner, the money awarded when the new County Council replaced the commission-style government, and damages for breaking the "truth in advertising" laws. Fratto will rule within the next 10 days on the motions.
Phillip Dyer, Callaghan's attorney, said that if she is not allowed to break a campaign promise, then practically every politician could suddenly face a lawsuit because of broken promises. Whether it's former President George Bush promising no new taxes or the current President Bush vowing to reduce emissions, no elected officials should have to worry about a lawsuit every time they change their mind, he said.
"It's a limitation that we have in our form of government," Dyer said. "The First Amendment contemplates that there will be more, not less, speech."
Any allegations that she somehow stole the money are ridiculous, Dyer said, because it was an award given by the County Commission and approved by the county attorney and county auditor. What Martinez actually intended to do was overturn a legal election two years after the fact, Dyer said.
"It is based on a notion that somehow the position was obtained by fraud," he said. "I don't see how that would be any different than a challenge to the election."
During his arguments, Martinez compared Callaghan to a used-car salesman or tire dealer because, as a politician, she sold her services to the public through advertising. That, he said, is why she should be held accountable for the promise, even though her opponent made the same promise. Even more so than a mechanic, he said, voters should be able to trust their elected officials.
To illustrate his argument, Martinez quoted the line Elvis Presley used when people asked why he let his manager, "Colonel" Tom Parker, take 50 percent of his earnings: "We shook on it."
Although he agreed that candidates should have the freedom of speech, he also said that politicians should realize that people vote for them because of what they say. If politicians lie, as he alleges Callaghan did, they should be willing to pay the penalty.
"I am who I am . . . I'm a voter who based my choice on that promise," he said. "She can say whatever she wants. If she wants that right, and there's damage, she is liable."
E-mail: jloftin@desnews.com