UPDATE: Granite Shoals City Councilor Phil Ort rescinds resignation
Granite Shoals City Councilor Phil Ort rescinded his Monday resignation and plans to attend the City Council meeting Tuesday, Sept. 13. File photo
Granite Shoals City Councilor Phil Ort rescinded his Sept. 12 resignation at the request of Mayor Will Skinner and fellow Councilor Steve Hougen. Ort cited conflicts between his duties as a councilor and his personal responsibilities at home for deciding to step down Monday.
Soon after, Ort posted publicly to Facebook that he would be holding off on his resignation after Skinner and Hougen asked him to think it over. He also received an outpouring of support from fellow members of the Residents of Granite Shoals Facebook page, who lamented his resignation and celebrated when he changed his mind.
“All the calls and comments warm my heart,” Ort wrote on Facebook. “I love this town but it’s the people in it who truly make it a home. The Mayor and I talked tonight and he asked me to wait a day or two before I resign. I told him I would.”
Ort has been an active member of the Granite Shoals City Council and worked to follow through on his platform of citizens’ rights and governmental transparency throughout his service. He is currently serving his second, two-year term after being re-elected in May of this year.
He was first elected in November 2020 after he spearheaded a recall petition against then-Granite Shoals Mayor Carl Brugger and City Councilor Bruce Jones. Both Brugger and Jones resigned before the May 2021 recall election could be held. Since Jones was on the November 2021 ballot unopposed, he was returned to his seat after that election but lost to challenger Aaron Garcia this past May.
Before Ort was elected to the council, he helped form the Citizens’ Rights Group in protest of a $37,000 raise the council gave former City Manager Jeff Looney in August 2020. The goal was to recall the city officials responsible for giving Looney the raise.
Looney was terminated on June 14 of this year after months of deliberation and an assessment of his performance by the council. Ort made the motion to have Looney fired. The vote was 6-0 as Councilor Hougen was absent.
Ort cited duty as the reason for rescinding his resignation.
“If you have the ability to make a difference and someone needs your help, you have the responsibility to do something about it,” he told DailyTrib.com.
Ort will attend the Granite Shoals City Council meeting at City Hall, 2221 N. Phillips Ranch Road, on Tuesday, Sept. 13, at 6 p.m.