Lindsey Larson
Provo Mayor John Curtis submitted a recommendation to the Provo Municipal Council on Monday that Councilman Steve Turley be dismissed.
The recommendation came after former 4th District Court Judge Anthony Schofield finished his investigation into complaints about Turley’s alleged violations of the Utah Municipal Officers’ and Employees’ Ethics Act. The act requires public officials to disclose conflicts of interest between public duties and personal interests.
Turley disagreed with Curtis’ report and recommendations.
“I’m disappointed in Mr. Scofield’s report and strongly disagree with his findings,” Turley said in an email statement. “I’ve been a passionate advocate for Provo taxpayers, who rightly expect high ethical standards of me as one of their elected officials. I have met that standard.”
In his letter to the council, Curtis said while the Utah County Attorney’s Office had charged Turley with 10 criminal felonies, they had never investigated Turley’s alleged violations of the ethics act.
According to the ethics act, when a complaint is lodged against a municipal officer, the mayor shall investigate the complaint and give the person charged with a violation of the act a chance to be heard, then file a report and a recommendation with the governing body — in this case the Municipal Council. Curtis engaged Schofeld to investigate the complaints.
“In asking that I perform the investigation for you, you advised that you desired an independent, non-political investigation,” Schofeld wrote to Curtis in his report.
Schofield, after interviewing people connected to the complaints filed, as well as Turley and his attorney, and going over the complaints themselves, concluded in his report that Turley violated the act in at least five ways, including failure to disclose conflicts of interest and use of office for personal gain.
According to the recommendation letter Curtis released, Schofield delivered six binders of documents along with his report. The binders contained the original complaints filed against Turley as well as transcripts from the interviews Schofield conducted and other miscellaneous materials.
According to Curtis’ letter, because of time and financial constraints, Schofield was only able to estimate 11 allegations of unethical behavior on the part of Turley.
“The unethical behavior found is troubling, but the violations of the Act give me no choice but to recommend dismissal,” said Curtis in his letter.
Craig Carlile, Turley’s attorney, said the investigation into his client has been flawed from the beginning.
“We informed the Mayor that the arbitrary time limit to conclude this investigation deprived Mr. Turley of his due process rights which requires a full and fair opportunity to be heard,” Carlile said via email. “We could not review the complaints for almost nine months. The complaints, consisting of three binders, were not delivered until ten business days before the hearing with Mr. Schofield. Mr. Schofield did not identify the eleven issues that we were to prepare for until three business days before the hearing began. And last, but not least, we had no opportunity to cross examine any of the witnesses against Councilman Turley or otherwise test the evidence, and in some cases we were not even aware of what some witnesses said.”
In his letter, Curtis acknowledged Turley’s previous contributions to the council, and his gratitude for Turley’s friendliness when Curtis was first elected mayor.
“This said, it’s clear that I cannot ignore the pattern described in the report of misrepresentation, deceit and using the office for personal gain,” Curtis said. “This not only creates genuine personal disappointment but also provides an overall context that weighs heavily in favor of my recommendation.”
In the closing of his recommendation, Curtis reminded the rest of the council of the high public trust they hold.
“If the council, city staff and especially the public cannot have faith in the veracity of their elected officials, our ability to carry on our work will be irreparably harmed,” Curtis said. “Those who seek public office should expect to live up to a high standard that exceeds average and normal. When there is a failure to do this we must have high accountability. Elected officials should know that their office does not belong to them regardless of their actions. All elected officials should feel that we earn the responsibility to serve — it is not a right. Winning an election is not a pass to lie, disregard the law, use our office for personal gain or harm those we serve.”
