Mayor Gygi and Cedar Hills Council,

The many recent changes in City leadership and employees have unexpectedly thrust some of you into unique new positions of service of Cedar Hills residents.

With these changes comes a wonderful opportunity to restore the public trust in Cedar Hills’ government.  This can be accomplished by a consistent demonstration of support of truth, transparency and respect.  Each of you is critical to this process.  We want you to be successful for the sake of all Cedar Hills families.  The City’s recent admission in the July Newsletter that the golf course has never been profitable was a huge step in the right direction.  Amazing!  This required considerable courage.  Thank you.

A key to establishing and maintaining the public’s trust is providing easy access to the truth that is the public record.  Yesterday’s Deseret News published an article called “Release Public Records”.  The article reminds government that records of “legitimate public interest” should be provided for free.  (see In Our Opinion http://www.deseretnews.com/article/765598669/Utah-Legislature-needs-to-release-public-records.html )

In the spirit of rebuilding the public trust, we desire to share with you a few concerns we invite you and the Council to review and consider:

1.   Our March 5, 2012 GRAMA request for emails between Council members, etc., has not been completed.  The July 26^th deadline imposed by the Utah State Records Committee’s ORDER on the City to provide those records has passed.

2.   The GRAMA request was for all city business related email including email between Council members using personal accounts.  (Utah Code 63G-2-201(3)(b) ) We do not understand why personal email accounts were used, a behavior which promotes suspicion, but we hope this has been corrected.

3.   As a result of the personal email use, the City agreed it did not have in its possession all public email records as required by law. (Utah Code 10-3-603)

For complete letter see PDF…  OPEN LETTER to new CH Mayor & Council

Did you know that Cedar Hills has the highest property tax rate in N. Utah County?  (http://www.utahcountyonline.org/Dept/Treas/TaxRates.asp )

Did you know that our City Council has been receiving unlimited free golf for years?

Did you know our City Employees have been receiving unlimited free golf for years?

Did you know that despite misleading information by the City and candidates, the city golf course has never made profit in any year?

Did you know that at the Nov. 22 Council meeting that out-going City Council members Jim Perry, Marisa Wright and Ken Kirk said that they did not know during their entire terms in office that the city had loaned itself $1.8 million to cover yearly golf course losses?

For the complete “Did you know?” list, please download a forthcoming PDF file with thorough documentation and LINKS)

By Dennis Romboy, Deseret News /  Published: Monday, July 23 2012 9:29 p.m. MDT

SALT LAKE CITY — Former Cedar Hills Mayor Eric A. Richardson appears headed for prison after admitting in federal court Monday that he falsified a loan application as part of an equity skimming scheme.    

In an agreement with federal prosecutors, Richardson pleaded guilty to one count of felony bank fraud before U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul Warner. In return, prosecutors agreed to recommend the 38-year-old man spend 12 months and one day behind bars. The additional day allows him the opportunity to be released early for good behavior.

For more see… http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865559454/Ex-Cedar-Hills-mayor-appears-headed-for-prison-after-admitting-bank-fraud.html and   http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=21383424

Ex-Cedar Hills mayor pleads guilty to bank fraud

Jim Dalrymple – Daily Herald

SALT LAKE CITY — Former Cedar Hills mayor Eric Richardson pleaded guilty to one count of bank fraud on Monday. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 13 and will likely spend a year in prison.    

For more see… http://www.heraldextra.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/ex-cedar-hills-mayor-pleads-guilty-to-bank-fraud/article_e0034edf-3f29-5d82-9725-0ecbbd4e1262.html

The former mayor of the Utah County city of Cedar Hills pleaded guilty on Monday to a federal bank fraud charge.

For more see… http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/money/54541889-79/richardson-fraud-federal-hales.html.csp

Politics » Gary Gygi promises to report on golf-course finances.

By Nick Mathews | The Salt Lake Tribune |   Jul 20 2012

The Cedar Hills City Council appointed one of its own as mayor in a special meeting Thursday night.

After publicly interviewing nine candidates, the council chose Gary Gygi, a member since January, to replace Eric Richardson, who resigned June 25 amid federal fraud charges and accusations of misappropriation of civil funds.

…A bright future may require a solution to one of Cedar Hills’ most controversial issues: the city golf course. The mayor said he hopes to get to the bottom of its finances. Some critics, chief among them the Cedar Hills Citizens for Responsible Government, have argued that officials misappropriated city funds to build a club house and misled the public about the true state of golf course finances.

