Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes
- The Hooper City Council tabled a measure to strip the mayor of power and leaders will instead try to work through the differences that led to the proposal.
- The decision follows apparent tensions between Mayor Sheri Bingham and Councilman Dale Fowers, her brother, among other issues.
- Officials will aim to resolve their issuess by June 5.
HOOPER, Weber County — A bitter feud between Hooper's leaders that had led to a proposal to strip the city's mayor of any real power has been defused, at least for now.
At a crowded meeting Tuesday, the Hooper City Council voted to table the measure that would have put all the city's executive and administrative powers into the hands of council members, at least until June 5. The mayor would have become the "ceremonial head of the city," per the proposal, which was spurred at least in part by apparent differences between Mayor Sheri Bingham and Councilman Dale Fowers, her brother.
"I'm happy with the fact they're going to come together in closed doors and hash through this for the good of the community," Brent Kohler, one of perhaps 200 residents in attendance, said after the meeting.
Tuesday's tabling followed about an hour of discussion between Bingham and City Council members over the issues that spurred the proposed ordinance stripping the mayor of power. Figuring heavily in the discussion was Bingham's move last week to essentially fire the city's longtime legal advisers and issue a request for proposals for new legal counsel, which irked several City Council members.
Bingham said the move was needed to comply with state law because the lawyers, father-and-son duo Brandon and Reed Richards, weren't under contract with the city, as required. The city could hire legal counsel to assist with city matters in the interim, she said.
But Fowers, who served as mayor before Bingham won the mayoral race in 2023, said the move was "a total surprise" to him. "I mean, you'd have thought something that important, maybe we could have had a meeting," he said.
Councilwoman Debra Marigoni cited the Richards' "reasonable" rates and experience with Hooper. Moreover, if the city needed to formally issue a request for proposals to find an attorney to comply with state law, the process could have been handled in a more thought-out manner. The attorneys know Hooper "inside and out, and I think it's foolish to throw away such experience," she said.
City Council members also variously charged that the mayor never forwarded budget and city financial information to City Council members, hampered their efforts to put discussion items on the city agenda and didn't involve them in hiring of new city employees. "We don't have any vendettas against the mayor. We just want to do our job as well. We have been stonewalled several times," said Councilman Bryce Wilcox.
Bingham, for her part, questioned who would be able to put in the time to take over the duties she's handled as mayor, a part-time post though she's at the job on a full-time basis. "I am here at the city almost every day, all day. If not here, I'm attending meetings, and I don't know who will fill in that spot to do that," she told KSL.com earlier Tuesday.
Councilman Ryan Hill said the divisiveness among city officials is more intense than he ever recalls. "It's been a cancer in our community," he said.
He said the tense situation stems from apparent animosities between Bingham and Fowers, and he called on them to resolve their differences or resign, generating cheers and applause from those in the audience. When Bingham ran for mayor in 2023, Fowers was serving in the post, and instead of vying for mayor as well against his sister, he opted to run for a City Council seat.
Hill subsequently proposed tabling the proposal to strip Bingham of her power until June 5 with the understanding that the mayor and City Council will attempt to work through their differences. The measure passed 4-1 with Wilcox voting "no." The officials also voted unanimously to rescind Bingham's action firing Brandon and Reed Richards, to apologize to the lawyers and to seek their duties as interim legal counsel until the city completes the formal process of contracting with legal representation.
Several Hooper residents lauded Tuesday's action during the public comment portion of the meeting that followed. Michele Christensen, speaking after the meeting, remembers the sparks during the 2023 election cycle, when Bingham was vying for mayor and Fowers for City Council. She's glad the sides put off more serious action and will try to resolve their differences.
"I'm glad they're waiting," she said.
