How and when will the Salt Lake City Council select a replacement for Amy Fowler?
Her resignation from the seven-member council takes effect on July 3.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Amy Fowler will be sworn in as a member of the Salt Lake City Council on Monday, January 3, 2022. Fowler will resign on July 3 after she was arrested in May on suspicion of drink driving.
Salt Lake City will likely have a replacement for outgoing City Council member Amy Fowler before her DUI case goes to court.
A Springville judge agreed to postpone Thursday’s scheduled court date to July 20.
Council members, for their part, intend to fill the soon-to-be-vacated east-side seat by July 18.
“I need a little more time to get in touch with the city on this case,” Fowler’s attorney Skye Lazaro said at a brief virtual hearing Thursday, “and see if we can’t come up with a resolution.”
Fowler will step down from her elected office on July 3 after announcing last week that she will remain in her part-time seat on the council while the city finalizes its 2024 budget on June 13.
Council members this week agreed to accept applications to replace her from June 26 to July 10.
The Council intends to hold public interviews with candidates on July 13. On that day, a new representative could be selected for District 7, which includes the Sugar House area.
If necessary, the council could wrap up talks and elect a replacement on July 18. The Council will appoint a new representative by majority vote.
That self-imposed deadline is weeks earlier than the August 2 deadline under state law for the Council to appoint a replacement within 30 days of a seat becoming vacant.
Fowler’s successor will serve at least through the end of the year. An election will then be held in District 7 in November to decide who will remain in office for the remaining two years of Fowler’s second term.
Fowler’s resignation date falls two months after her May 3 arrest in Springville on suspicion of drink driving.
According to the Utah Highway Patrol, Fowler was involved in a collision on Interstate 15 in Murray about 40 miles away in Utah County about two hours before her arrest.
The outgoing councilor told a police officer that according to a police report, she did not stop after the accident because she believed the other driver did not.
After Fowler initially denied drinking alcohol and taking a sobriety test, Fowler agreed to be tested, the report said.
According to the report, her breath test returned a score of 0.111, more than double the Utah legal limit of 0.05.
Nearly a week later, Fowler publicly said her arrest was an “eye-opening” experience that made her reflect on her “relationship with alcohol.” She initially promised to remain in her position and restore confidence.
Fowler’s arrest came six minutes before she was due to appear in a Sanpete County Manti court to represent a client in a personal injury case. She announced her resignation just hours after The Salt Lake Tribune asked her to comment on the court hearing’s failure.
