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WEST JORDAN — After nearly 20 years of public service, West Jordan city manager Rick Davis resigned suddenly Tuesday.
Davis' resignation was announced Tuesday after just three years in the job. Davis is among those named in a lawsuit by a longtime city employee alleging a number of issues, from civil rights violations to negligence, conspiracy and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
West Jordan Mayor Kim Rolfe called Davis' resignation "mutually agreeable to Rick and the council" in a news release Tuesday. An agenda item dealing with Davis' severance package has been added to the West Jordan City Council's meeting agenda for Wednesday.
Regarding his resignation, Davis said simply in the release, "I look forward to pursuing other opportunities that will give me more time with my family."
Assistant city manager Bryce Haderlie becomes interim city manager.
West Jordan, city attorney Jeff Robinson and deputy city attorney Stuart Williams, the state of Utah and state bureau of investigations agent Jeff Plank are named alongside Davis in the lawsuit.
The lawsuit, filed by the city's court clerk supervisor Shelley Thomas, refers to various incidents, most of them involving an investigation into the conduct of West Jordan Justice Court Judge Ronald Kunz, who was charged with unlawful dissemination of criminal history, a class B misdemeanor, but was found not guilty.
Related:
Employee files lawsuit against West Jordan City, city leaders
A longtime West Jordan employee has filed a lawsuit against the city, its city manager, two of the city's attorneys and a state investigator in federal court.Thomas claims she was bullied by city attorneys and Plank into searching for files in the judge's office without his knowledge and without seeing a subpoena.
Davis did not return calls for comment this week after the lawsuit was filed.
Before coming to West Jordan in 2011, Davis served three years as town manager in Fountain Hills, Arizona, a municipality of roughly 25,000. He also held posts in Utah as city manager in West Point and assistant to the city administrator and community affairs director in Sandy.
Davis earned his master’s in public administration from BYU’s Marriott School of Management and a bachelor’s degree in public relations, also from BYU. He is a credentialed manager with the International City/County Managers Association and a member of the Utah City Management Association.
