Nine months after its longtime executive director resigned amid scandal, the taxpayer-funded Utah League of Cities and Towns has named Cameron Diehl as its new chief.
Diehl has been serving as the league’s director of governmental relations — essentially its top lobbyist — and staff attorney. He first started as an intern in 2006 with the league, a group that provides training and lobbying for the state’s cities and towns.
Steve Hiatt, mayor of Kaysville and president of the league, said it conducted a nationwide search that attracted 150 candidates.
“Diehl emerged as the clear choice with his sound professional judgment and unmatched knowledge of the complex issues affecting Utah’s communities,” Hiatt said.
Diehl said he is “honored and humbled by the opportunity” to work with cities to “prepare for the future and preserve Utah’s quality of life.”
Last January, Ken Bullock, the league’s executive director, resigned on the same day a state audit said he charged $57,000 in personal expenses to the league’s credit over four years.
The report by the office of state Auditor John Dougall also questioned another $130,000 in league charges because they lacked documentation showing they were for business purposes.
The audit came after The Salt Lake Tribune, using leaked documents, reported last October that Bullock had charged more than $25,000 in 2014 and 2015 for travel to watch his son, Elliot, play basketball for Stanford University.
Bullock showed he repaid most of the money, and said he charged to the league as a convenience to keep all his frequent-flier award miles together.
But it raised questions about whether the charges amounted to loans, how much financial oversight the league has, and whether Bullock should personally benefit from frequent-flier mileage bought by taxpayers.
Diehl is scheduled to assume the executive director position on Oct. 16, succeeding interim Executive Director Roger Tew.