Orem Mayor Selection Process Questionable

Orem City Attorney Paul Johnson set the process to determine the replacement mayor for

Jerry Washburn who died of cancer in September.  He determined that Orem City Council

would not interview the candidates because state law prohibits interviews from occurring in  

a closed meeting and he advised the council not to interview the applicants in public.

If council members made any notes in the closed meeting, they were taken away from them

before they left the meeting.

"The process was presented to us," Hernandez said. "The city attorney provided us that counsel."

State law prohibits public bodies from interviewing individuals in a closed meeting, but Johnson also advised the council not to interview applicants in a public setting, according to some council members.  Daily Herald Newspaper.  Daily Herald

"Councilman Brett Sumner said the process had been defined for the council, and Councilwoman Mary Street said she struggled with not knowing the applicants and not knowing how she was supposed to learn about them."
Daily Herald Newspaper.


In the end Orem City council selected the mayor replacement from 13 applicants they didn't know, didn't interview, and were unable to learn more about prior to their vote.