UNELECTED POWER — CASE FILE

The Board Seat That Never Came Up

Heber City's top administrator sits on the board of the nonprofit his own office pays. Here's the paper trail — and the plain version, first.

The Weber County Hive

THE SHORT VERSION

  1. Heber City has a City Manager — the person who runs the city day to day. He isn't elected. His name is Matt Brower.
  2. Brower also sits on the board of a private nonprofit called CAMS, which runs Heber's downtown events.
  3. Brower's own office gave CAMS a city contract worth about $39,900 a year, for three years — nearly $120,000 total.
  4. CAMS's board — with Brower on it — voted to approve that deal on January 13, 2026. The City Council approved it a week later, on January 20, with Brower's staff report recommending it.
  5. When it came time to sign the final contract, there was no line for the Mayor. Only Brower signed for the City — even though the contract's own wording says the Mayor should.
  6. Someone filed a complaint with the Utah State Auditor. The City had to redo part of the paperwork to make the process look proper.
  7. Hundreds of Heber Valley residents signed a petition asking the City Council not to renew Brower's contract. The Council renewed it anyway, 4–2.
The man who runs the city gave nearly $120,000 in public money to a group he sits on the board of — and no one outside that arrangement signed off on it.

Who is Matt Brower?

Matt Brower has been Heber City Manager since 2018, appointed — not elected — by the City Council. City Managers in Utah's council-manager form of government run daily operations: staff, budget, contracts, and what makes it onto the Council's own agenda.

Before Heber, Brower held city manager posts in Lincoln, California (2015–18), Ocala, Florida (2008–14), and Santa Clara, Utah (2000–08). He describes himself as having "23 years" of city management experience.

Also on the record: Brower is a director of the Red White & Blue Festival Inc. (since 2023) and has sat on CAMS's board since 2019 — years before the city contract in question.

What is CAMS?

The Community Alliance for Main Street (CAMS) is a Heber City nonprofit that programs downtown events — the Heber Market on Main, Halloween Feast, Old Fashioned Christmas, and more. Its own bylaws describe it, oddly, as "this advisory committee," even though it now operates and contracts as an independent 501(c)(3) corporation.

CAMS's board as of January 2026: Tom Stone (Chair), Matt Brower, Dallin Koecher, Jeff Bradshaw (Treasurer), Ryan Fritzsche, Kelsey Berg, Erik Rowland, and Nicole Ferguson. Its one paid employee is Executive Director Rachel Kahler. Tap a card.

CHAIR / PRESIDENT
Tom Stone
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Heber resident since 1986, owns several Main Street commercial buildings, mortgage-industry career. Co-founded CAMS in 2003 with Jeff Bradshaw. Signed CAMS's 2023 bylaws as both President and Chairperson. Disqualified from the 2024 Wasatch School Board Seat E race for a late disclosure filing; sued to overturn it and lost (Dec. 2024). Not currently in elected office. His attorney in that suit was state Sen. Todd Weiler.
EXECUTIVE MEMBER
Matt Brower
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Heber City Manager since 2018 — this whole page is about him. On CAMS's board since 2019, seven years before the City's own contract with CAMS. Sole City signatory on that contract despite it being sitting on both sides of the deal. See the rest of this page for the full record.
EXECUTIVE MEMBER
Dallin Koecher
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Executive Director of the Heber Valley Chamber, Tourism & Economic Development office (aka Heber Valley CVB) since March 2020 — a full-time paid role, not volunteer. Also sits on the Wasatch County Arts Council board and previously Heber City's Board of Adjustments (2019-21). His own posted WOLB conflict-of-interest form lists only his Chamber role — omitting CAMS, Heber Valley Music, and the Red White & Blue Festival, all of which he's also tied to.
TREASURER
Jeff Bradshaw
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Co-founded CAMS with Tom Stone in 2003, following a $15,000 thank-you allocation Heber City received after the 2002 Winter Olympics. Has served as Treasurer through the organization's revival ("CAMS 2.0") beginning around 2018. No other public role or entity confirmed yet.
BOARD MEMBER
Ryan Fritzsche
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Named on CAMS's board roster in both the January 2026 and April 2026 City staff reports. No other public role, business entity, or disclosure record confirmed yet — not yet researched beyond this board seat.
BOARD MEMBER
Kelsey Berg
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Named on CAMS's board roster in both the January 2026 and April 2026 City staff reports. No other public role, business entity, or disclosure record confirmed yet — not yet researched beyond this board seat.
BOARD MEMBER
Erik Rowland
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Wasatch County Council Chair (Seat C) since 2023, unopposed in 2026. Also sits on MIDA and the Wasatch Open Lands Board. His county conflict-of-interest disclosure form was filed blank — omitting CAMS and seven other confirmed positions and business entities, including three of his own LLCs. Full record in the companion case file, "The Wrong Form, Four Times."
BOARD MEMBER
Nicole Ferguson
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Named on CAMS's board roster in both the January 2026 and April 2026 City staff reports. Reportedly a candidate for a February 2025 Wasatch School Board vacancy — outcome not yet confirmed. No other public role or entity confirmed yet.
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR (paid staff, not board)
Rachel Kahler
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CAMS's one paid employee, appointed as the City's "special events coordinator" under the Professional Services Agreement. Her 2019 Heber City municipal disclosures are on file, showing she has complied with disclosure rules before — but her 2026 county-level filing shows a gap, breaking that pattern. Also sits on the North Village Special Service District Admin. Control Board, per her own bio.

