As reported the other day, Utah GOP Chair Dave Hansen is fiercely opposed to Utah’s Fair Boundaries initiative, and though this is one mans opinion, it is a sign of growing disdain for the will of the public from the Republican Party leaders.
Fair Boundaries appears to be catching the brunt of Utah GOP’s rage. On Thursday, September 10, Fair Boundaries was attending the University of Utah’s “Conservative Day” in their attempt to gather signatures for the petition to place their cause on the ballot. Approximately ten minutes into the event Legislator Becky Lockhart (R-Provo) verbally confronted Mark Nelson, a volunteer for Fair Boundaries, and, along with the University of Utah College Republicans, made it clear that Fair Boundaries was no longer invited to the event. The organization is a confederation of Democrats, Republicans, and Independents who wish to change Utah’s redistricting process to lessen the effects of gerrymandering – the term used to describe suspiciously shaped political boundaries that favor one party over another.
In a statement written statement, Fair Boundaries was “disturbed by the incident” and explained that Conservative Day was sponsored by the University of Utah.
But this is only the most recent and outlandish action by Utah Republican leaders. Speaker of the House, Dave Clark (R – Santa Clara), has consistently shown opposition to an independent commission, claiming that the only thing to come from an independent panel are lawsuits and that legislators are inherently better qualified to choose their voters because they know the districts better.
On a less obvious level, then Lieutenant Governor Herbert’s (R) office authorized a $1 million fiscal note on the initiative using questionable assumptions about how an independent has no back knowledge when compared to the Utah State Legislature.
On the flip side, it should also be noted that former Senate Majority Leader, Curt Bramble (R – Provo) interrupted town hall meetings that discussed the other main initiative going around the state concerning ethics reform by shouting questions to panel memembers when all other attendees patiently waited their turn to speak.
No one doubts that Republicans are the majority in Utah, but the majority of observant voters also know that they are disproportionately represented in the Utah State Legislature. One has to wonder why Republican leaders are so opposed to redistricting the boundaries of Utah’s political districts, despite the fact that 60 percent all citizens surveyed in a recent Deseret News/KSL-TV Poll support a redistricting commission and a whopping 85 percent want ethics reform – they are even going against their own party: a Dan Jones and Associates poll showed 60 percent of self identifying Republicans supporting the redistricting initiative.
The trend is clear – there is fierce opposition in the halls of power about the initiatives and the reasons for this are many and varied. The paternal nature of the legislature combined with the desire to maintain power means that spats like this should be expected at least until the initiatives fail or go before the voters next November.
This is an excellent article that accurately describes recent events. The best argument in favor of both initiatives in my opinion is the loud opposition from those who are currently in power.
The basis of their anger toward these proposed changes is fear. Fear of losing their power grip on Utah’s politics and fear of being accountable to the citizens they were elected to serve.
Their frequent argument against ethics reform and contribution limits is that it will discourage new people from running for a public office. It may very well discourage people like themselves from running, but that would leave more opportunities for those whose who are interested in public service rather than self service to become involved in state government.