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SALT LAKE CITY — Mayor Ralph Becker's spokesman Art Raymond was demoted Wednesday after city officials investigated anonymous comments he posted online criticizing the mayor's political opponents.
According to a disciplinary action letter sent by Becker's chief of staff, David Everitt, Raymond's pay will be cut by $3,000 — reducing his yearly salary to $81,843 — and he will no longer speak on behalf of Becker.
Now, Raymond will be reassigned to "communications and content manager," and be placed on probation for six months. Everitt said he was in "close consultation" with Becker on the decision.
"We definitely felt like his actions reflected poorly on the mayor and on Salt Lake City government in general, and that could not go uncorrected," Everitt said. "The larger issue is about maintaining the public's trust in municipal employees and particularly those who work for an elected official, and even more particularly those who are charged with speaking on behalf of that official."
We definitely felt like his actions reflected poorly on the mayor and on Salt Lake City government in general, and that could not go uncorrected.
–David Everitt, Chief of Staff
Raymond was outed by the Salt Lake Tribune last month for posting comments on Tribune stories under the pseudonym WhiskeyPete from his city office computer.
While Raymond has said he only posted the comments on his own time, Everitt said the comments entered a "gray area" of policies that prohibit city employees from engaging in political campaigns.
In the letter, Everitt wrote to Raymond: "While you believed you were primarily if not entirely attempting to provide a critical viewpoint regarding the quality of journalism and to advance the civic dialogue beyond the narrow focus of the articles in question, some of your comments went past that point, becoming both political in nature and uncivil in tone and tenor."
It's against the law to spend public funds for political purposes. The law defines "political purposes" as "an act done with the intent or in a way to influence or intent to influence, directly or indirectly, any person to refrain from voting or to vote for or against any candidate for public office."
"Art definitely in his comments approached, if not crossed, the line, and so that was unacceptable," Everitt said.
Nichol Bourdeaux, Becker's deputy chief of staff, will be stepping in as the city's interim spokeswoman for the next few months until the city decides on how to fill the position permanently, Everitt said.
Everitt noted he and the mayor decided against terminating Raymond because they believe the situation "did not rise to that level."
"I think Art's a very valuable and dedicated employee and he made a mistake," Everitt said. "We certainly looked at that as an option, of course, but felt like at this point it didn't warrant that,"
Raymond, who worked as a Deseret News reporter before taking a job in Becker's office in the fall of 2010, said he was unavailable for comment Wednesday.
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