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Alex Cabrero reportingThe residents of Eagle Mountain packed city hall for a special meeting Friday night.
A couple of city council members called the meeting to discuss the town's budget. They felt that in the regular meetings, the mayor was not letting them properly address questions that they had.
There has been a lot of talk in recent months about Mayor Olsen and his city council not getting along. After the meeting, it was apparent that the division between the mayor and certain city council members was wider than originally thought.
Vincent Liddiard, Eagle Mountain Councilman: "We've had frustrations, feeling like things we had questions about, weren't getting prompt answers to."
Liddiard says the biggest problem is communication. Liddiard says the mayor won't allow council members access to government records. Liddiard also feels the budget that was recently passed, isn't going to be used properly by the mayor. When they tried to talk about it in regular council meetings, Liddiard says the mayor does not let them. Thus, this special meeting called by council members.
Vincent Liddiard, Eagle Mountain Councilman: "We will hold special sessions as necessary, so that we can address things that we feel are important."
The mayor says all of the attacks against him are not fair.
Brian Olsen, Mayor of Eagle Mountain: "If the mayor is to lack for not communicating to them, then by all means, I invite these council members to sit down and tell me their concerns. Let make sure we all understand."
The distrust between the mayor and some council members exploded this week, when the mayor demanded city council members to turn over their laptops so they could be checked for pornography.
Mayor Brian Olsen made the request at Wednesday's city council meeting, saying it is part of a sweep of all city owned computers. Previously, pornography had been found on the laptop of a former city worker.
Two council members, Liddiard and David Blackburn, refused to turn over their laptops, saying they don't trust the mayor.
David Blackburn, Eagle Mountain Councilman: "Well, essentially I am using that laptop for information. It is my resource for my discussions, one of them being this meeting tonight."
Brian Olsen, Mayor of Eagle Mountain: "That is disappointing that they feel that way, or that they mistrust their mayor. To this point, I think it is all miscommunication."
One thing both side did agree on: They would like to see everyone come together to do what is best for the city as it continues to grow.
