Editor:

As the two newest members of the Bountiful City Council, having served since January 2008, we stand united in our assertion that we have not participated in or observed any unethical behavior by any elected or appointed Bountiful City officials.

We find the gross inferences by Mr. Jeffrey Novak in the recent Davis County Clipper article titled, “Bountiful group wants change in government”, that the Bountiful City Council or Bountiful City has unanswered ethical issues personally offensive.

Mr. Novak and his friends have every right to run for elected city positions, but when they drag our good names as well as those of Bountiful City employees through the cesspool of groundless innuendo on vague ethical allegations, they cross the line. Neither of us has ever conducted city business that should have been conducted in public “behind closed doors” as Mr. Novak states. Statements like the one above only show his ignorance of state open meetings laws and his desperation to find any issues, whether true or not, that might result in support for his candidacy.

We have both done everything in our power to learn the innermost workings of city government in order to not only understand why the city functions as it does, but to also help improve city services whenever possible. We dare say the same can’t be said for Mr. Novak and his friends. We have rarely seen any of them attend city council meetings and have never seen any of them at the many city sponsored open houses, youth council events, concerts in the park, farmers market events, emergency preparedness fairs, Bountiful Volunteer Service Council activities, Lions Club events, Rotary Club events, Exchange Club events or other community wide activities.

For individuals that would have you believe they know better then anyone else what the city needs to improve, they spend little time mingling with Bountiful citizens. Although Mr. Novak is a member of the Bountiful American Legion Post #78, that organization’s community activities are largely dormant despite his association.

We have both answered literally hundreds of e-mails, letters and phone calls from Bountiful residents regarding every city issue imaginable. Any time a citizen contacts the city regarding an issue or question, city employees and the city council make a diligent effort to respond promptly and resolve the issue. We don't wait until a city council meeting to bring up issues but address them as they arise.

The city sponsors a Web page with up-to-date city and community events. The city and the city council use the city newsletter and utility invoices to convey valuable information about city and city council activities. All city council meetings are advertised in the local paper and are open to the public. The accusation that the city council “needs more communications with citizens” is absurd.

It is also interesting that the two charter members of the organization called CEAG, Mr. Novak the small group’s founder and former president, and Mr. Wright the owner of the group’s Web page, proudly announced CEAG’s endorsement for their candidacy for elected office. In the Army, they call that arrangement a “self-licking ice cream cone”. A nice trick if you can get away with it.

We find it rather odd that on the one hand that Mr. Novak and his friends state that the Bountiful City Council operates on a “buddy system” yet he hypocritically points out that he and his friends running for office are a “like-minded association of individuals that have collaborated as a result of shared values.” Just because you feel like you are on the right side of an issue does not make your position morally superior.

We as Bountiful City Council members believe that the value of democracy lies in the ability of individuals to discuss issues and not always agree. If Mr. Novak or his friends have any evidence of wrongdoing by any member of the Bountiful City Council or Bountiful City, I implore him to refer the matter to the Davis County Attorney, Troy Rawlings, (801) 451-4300, or the Utah Attorney General, Mark Shurtleff, (801) 366-0260.

John M. (Marc) Knight, Bountiful City Councilman john.knight@us.army.mil

(801) 864-7004



Beth Holbrook, Bountiful City Councilwoman

holbrookinc@juno.com (801) 867-5552