"A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on."

-- Winston Churchill

Jay Franson, mayor of Highland, has been accused, without foundation, of conflict of interest. He has been castigated for a perceived disregard for violating the spirit of the open meeting laws, and psychoanalyzed for being agitated, angry and upset over all of these baseless accusations.

Well, Mr. Mayor, I applaud your restraint and decorum. In the face of the false accusations, conflict, innuendo, criticism and just plain meanness you have stayed the course. You have shown your mettle. You have exhibited, under fire, the qualities of leadership, courage and diplomacy that have so well served the residents of Highland.

Here are a few examples of the irresponsible actions of your detractors:

No one ever directly addressed the mayor with complaints of conflict of interest or divulged to him the filing of a complaint with the attorney general. He learned about the complaint from a Daily Herald reporter after the primary election.

The timing of the filing of the complaint with the attorney general and furnishing of a copy of the complaint to a reporter just weeks before the general election, gives one cause to ask: was this a coincidence or a well engineered attempt to influence the outcome of an election?

The October 29th Daily Herald editorial titled "In Our View" criticized the mayor for not declaring a conflict of interest related to an American Fork irrigation project. The article said, "a mere declaration of a conflict seems like the minimum in any case." Where is the logic in that statement? Franson had no conflict -- therefore, no statement of conflict of interest was made nor required.

A newspaper article also misquoted the mayor as saying that the subject of conflict of interest should be out of bounds in a political race. Instead, he simply declared in an interview with the reporter that to file a complaint without basis or merit should be out of bounds for a political race.

The very vocal critics of the mayor's interpretation of the open meetings law and, supposedly, staunch proponents of openness and transparency appear to be able to talk the talk but can't walk the walk.

A recent editorial used terms to describe the mayor's pre-council meetings as "stealth pre-meetings," "ruses" and "sneaky." Such labeling shows a biased slant on a legal, logical, and widely used practices of any well-run organizations. Any claim to nefarious motives presupposes an attempt to circumvent the open meetings law. Nothing could be farther from the truth.

This good man has spent countless hours in service to the residents of Highland. Every Monday he is available to speak with any wishing to come to City Hall.

He is passionate about not only doing things, but about doing things right. Under his able leadership the Highland East West Corridor is close to reality. SR 92 has been designed with minimal impact to Highland City.

A Timpanogos Cave Visitors center has been funded. The debris basin (to prevent flooding) at the mouth of American Fork Canyon has been purchased and a cooperative agreement between Cedar Hills, American Fork and Highland has been negotiated, giving the cooperating cities control of the development and use of that asset.

In cooperation with eleven other cities, a groundwater recharge study is being conducted.

City owned aggregate has been sold generating well over $1 million in revenue to the city. At the completion of the removal of the aggregate, the city will have usable land suitable for a park or other use. A beautiful new city hall and justice center have been constructed which, as a result of Franson's vision, will serve the needs of Highland residents for decades to come. There is not space to list his many other accomplishments.

The leadership to bring these projects to fruition has come from Franson. Yes, the City Council is the legislative body which deliberates, collaborates and approves the matter; but without his vision, many of these projects would still be in the planning stages.

It is unfortunate and disturbing that so much time, space and energy has been wasted on the fabrications, innuendo and matters that, while extremely important, have obscured the true picture of a good man.

As I defend this great man's honor and integrity and support his continued service, I ask only that each of you look at him based on evidence of his past performance. I have observed the mayor for many years and find him to be a man of honor, dedication and integrity, who uses his time and expertise to benefit the residents of Highland.

He is a man with a 28-year record of community service who does not compromise doing what is right for the sake of doing what is popular.

• Larry Mendenhall is a member of the Highland City Council.