To resolve those concerns, Gygi and the other seven members of the ad hoc Golf Course Financial Advisory Committee are examining the course’s financial history.

…Gygi said Friday that the newsletter statement [Sept 2011] was “accurate but not complete” because it told only part of the story. It didn’t account for debt service, for example, or the annual subsidy from tax dollars.

Just this month, the city issued a clarification, acknowledging the statement didn’t reflect the overall financial condition of the golf course.  Gygi said the clarification came at his suggestion.

For complete story see... http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/54527344-78/gygi-course-cedar-golf.html.csp

NOTE: The Tribune reported, “Gygi said the clarification came at his suggestion.”  Really?  Representatives from Cedar Hills Citizens for Responsible Government have asking and “suggesting” the City Council make this correction for over 10 months.  Nevertheless, we congratulate him for helping it happen, albeit lost in small print on page 3.

We hope the “clarification” will find its way to the front page of the next Newsletter where the original error was published, along with a simple table clarifying the year by year golf losses and taxpayer dollar contributions.

“Fresh start”?  We sure hope so.  Public trust will be rebuilt with each example of open, honest, clear communication of facts, so citizens are not mislead and can vote intelligently in the future. We hope the Council will continue this positive trend.

In this month’s city newsletter, Cedar Hills offered a rare correction, saying that an earlier report may have misled some residents to believe the city’s golf course was in the black when in fact it is subsidized.    

In September 2011 the city said the golf course had “shown positive cash flow” since 2005 “and even had a cash surplus of over $90,000 in 2009.”

But that surplus never existed — at least not for taxpayers. On Tuesday, Councilman Gary Gygi argued that the surplus did exist legally under certain accounting schemes, and he said the city never broke the law in its accounting. But for taxpayers, the golf course has been a sinkhole, never realizing even a single dollar in profit.

…Gygi said the city’s statement was in no way prompted by former mayor Eric Richardson’s recent fraud charge.

“I don’t think anyone ever purposely tried to mislead the residents,” Gygi said.

Meanwhile the city continues to work on a full review of the golf course finances, and will announce results this year.

For complete story please see… http://www.heraldextra.com/news/local/north/cedar-hills/cedar-hills-golf-course-not-profitable-nor-ever-has-been/article_3203410c-9844-57d2-9e37-bcf4d22516bd.html

GOOD NEWS!  Cedar Hills city officials have publicly admitted the golf course is not profitable.  Thank you!

The September 2011 front page Newsletter incorrectly gave the impression that the golf course was profitable, when it declared,

“The City golf course has shown positive cash flow from operating activities since 2005 and even had a cash surplus of over $90,000 in 2009.”

A coalition review of audited city financials proved otherwise.  The City’s July 2012 Newsletter correction stated,

“…It created the impression that the golf course, as a whole, was profitable.  This was not the case.”

The profitability of the golf profitability and city finances were the main issues at the last election, an election result which was very close.

Our Citizens coalition believes it was unfortunate that City officials involved themselves in promoting a slate of candidates by promoting financial misunderstanding at the election, and have regularly asked for the correction ever since.

Therefore, the City Council is to be CONGRATULATED for recognizing the value of promoting the truth, and doing a difficult thing in publicly correcting themselves on this important issue.

In light of the tragic loss of our Mayor, and three other high profile, so-called “resignations”, we hope for a fresh start and that the City will trend towards more openness and transparency.  This will help to rebuild and restore the public trust.  We must work to restore public trust in Cedar Hills government.  Promoting TRUTH — even when it hurts — will help restore peace & harmony in Cedar Hills!

You can find the city’s correction in small print on page 3 of 4 of the City’s latest July Newsletter.  The City Council has been asked for fairness by putting the “clarification” on the front page of the next newsletter, just like the original error was.  Putting it on the front page will increase the likelihood of being seen by those who still may believe that the golf course is profitable.  Ideally this will also include a year by year simple table of taxpayer subsidies spent to cover the golf course’s significant annual losses.

The complete “clarification” can also be found at the City website “News Archive” at… http://www.cedarhills.org/node/1467 Also, a revisit to Daily Herald article “Money Trap in Cedar Hills”, which first exposed the misleading information, is also interesting… http://www.heraldextra.com/news/local/north/cedar-hills/article_74123cc0-c0e7-5820-81a4-038d88083c5e.html

Admittedly our coalition’s efforts on this website have of necessity focused on providing the truth and highlighting the City’s misleading actions.  Our efforts to provide Truth has contributed to huge shake-ups that have resulted in four resignations, and more needed changes likely to come.

