Letter shared in business owner's name prompts removal of Heber City commission member

HEBER CITY — In a tense meeting Tuesday, the Heber City Council voted to dismiss a member of the city's planning commission after she declined to resign following an alleged ethics violation in October.

Jami Hewlett, a Wasatch County Council candidate serving as an alternate on the planning commission, was removed from her appointment in a 4-1 vote. Her expulsion stemmed from a letter she posted on social media on Oct. 1, which she allegedly falsely claimed was written by a local music store owner, saying his building was in danger of being demolished in a future development project.

Heber Mayor Heidi Franco sent Hewlett a letter on Monday, a day before the election, asking for her resignation. Hewlett was less than a year into a two-year term.

Music store owner speaks out

An account of the controversy, which began in late September, was written by Winston Lee, the owner of Lee's Music, and read at the Nov. 5 meeting by Councilwoman Yvonne Barney.

Lee said in his letter that a relative of Hewlett's came into his store and "asked if I'd like to sign my name, email and phone number to a roster that would protect buildings in my area and also notify me of important updates regarding the new developments."

Lee said he "reached out to the city planner and have been reassured that my building would not be torn down for the development" amid talks of a pedestrian corridor in the downtown area. He also said he gave Hewlett's relative his information.

He then said he was approached by Hewlett later in the day and agreed to make a TikTok video with her celebrating the history and success of the music store. Lee said that Hewlett afterward "claimed that I didn't know the whole story and that I had been deceived," according to the letter.

Hewlett is part of the steering committee for Envision Heber, a group that works on the future general plan for the city. A downtown district vision map from Envision Heber shows options that include a pedestrian corridor, or "activated alley," along where the music store is currently located. Hewlett told KSL.com that the future of downtown Heber City is uncertain with the increasing pressure of development and growth in the area.

"I want to plan a beautiful city. I want quality over quantity, and I want to be able to be proud of it," Hewlett said. "A lot of people are sick about what's happening. They're literally sick. And there's been nights when I stay up all night — my heart is racing and thinking about what they're doing."

In his letter, he said that on Oct. 1, Hewlett called Lee while he was getting ready for work. Lee was in a hurry and didn't have time to talk, but he said Hewlett said she wanted to tell him about a City Council meeting that night. On the agenda was the naming of the pedestrian corridor in question.

Hewlett sent Lee a text, according to his letter, which read, "I sent you an email. It is urgent. Please send this to all of your students, your whole list." Lee said he didn't have time to read it, so he replied, "Thank you."

But when Lee got to work and read Hewlett's email, he said, "It was a shocking email describing my building as being in danger and asking people to support me at the council meeting that night. " He wrote, "I deleted the email and thought that deleting it and not replying would put the issue to rest."

Later in the day, a nearby business owner came into his shop "looking dismayed," Lee said, and telling the music teacher they would support him at the council meeting that night. "I had no idea what they were talking about," Lee said, soon learning that Hewlett "had sent the letter out on Facebook without notifying me or asking my permission."

The post, since deleted but posted by KPWC, was an "urgent plea for support," signed by Winston Lee, which called the proposal to name the future pedestrian walk "a decision that threatens to destroy not only my building but also the livelihood of everyone who works here."

"I just posted it, like, look what (Lee) sent me," Hewlett told KSL.com. She said she was thinking, "Maybe somebody will look at this and hopefully come to the meeting, and we can figure out where this road is going. We can talk to the people that are involved in it and figure out what exactly is happening before the city names this path."

When he found out, Lee texted her: "I should have been direct with you. I don't have a position. I'm neutral. I don't want my name being used for any argument."

"I just assumed we were both on the same page," Hewlett said. "I'm very disappointed how things turned out, and I'm very sorry."

Lee, who wants his students to "see me as a music mentor, not a political activist," wrote in his letter that "although I'm not angry with her, I think her actions were careless, thoughtless and reckless. ... I think that in her mind, she was doing what she felt was best for the community, while not considering how it could hurt me."

City Council asks for resignation

The issue stirred up conflict on the Heber City Council, with Councilman Scott Phillips calling for immediate action, while Councilman Aaron Cheatwood wanted to wait until after the election.

"I had requested the item be put on the agenda for our meeting three weeks ago," Phillips told KSL.com. "We have an alternate on the planning commission that is definitely acting outside of the public interest. It's affecting citizens, and we don't take action immediately. That's disappointing to me."

He said he agreed to wait because he was told the mayor was going to ask Hewlett for her resignation after the October meeting. "She did not do anything about it, as far as I know, until Monday, which was three weeks later and right before the actual election," he said.

Over the weekend leading up to the meeting, Phillips said he "received a text from the mayor to all the council members asking if we could wait till after the election to bring up the item. And I emphatically said, 'No.'"

Cheatwood told the public at the Nov. 5 meeting that he had originally pushed for the delay. "I did not want anything to interfere with an election that could cause either confusion or that could cause momentum in either direction," he said at the Nov. 5 meeting. "I did not want that to happen before the election was finalized. Period, end of story."

Hewlett said the public backlash from the letter "100%" affected the results of the election. The removal itself happened after polling closed the night of the election. According to an unofficial count, Hewlett, a Libertarian, lost the race to Republican Kendall Crittenden, 59% to 13%.

"My reputation, my election, it impacted every aspect of my life," she said.

The mayor was insistent during the Nov. 5 meeting that she was not the one bringing the item to the agenda, seemingly distancing herself from the vote. The way Franco spoke made Phillips believe "she was trying to just place the blame squarely on the council," he said.

"I don't want to and did not want to vote to remove this person," Cheatwood said. "I had hoped that, given what had happened, that we would see, we would have seen a resignation instead."

Hewlett did not resign, forcing the vote. She was not able to make a public comment, though she attended the meeting, but said in a written statement she "believed that I had received permission to share the letter" and "now realize there were misunderstandings." She says she will "strive to act with greater caution and integrity in the future."

Phillips says he feels bad for Lee. "This guy is like the nicest guy in the planet," he said. "He doesn't want any publicity. He just lays low; he plays music. He's a great human, and he's just been drug into this."

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