The Daily Herald: Your town. Your neighbors. Your Newspaper. - City staff reacts to mayor's fake story: "Councilwoman Linn Strouse said she was sympathetic to the city leader's predicament.

Strouse said Bailey had been working 65-hour work weeks as a development consultant while trying to run a city with a 25 percent yearly growth rate. She said he was doing that while also tending to his wife, who had a stroke two weeks ago, and serving as mayor, for which he makes $400 per month.

Last Wednesday night at a public hearing on the city's general plan, Strouse said residents accused the mayor and staff of changing the city's original revised general plan and development codes. She said the original general plan was missing and staff was working on rewriting the third draft of a new one.

The problem was residents assumed the general plan and development codes were two different things, she said, and pre-public hearing information was disseminated and Bailey as well as staff 'got the brunt of it. '

'It was like the batting cages and the balls just keep coming at you, ' she said.

Friday evening, Bailey told his wife about being abducted while returning from a hunting trip and helping a person holding a gasoline can along Interstate 15. He said the person forced him to drive through four states to Barstow, Calif., between Las Vegas and Los Angeles.

Saturday, he issued a statement saying after more than 24 hours without sleep and an all-night drive, he realized his family was the most important thing to him. In his exhaustion, he made up the abduction story and meant to explain where he had been once he got a chance to talk to his wife in person, but she had already contacted authorities and they had begun a search.

Councilwoman Diane Jacob was at a city budget retreat Friday morning when she was informed about the alleged abduction. Bailey missed that meeting."