Turley resigns as city councilman

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  • Steve Turley resigned from the Provo City Council Tuesday evening
  • Turley is charged with seven counts of communication fraud, two counts of exploitation or a vulnerable adult and one count of a pattern of unlawful activity

The Provo City Council’s meeting to discuss the fate of Steve Turley took a surprising turn Tuesday evening when Turley submitted his resignation before the meeting began.

Turley was under investigation for ethics violations prior to his resignation.

[media-credit name=”Associated Press/Salt Lake Tribune” align=”alignright” width=”257″][/media-credit]
Provo city councilman Steven C. Turley appears for a hearing in American Fork'­s 4th District Court in Salt Lake City, Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2011. Turley is charged with seven counts of communication fraud, two counts of exploitation of a vulnerable adult and one count of a pattern of unlawful activity. All are second-degree felonies.

Turley was not present at the meeting. However, in his resignation statement, Turley said the resignation was not motivated by guilt, but rather the desire to help Provo conduct its future businesses unimpeded.

Diane Christensen, spokeswoman for the group of citizens who originally lodged a formal complaint to the city about Turley, said the announcement was a welcome relief.

“We’re tremendously relieved it turned out as well as it did,” Christensen said. “It’s over as far as we are concerned. The council can go back to doing what they do.”

Sam McKnight, a Provo City resident who attended the meeting, said he was surprised by the outcome.

“I was shocked that he turned in a resignation,” McKnight said. “I wish he would have done it sooner and saved us all of the time and money wasted on this [investigation].”

The council’s official statement took a less victorious tone.

“I know that this has been a trial for everybody involved in this,” said Rick Healey, Provo City councilman from District 2. “I look to all of us to take into consideration that there are people’s lives who have been hurt.”

Prior to the meeting, the council had unanimously found Turley in violation of the  ethics code and was prepared to remove him from office, Healey said. However, council members felt Turley’s resignation made such action unnecessary.

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705391553/Steve-Turley-resigns-position-on-Provo-City-Council-amid-ethics-investigations.html

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