LAYTON — There’s a new mayor in town for Layton residents and you might recognize his face.
Layton City Council members voted Scott Freitag in, winning three out of five votes on Tuesday. Freitag is filling in the spot for mayor after the current one was voted in as County Commissioner.
“I was just totally shocked the other night when they read the votes,” said Freitag. “To look at my fellow council members and say they continue to have faith in me.”
Strong emotions for Freitag as he remembered being cited with a DUI exactly one year ago this same month.
“As I’m being pulled over and I look in my rearview mirror, I see those lights on that police car,” said Freitag. “I immediately know this is it. It’s over. My life as I’ve known it is over.”
Freitag was serving with the SLC Fire Department at the time and said he was fully aware of the mistake he had made, and how hypocritical it was for him to be found intoxicated.
“if I could’ve done it differently I certainly would,” said Freitag. “Nobody wants to be in those situations.”
After he was arrested, Freitag said he spent the last year in and out of court, being on probation, doing random drug tests, paying fines and doing community service—everything that’s expected of someone from receiving a DUI.
But Freitag said he didn’t want his decision to define him.
“Do I spend the rest of my life moping and feeling sorry, and not ever getting back to where I was?” asked Freitag. “Or do I try to get back? And that’s what I decided is to get back to where you were and then to do something with it.”
