Kearns council removes Paula Larsen from Community Committee, thanks her in resolution

The Kearns City Council voted at a special meeting Oct. 26 to remove Paula Larsen from the Kearns Community Committee, then approved a resolution thanking her for nearly three decades of volunteer service. The meeting summary published by OpenCity records the removal vote as 3-2. In the roll call in the transcript, Council Members Lyndsay Longtin, Chrystal Butterfield and Mayor Jesse Valdez voted yes and Council Member Patrick Schaeffer voted no. Council Member Lorrin Colby, who joined online, is recorded as voting no in the OpenCity summary, but his answer is garbled in the transcript. ^[1][2][3]

**The agenda.** The special meeting had two action items: whether to remove Larsen as a committee member, and Resolution R2026-18 recognizing her service. The agenda did not include public comment, but Valdez said the council would take it anyway, with three minutes per speaker. ^[1][3]

**What the mayor and council said.** Valdez said the discussion "does not stem from a single incident or one person's perspective," but from multiple concerns over an extended period. Valdez also said that when the city changed its form of government, city leadership brought every member of the former Community Council onto the new committee. Longtin said the committee otherwise works well together but the working relationship between Larsen and city leadership "is no longer functioning in the way that is needed." She cited commitments about parade barricades that were not kept and "the situation at Harmon's." She said there had been repeated difficulties of communication, follow-through and trust. The transcript does not give further detail on either matter, and Larsen is not identified as speaking in the transcript. Schaeffer said he had disagreed with Larsen over the years but respects her, and that he did not agree with the decision. ^[3]

**Public comment.** Several people spoke, most opposing the removal. Speakers described Larsen's decades of volunteer work and her own money spent on community events, and asked how the city could dismiss a volunteer. A former Community Council member who said he served with her for 17 years said he disagreed with the decision. He said the thank-you resolution felt like "shaking somebody's hand and putting a knife in their back." One speaker said their own experience with Larsen had not always been great. One resident asked what bylaws govern the committee. A speaker not identified in the transcript responded that the council adopted rules of order and procedure earlier this year, that the city code is being restated, and that the council has authority to remove volunteers from committees. ^[3]

**The resolution.** Schaeffer moved to approve Resolution R2026-18, which Valdez read into the record. It recognizes Larsen as a longtime resident who served on the Kearns Town Council, the Kearns Community Council and the Community Committee. It credits her work on events including Hometown Days, Night Out Against Crime and the Taste of Kearns, and on the Kearns Veteran War Memorial and the Paul Walker 911 Memorial. Colby lost his online connection during the vote. When he reconnected he abstained, and he was then reminded that the vote was on the thank-you resolution, not the removal; the transcript does not record whether he changed his vote. OpenCity records the resolution as approved, with Colby abstaining (4-0-1). No closed session was held. ^[1][3]