Why was former Mayor Brad Sears involved in illegal secret Council emails — ironically about an Ethics Bill?

This is the second in a series of postings of secret City Council emails that were illegally withheld from the public record until the Utah State Records Committee ORDERED the City to collect and provide them to us.

In other words, these are communications the Mayor, Council and City Manager did on their personal email accounts, instead of their City email accounts, apparently thinking that would never be seen by Cedar Hills residents.  They were wrong.  Their own email words appear to reveal their real thinking and intent.

Please open the PDF of Email #2 by clicking…  Secret Email #2 Exposed

Secret Email #2 is interesting for at least four reasons:

1. Former Mayor Brad Sears is included in the email exchanges. Mr. Sears was the Mayor who originally promoted a VOTE in favor of the purchase of the golf course with a promise of $150,000 in annual profit, and $400,000 annual profit after ten years.  June 2004, he resigned when the first year’s massive losses were revealed.  Why secretly discuss an Ethics Bill with him?
2. The email chain is incomplete. The email chain ends at the bottom of page 2, with the start of a new email addition.  Clearly there was at least a page 3, and possibly additional pages.   The City Recorder was alerted to this, and the fact that 11 known emails, provided an “inside source”, exposed the City had not delivered all of Mr. Hildebrandt’s emails, despite claiming to have done so.
3. Ironically, the subject is an Ethics Bill – SB180. Please note that then City Manager Konrad Hildebrandt apparently didn’t like the new ethics bill, and wrote, “6.  Why is the bill even being formed?  Can’t the local, elected, jurisdictions govern themselves?!”. Apparently not.  On May 1, the City Manager resigned in disgrace – but, unfortunately with up to 9-months-worth of severance of a golden parachute of his $155,000 annual salary & benefits – with a signed non-disclosure agreement that neither he, nor the City, will comment on each other.  Why?   Who is protecting CH taxpayer dollars?
4. Records withheld because, “privileged, private, or protected information”. Three and half months after asking for the City’s explanation, Deputy Recorder Gretchen Gordon’s July 13 email finally concluded, “Portions of the e-mail in question have been redacted by legal counsel due to privileged, private, or protected information.”

As with Secret Email #1, this Email #2 raises more questions than it answers.

Questions Secret Email #2 raises:

• Why is former Mayor Brad Sears involved in illegal City Council secret email exchanges, ironically about the Feb. 2012, Utah Ethics Bill – SB180?
• Why was former Mayor Brad Sears’ email chain with the City Council cut off short, and declared “privileged, private or protected information”?
• Why is former Mayor Brad Sears still receiving free golf? (Confirmed by former golf course Manager Jim Madsen.)
• Why are the Mayor and City Council given unlimited free golf?
• Why do City employees receive unlimited free golf?
• Why aren’t Cedar Hills citizens, whose tax dollars subsidize all golf course losses, also provided free golf?
• Why did chairman Gary Gygi invite former Mayor Brad Sears to address the first Golf Finance Committee meeting, when in 2001 he misled Cedar Hills residents to Vote in favor of buying a golf course promising to “make $150,000 annual profit”, which instead has cost CH families an average of $550,000+ in annual losses?  (That’s a $700,000 total miscalculation in the wrong direction.)  A reliable advisor?
• Why are so many of our March 5, 2012 GRAMA requested emails been categorized by the City attorney as “privileged, private, or protected information” and hence not provided?

If City leaders don’t have anything to hide, why have they spent tens of thousands our tax dollars in legal fees to hide and withhold as much as possible?

Citizen Action Items: Please contact your City Council and ask them to put a STOP to all free golf, especially for the Mayor, Council, all City employees, and former City officials.  Also, ask your Council if they support the City attorney’s classification to withhold a portion of the Ethics email, and to immediately release the entire email chain please.

Be watching for the next “Secret Emails Exposed #3”, soon to be posted here – www.CedarHillsCitizens.org .

See PDF with support documentation & information…  Secret Email Exposed #2 – Former Mayor Brad Sears & Ethics