Page 14 | February 2016
Holladay City Journal
FEBRUARY 2016
M AYO R ’S M E S S AG E
Yesterday, January 16th, I was in the middle of drafting my February newsletter article when I took the call I never wanted to receive. Unified Police Sheriff Jim Winder informed me that there was an auto accident at 4500 South and 2300 East. Two individuals exited one of the vehicles and were walking away from the scene. Officer Douglas Barney was first to respond. He communicated that he had located the individuals and was heading in their direction. His last transmission indicated that he was departing his vehicle to speak with one of the suspects. The next call came from a resident in the abutting neighborhood; a single shot was heard coming from the direction of his driveway and that an officer was down. Initial reports indicate that Officer Barney’s service weapon was holstered. We live in a time when police service has been the subject of intense
Officer Douglas Barney
scrutiny. The pundits claim to have all the answers. They are quick to question the intentions and actions of our officers with little if any understanding of what it means to put on a uniform, say goodbye to loved ones, and nobly enter an environment in which the attitudes and actions of the very citizens they are sworn to protect can end their life with the squeeze of a trigger. The vast majority of our officers are driven to join the force born by a commitment to secure a safe environment for other families and for their own. The death of Doug Barney serves as a stark reminder that the risks our police officers take to this end are very real. They continually earn our respect and admiration, and I’m proud to say, that in our community, this has always been the case and will continue to be so in the future. Thank you to the citizens of Holladay for always properly honoring and celebrating the heroic service of our First Responders and to the men and women protecting our freedoms through their service in our Armed Forces. The collective hearts of our community were broken yesterday. Not just the brothers and sisters that comprise the Unified Police Department, but the entire community at large. The outpouring of love and support for our officers and for the Barney and Richey families has been overwhelming. I know this response is something we have all come to expect in this community, but to experience it in the moment instills a sense of pride beyond my ability to express in words. On behalf of the Barney and Richey families, I’ll simply say THANK YOU! Rob Dahle, Mayor
Quasi-Judicial Proceedings By Council Member Steve Gunn District 4 Like our federal and state governments, municipalities have the traditional three branches: legislative, executive and judicial. In the City of Holladay the City Council performs the legislative function and the City Manager is the executive. The City also has a justice of the peace and small claims court. But what is not widely understood is that in municipal governments the city or county council members may also have limited judicial responsibilities referred to as “quasi-judicial functions.” An important difference between a council’s exercise of its legislative (i.e., its political) function and its quasi-judicial function is that in the former, public opinion can—and usually should—be taken into account. But in the latter, the law prohibits decision –making based solely on “the will of the people.” In my view, when the Holladay City Council sits as a judicial body, its decision should be based on the application of legal principles to the facts of the case, as presented by the parties at a formal hearing, not on public opinion. One example of a council’s quasi-judicial function is the hearing of an appeal from the decision of the manager’s dismissal or punishment of an employee. The most frequently-occurring example of the exercise of a quasi-judicial function is an appeal from the decision of the planning body of the municipality, usually concerning the application of a land use ordinance to a particular construction request. In such a case the City Council is called upon to determine the “correctness” of the Planning Commission’s decision based upon evidence and/
or arguments presented at a new hearing, this time before the Council. Recently the Holladay City Council had the opportunity to perform its quasi-judicial function in determining whether the City Manager acted correctly in reasonably accommodating a treatment facility of 16 beds, which exceeds the number allowed in the zone by 10, to be operated in a residential neighborhood. Understandably, several neighbors of the facility strongly objected to the operation of such a facility near them. Ultimately the City Council was forced to make a judicial, not a political, decision and to uphold the action of the City Manager based primarily upon the mandate of federal law. We Council members
did so recognizing that the upholding of our oath of office, which requires each of us “to support, obey and defend the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of this State”, may not be popular and that, in fact, there may be a political price to be paid for our decision. But we recognize-- and hope our fellow citizens will recognize--that in a democracy the protection of unpopular rights granted or guaranteed by law is perhaps the most important role a legislator or judge can play.
City Of Holladay • 4580 South 2300 East • 801.272.9450 • www.CityOfHolladay.com