Mayoral Appointment

Members of the Provo Municipal Council received a letter of resignation from Provo City Mayor John Curtis, which will become effective Monday, November 13, 2017. Curtis will be sworn into his new role as Representative at a ceremony in the United States House of Representatives at 6:00 pm EST on November 13, at which time he will no longer be Mayor of Provo City.

Provo City Code §2.10.080 provides for continuity in the Office of Mayor by authorizing the Council Chair, while continuing to serve as member of Council, to act as mayor until a successor mayor is appointed. The current Council Chair is Dave Sewell, one of two citywide representatives on the Council.

Sewell commented on the proposition of serving as acting mayor, "I have three goals during this time.  First is to keep the ship (the city) moving in the same direction at full speed, working with the excellent administrative staff that Mayor Curtis left in place.  There won't be any sudden course changes during my brief tenure as acting mayor.  My second and most important goal is help the mayor-elect have a smooth transition into office.  The third goal is to take advantage of this unique opportunity to learn more about how the administrative side of our city government works so that I can be more effective as I continue to serve on the Council."

The Council will follow the procedure outlined in Utah § 20A-1-510 to fill the vacancy. Public notice will be posted on November 20, 2017, stating how a qualified person applies to be considered for the appointment and the process for selection by the Council. The appointment of the interim mayor will occur at the regular Council meeting on December 5, 2017.

Council released an intent statement on October 31, 2017, recognizing that this midterm vacancy situation is different from many others in that by December 5^th, the citizens of Provo will have selected a duly elected mayor to take office on January 1^st. While the appointment process will follow State and City law, it was the sense of the Council at that time that the most appropriate course of action will likely be to appoint the mayor-elect to serve as interim mayor until the end of the year, though retaining the legal right to appoint anyone who meets the stated requirements.

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