Utah court backs open government

Monday, Oct. 7, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

A Utah judge has ruled for a newspaper seeking from the city of Orem the names of the finalists for its city manager post that went to a former longtime North Las Vegas city manager.

The Orem Daily Herald in November 1994 filed a lawsuit against the city after it refused to release the short list of applicants for the $81,000-a-year post awarded to ex-North Las Vegas City Manager Mike Dyal.

Following its victory late last month, the Herald, in a front-page story, called the decision "a landmark in Utah's open government laws."

The paper had tried for five months to get the names without legal action before filing a lawsuit 23 months ago under the provisions of the state's Government Records Access and Management Act.

District Judge Anthony Schofield ruled that the public's right to know outweighed the city's interests in keeping confidential the names of the other five finalists for the job.

The Herald had maintained that the public should have had access to the names before the selection was made so residents could have commented on the qualifications of each candidate at a public meeting, thus providing elected officials with better insight.

The city, which can appeal the decision to the Utah Supreme Court, has maintained that confidentiality is essential in getting the best candidates to apply for top city jobs without fear their current employers will learn they are seeking other employment and possibly replace them.

"On the balance, there is no question in my mind that the public's interest in disclosure of the cover letters, applications and resumes of the six finalists outweighed Orem's claimed need for confidentiality," Schofield ruled.

He noted that the city never promised confidentiality to the applicants in advertisements for the job or in correspondence with the finalists.

Southern Nevada communities over the years have routinely disclosed the names of finalists seeking city manager jobs.

By accepting the top Orem post in September 1994, Dyal, 53, took a $23,000 cut in annual pay to leave the North Las Vegas job he had held for 12 1/2 years. At the time of his departure from North Las Vegas, Dyal said he was "leaving a great community and going to a great community."

Orem, population 73,000, is located in north-central Utah, five miles northwest of Provo. In 1994, the city was named one of the nation's most livable communities by a national business publication. It is the home of several major computer software firms.