KAYSVILLE, Utah (AP) - The Kaysville City Council has unanimously censured Mayor Katie Witt after she was heavily criticized for her support last month of a concert protesting coronavirus-related restrictions.
The council made the decision Thursday following her support of the concert originally scheduled to take place in Kaysville and because she attacked council members in the media, the Deseret News reported.
The council wanted to put Witt’s behavior behind them but she continued to support the concert and criticized the council in the media, leading to the censure, council members Tamara Tran and Michelle Barber said.
Concert organizer Eric Moutsos and the group Utah Business Revival have said the concert was a way to support Utah businesses and protest COVID-19 restrictions. The concert was ultimately not held but has twice been rescheduled in other Utah counties.
For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia and death. The vast majority of people recover.
Some in Kaysville argued the concert could have put residents’ health and lives at risk and would have violated social distancing guidelines. The progressive Utah-based watchdog group Alliance for a Better Utah had previously asked Witt to resign because of her support for the concert.
The council’s motion to censure Witt states that her endorsement of the concert contradicted city policies and was never about the concert itself but about not following procedures for hosting large gatherings.
“Your approach to this event was a breach of our own Kaysville City Code of Conduct. As outlined in the code, we as elected offices are to first, ‘work for the common good of the people of Kaysville and not for any private or personal interest,’” the censure motion said.
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