So, when City Officials do something right, we are just as anxious to highlight and congratulate that too.  Finding and sharing TRUTH is this coalition’s only goal!

PLEASE CONTACT YOUR CITY COUNCIL AND THANK THEM for this welcome effort of openness on their part, and invite them to please continue to do so.   Thanks!

Ex-Cedar Hills mayor faces felony charge

Allegations » After resigning Monday, he now is accused of bank fraud

By  Tom Harvey | The Salt Lake Tribune • Last Updated Jun 27 2012 06:21 pm

The former mayor of the Utah County town of Cedar Hills, who resigned his post this week, is facing a federal bank fraud charge….

For complete story… http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/money/54389616-79/information-richardson-federal-fraud.html.csp

By Dennis Romboy, Deseret News

SALT LAKE CITY — Three days after resigning as mayor of Cedar Hills, Eric A. Richardson was charged in federal court with bank fraud in connection with an alleged equity skimming scheme.

…Federal authorities will issue Richardson a summons to appear in court on the felony ban fraud charge. He faces up to 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine.

For complete story… http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865558211/Ex-Cedar-Hills-mayor-charged-with-bank-fraud.html

Former Cedar Hills mayor charged with one count of bank fraud

Caleb Warnock and Jim Dalrymple – Daily Herald June 28, 2012

CEDAR HILLS — After the resignation of Mayor Eric Richardson, Cedar Hills is focusing on moving forward. Federal prosecutors also are moving, but in their case with criminal charges against the former official.

Councilman Gary Gygi, who handled media questions after the resignation, told the Daily Herald on Wednesday that the council got Richardson’s resignation letter via email just before midnight on Monday.  Gygi said he called Richardson but has not been able to get a hold of him and does not believe anyone else on the council has spoken to him directly either…

…So what are residents to think of his resignation?

“They should take him at his word,” Gygi said. “I’m not going to read too much into it. I am saddened by it. I think he was a good mayor and a good and honorable man…”.

For complete story see… http://www.heraldextra.com/news/local/north/cedar-hills/former-cedar-hills-mayor-charged-with-one-count-of-bank/article_19dd0973-ca56-5314-ad24-142243af181f.html

By Benjamin Wood, Deseret News

Published: Tuesday, June 26 2012 2:59 p.m. MDT

CEDAR HILLS — Expressing his love for the community, Cedar Hills Mayor Eric Richardson resigned his position on Sunday in a prepared statement from the city.

The motivation behind Richardson’s resignation was not explained in the statement, but his decision comes in the midst of criticism by a vocal coalition of Cedar Hills residents over his management of city finances.

Richardson was also named in an unrelated federal complaint in May, in which he and a partner are accused of soliciting $2 million in fraudulent investments….

…  For months, the group Cedar Hills Citizens for Responsible Government has campaigned for the removal of Richardson as mayor….

… Ken Cromar, who has led the coalition’s public records requests, said Richardson’s resignation is a victory, but an audit and investigation are still necessary to find the “bottom of the barrel.”

“It absolutely vindicates our long-standing efforts which have been ridiculed,” he said. “There’s clearly something going on behind the scenes.”

See more at… http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865558130/Cedar-Hills-mayor-resigns-amid-criticism-over-finances.html

Mayor of Cedar Hills resigns

Embattled Cedar Hills Mayor Eric Richardson resigned Monday, effective immediately.

Richardson, who has been mayor since 2010, gave no reason for his decision in a letter to city officials.

For complete story… http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/54380900-78/richardson-mayor-cedar-hills.html.csp

Cedar Hills mayor announces resignation

Barbara Christiansen – Daily Herald

CEDAR HILLS — Cedar Hills Mayor Eric Richardson resigned his position on Monday. There was no reason specified in a press release from the city.

Richardson served as mayor since 2010 and had previously been on the planning commission and the city council. Earlier this month the Utah State Records Committee ordered that Cedar Hills comply with a public records request for the release of emails between council members for the past year.

The Daily Herald attempted to contact Richardson but was unsuccessful.

For complete story… http://www.heraldextra.com/news/local/cedar-hills-mayor-announces-resignation/article_61f9c704-fe4e-5a68-b9f4-2e2113146b28.html

The Utah State Records Committee has ordered that Cedar Hills comply with a public records request for the release of emails between council members for the past year.

See complete story at… http://www.heraldextra.com/news/local/north/cedar-hills/cedar-hills-ordered-to-release-emails/article_ae58fda1-ab2c-5a77-8436-c56d6d691900.html