The timeline

Oct. 21, 2025City Council holds a lengthy discussion about contracting with CAMS for downtown event programming; directs staff to draft an agreement.
Jan. 13, 2026CAMS's own board — including Brower — unanimously approves the Professional Services Agreement at CAMS's board meeting. One week before the City even votes.
Jan. 20, 2026City Council approves the agreement 5–0. The staff report, authored under Brower's name, lists him only inside a routine board roster — no standalone conflict-of-interest disclosure. Meeting minutes record "no conflicts disclosed."
(undated)An undisclosed person files a complaint with the Utah State Auditor, alleging Brower didn't adequately disclose his CAMS seat and that the City didn't strictly follow its own procurement process.
April 14, 2026City Council votes 4–2 to renew Brower's contract through May 2029, the same day a petition with 300+ signatures asking for non-renewal is submitted.
April 21, 2026City Council formally ratifies the CAMS agreement a second time, after the City re-noticed it as a "sole source" procurement to address the auditor complaint.

The signature nobody expected

The final, signed Professional Services Agreement contains a standard recital: "City caused this Agreement to be signed by its mayor and attested by its city recorder."

The actual signature block that follows has no line for the Mayor at all. It has one line: Matt Brower, City Manager.

The same person who sits on CAMS's board, who helped approve this deal as a CAMS board member on January 13, and who authored the staff report recommending it to the City Council — is also the only person who signed for the City.

What CAMS's own rules say about this

CAMS's bylaws, signed 2023, list among the powers reserved to its full Board of Directors: "Approve any self-dealing transaction, except as provided pursuant to Law."

In other words, CAMS's own governing document anticipated exactly this kind of situation — a board member with a competing interest in a CAMS transaction — and built a required approval step for it. Whether the Heber City contract was ever formally treated and approved as a "self-dealing transaction" under that provision is not shown in any document obtained so far.

What the contract itself pays CAMS

$39,900 per year, paid quarterly, for a term running through 2028–29 with automatic annual renewal. CAMS also keeps most event-sponsorship revenue, splits Heber Market on Main sponsorships 50/50 with the City, and can pursue additional TAP tax grants on top of the contract. The City throws in police services, insurance, marketing support, and storage space in a former city administration building.

The money that doesn't add up yet

CAMS's 2024 financials show a single expense line — "Main Street Beautification" — of $347,465.54, roughly 90% of that year's entire budget. That figure collapsed to $4,000 in 2025. What the 2024 figure actually funded has not yet been identified in any document obtained. Separately, CAMS's "Program Support" line jumped from $600 in 2024 to $14,100 in 2025 — a 23x increase in a year total revenue fell 73%.

The public response

A petition titled "Petition of No Confidence," submitted April 14, 2026 by resident Bridget Whiting on behalf of "concerned residents of Heber Valley," collected 335 online signatures plus additional paper signatures — north of 300 total. It asked the Council to decline to renew Brower's contract, citing early renewal timing, salary increases, agreements with outside organizations, and declining public confidence. It explicitly did not allege criminal conduct.

Public comment emails submitted the same week raised additional, more specific concerns:

"Matt's recent statement in Park Record contradicts what was reported in Lincoln CA in regards to his knowledge of fraud." — Kelli Gomez, public comment, April 14, 2026
"I am aware that Sid Ostergaard has a conflict of interest with any decision made on the City Manager's contract renewal, since Sid personally benefited from a contract awarded by the City Manager a few years ago." — Tracy Taylor, Wasatch Taxpayers Association, April 14, 2026

Not everyone opposed renewal — at least one resident, Larry Saylor, wrote in support, calling Brower "honest and trustworthy and loyal." Opposition was organized and vocal, but not unanimous.

What's still unconfirmed

The Sid Ostergaard conflict-of-interest claim, the Park Record/Lincoln CA contradiction claim, what the $347,465.54 CAMS expense actually bought, and whether CAMS's board ever formally treated the City contract as a "self-dealing transaction" under its own bylaws — none of these are resolved by any document obtained so far. They are documented here as claims and open questions, not established facts.