After a heated city council meeting on Monday, the mayor of Farmington has resigned effective immediately.
Joshua Hoyt
Farmington Mayor Joshua Hoyt resigned Wednesday after a contentious city council meeting where he and residents exchanged words, some of them being expletives.
While commenting on a proposed data center, which has faced persistent community backlash, Farmington residents took issue with an enforced five-minute rule for the public commenting period. Each person is given five minutes to speak and once the timer runs out, the mic at the podium is cut and an alarm can be heard.
One resident called the timer “ridiculous” and claimed it was discriminatory against people who speak slower than others.
Tensions grew as one resident refused to leave the podium after five minutes. “You can be done … or I’ll have you removed,” Hoyt said. A video of the meeting shows a law enforcement official approaching the man at the podium and following him out of frame.
“When people come to the podium and they abuse it … then rules have to be put in place,” Hoyt said, to “maintain decorum and order.”
After another exchange with a resident, Hoyt can be heard saying, in a now viral video clip: “We have to hold decorum, that’s how rules work. Otherwise, it’s just a free-for-all, everybody just does what they want when they want and then what? It becomes (an expletive) circus.”
Hoyt’s comment drew more expletives from the crowd, prompting the council to break for a 10-minute recess.
In a letter addressed to the City of Farmington, Hoyt wrote: “After careful consideration, I have come to the difficult decision that I must step away from my role as Mayor to focus on my mental health. This was not an easy conclusion to reach, but it is a necessary one.”
Hoyt was first elected mayor in 2020 and reelected in 2024 with 51% of the vote compared to Paul Larsen’s 47%.
“We are deeply grateful for Mayor Hoyt’s years of dedicated service to the City of Farmington. He truly believes in this community and lives and breathes Farmington,” the city wrote on its website.
Council member Nick Lien will serve as acting mayor. The city council is expected to discuss next steps in filling the vacancy at the March 2 work session.
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