PROVO — Steve Turley resigned his position on the Provo City Council on Tuesday night, just minutes before city leaders planned to remove him from office.
"I hereby resign my position on Provo's City Council effective immediately," Turley wrote in a letter delivered to his fellow council members Tuesday evening.
For the past 11 months, Turley, 43, has been the focus of criminal and ethical investigations into his business dealings — allegations the councilman has denied throughout the process. He denied any wrongdoing again in his letter of resignation.
"I hoped to have the opportunity to address the council and the public … to demonstrate the reasons why I strongly feel that I have not violated any ethics standards or statues," the letter reads. "I regret not being able to do so."
The City Council had been scheduled Tuesday to review the findings of a city investigation into alleged ethical misconduct by Turley during his nearly eight years in office and consider Mayor John Curtis' recommendation to dismiss Turley from office.
That decision was taken out of the council's hands Tuesday evening.
"We have reached a decision to accept Mr. Turley's resignation," City Council Chairman Rick Healey said in a statement signed by the six members of the council, as well as Mayor Curtis. "This has been a difficult period for Provo city, and the council can now get back to focusing on the needs of the city."
City Council members met in a closed session about 7:30 p.m. to discuss what city officials said was new information related to Turley's case. The public meeting, which had been scheduled to begin at 8 p.m., got under way about 8:35 p.m.
About 7:45 p.m., the council received Turley's letter of resignation. Had Turley not stepped down, Healey said the council was prepared to remove him from office.
"(The City Council) was unified in being prepared tonight to find that violations of the (Utah Public Officers' and Employees' Ethics Act) were committed by council member Turley and that dismissal was the appropriate action to be taken," he said.
Turley's resignation comes nearly 11 months after 23 Provo residents filed a conflict-of-interest complaint against Turley, citing several instances in which the councilman allegedly used his public position for personal financial gain.
That led to an investigation by the Utah County Attorney's Office and ultimately a slew of criminal charges against Turley related to his business dealings between July 2006 and December 2009.
On July 27, Turley was charged with seven counts of communications fraud, two counts of exploitation of a vulnerable adult and one count of pattern of unlawful activity — all second-degree felonies.
Mayor Curtis and Turley's colleagues on the City Council immediately called for his resignation, saying his continued presence on the council compromised the city's standards of ethics.
Turley refused to resign at that time, instead opting for a leave of absence. That sparked an internal investigation into the residents' allegations of ethical misconduct, headed by former 4th District Judge Anthony Schofield.
That 45-day investigation wrapped up last week, with Schofield concluding that Turley violated the Utah Public Officers' and Employees' Ethics Act in at least five ways, including failing to disclose conflicts of interest and using his office to further his personal economic interests.
Those findings, Curtis said, left him "no choice by law but to recommend dismissal (from the City Council."
In his resignation letter, Turley said he regrets "this unfortunate situation."
"This process has been extremely taxing on me and my family. I am tired; they are tired. Through my resignation, I will be able to focus on my family's well being and on resolving the other issues in my life," the letter reads.
"I appreciate the years I have been able to serve this community," he wrote.
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