Daily Herald file photo

Over the weekend, new Orem Mayor Dave Young and city council members held a retreat in which they talked about the most urgent issues in the city and some immediate changes the majority of the group would like to make.

According to Young, the top three most important issues on his plate are the State Street master plan, a new Office of Legislative Counsel and director thereof, and changes to how members of the Planning Commission are selected.

These last two are what will comprise Tuesday’s regular council meeting. The resolution on the Office of Legislative Counsel also names Jesse L. Riddle, a Lehi attorney who has worked mostly with multilevel marketing organizations and a former mayoral candidate, as the person the majority of the city council wants for the new directorship.

The resolution indicates the position as a time-limited employee for an initial period not to exceed six months. During this initial period, the director would be a full-time employee of the city.

According to Young, the idea is to have an attorney working directly with the city council and one not connected to the city’s legal office. Currently, members of the city attorney’s office advises the council.

Courtesy Dave Young

The city is being sued by Wright Development over the moratorium placed on the State Street master plan that prevented them from moving forward with a mixed-use project around 900 South and State Street. Young has indicated would like to have an independent counsel to instruct and represent the city council.

The Legislative Counsel position would also have some public relations components as well as several other assignments, some of which are currently under the direction of the city manager.

During the retreat’s discussion on the matter, Jamie Davidson the current city manager, said he felt like the newly elected officials don’t have trust in him.

Staff members have also reported feeling a sense of insecurity and lack of trust in what they do. It is a practice of the city for positions to be open for recruitment.

“This dramatically impacts me. The message being sent is that you don’t trust me,” Davidson said on the official recording of the meeting. “The biggest concern is the attorney’s office thought they had trust with you.”

Davidson added that the resolution and new position blurs the lines of responsibility. Some of the city council members are concerned the job was not open for applications, which is traditional practice.

Only four council members are needed for a majority vote on the matter. That appears to already be in place.

“Let’s take time. Let’s research it. I don’t think he’s qualified. Give the staff the opportunity to build trust,” Davidson said. “It feels like a different form of government inside this form of government.”

On Monday, there were several meetings to apparently discuss the matter, and indications are that the issue is fluid. That is to be seen Tuesday night.

The current agenda is an adjustment from five major resolutions initially down to just two.

The second resolution to be discussed and voted on concerns planning commission appointments. The resolution would take the responsibility of filling the commission assignments away from the city manager and give it to the mayor and city council.

During the retreat, Davidson suggested that more time be taken to do research on this process.

Three council members, Debby Lauret, Tom Macdonald and Jeff Lambson, did not receive their resolution information until an hour or two prior to the retreat. The others, including reelected David Spencer, newly elected LaNae Millett, Terry Petersen and the mayor, all had the information days in advance, according to the retreat’s recorded discussion on the matter.

Residents interested in attending or hearing the proceedings of the council during its first meeting of the year may attend in person or stream it on YouTube.com. The regular meeting begins at 6 p.m.

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