SALT LAKE CITY — Just days after announcing her national pick for chief operating officer of the city's Redevelopment Agency, Mayor Jackie Biskupski on Monday withdrew the appointment after learning more about his controversial past.
Salt Lake City on Friday announced that Marc Woolley, an East Coast attorney, had risen to the top of 13 applications in a national search for the director position. But following media reports highlighting Woolley's past entanglement with four lawsuits, Biskupski pulled his name from consideration.
Lara Fritts, CEO of the city's Redevelopment Agency, had initially recommended Woolley to Biskupski for appointment after researching his background, but after controversy surfaced about Woolley's past with the Philadelphia Housing Authority, Fritts became "concerned about the new information," said Matthew Rojas, the mayor's spokesman.
In 2003, Woolley resigned from the Philadelphia Housing Authority after being accused of ordering staff to violate federal rules in extending contracts to favored Philadelphia law firms.
Of the four lawsuits Woolley has been named in following his time at the Philadelphia Housing Authority, two received rulings in favor of the agency and Woolley was dismissed. The two others were settled.
After his time at the Philadelphia Housing Authority, Woolley was a chief compliance officer at the Hershey Trust Co., a shareholder of the chocolate manufacturing company. He was fired last year amid board member threats and infighting, though there was no indication that Woolley participated in any wrongdoing.
"We did know about the issue at Hershey," Rojas said, noting that Fritts had researched the matter and did not find anything of concern. "We spoke with his former references and received some really good responses from those people."
However, Fritts became troubled when she learned about the lawsuits at Philadelphia Housing Authority — something Rojas said was not disclosed to Fritts during the application process.
"There's no concern that he did anything illegal or wrong," Rojas said. "But (Fritts') concern is that he didn't bring this up or indicate it during our due diligence process, and that's really not how (Fritts) or the mayor would like to do business."
Woolley said the allegations against him are unfounded, and he was "perplexed" by the change of heart from Biskupski and Fritts. He said he had offered to withdraw his application after controversy surfaced Friday, but the mayor's office called Saturday and told him it was still supporting him as a candidate.
Woolley said he then got a call from the mayor's office Monday morning informing him that Fritts and Biskupski were canceling his nomination.
That was after the mayor's staff "dug" for more information on his past with the Philadelphia Housing Authority, Biskupski said Monday.
"At the end of the day, I think (Fritts) is making the right decision in pulling back her recommendation," Biskupski said.
When asked if he had been forthright about his past with the housing authority, Woolley said, "You just have to Google me and it comes up."
"I'm a public figure," he said. "These things are easy to find."
Woolley said he was "disappointed" that he won't have an opportunity to explain his background to the City Council on Tuesday when his appointment was scheduled to be considered for finalization.
"I understand the politics, but I would have very much liked to have at least cleared my name," he said.
Councilwoman Lisa Adams, chairwoman of the Redevelopment Agency board, said she was "impressed" by Woolley during interviews with him, but understands why the mayor and her staff withdrew their appointment.
"If they lost confidence in him, I understand that," she said. "It's too bad. I hope we can find another candidate."