Our Resident Yellow-dog Democrat Takes the Weber County Commission to Task

We don't call him Curmudgeon for nuttin'

By Curmudgeon

Our elected Republican officials at... work? Interesting article by reporter Loretta Park in this morning's Standard-Examiner. It reports that the months-long battle between Davis and Weber Counties and UTA about whether those counties should add-back the .05% [that five-one hundredths of a percent, not five percent] sales tax on "non-prepared food items" to support UTA is over.

Late in the session, last day in fact, Sen. Bramble [R-Provo] snuck a provision adding the tax back in Weber and Davis Counties into a bill dealing with funding for airports. That Sen. Bramble's rider had nothing whatever to do with airport funding bothered him not at all. That the Weber County Commission was not convinced that UTA needed the added back taxes from their county bothered Sen. Bramble not at all either. That adding back the tax short-circuited months of negotiations between the Weber County Commissioners and UTA about UTA funding needs from those counties bothered Bramble, again, not at all. But then, sneaking riders into unrelated bills in the final hours of a session has become the trade mark of our the Republican leadership in the State Legislature. It's what they do.

What is really astonishing in the reaction to all this from Weber County [Republican] Commissioner Jan Zogmaister. Here it is:

"It was lumped into the bill with a lot of other things," said Weber County Commissioner Jan Zogmaister. County officials were not included in the discussions between legislators and UTA, Zogmaister said. "We were kept out of the loop, and that's fine" she said. [boldface emphasis mine --Curm.]

Huh? The County Commissioners, Zogmaister included, decided not to reimpose the tax. They were convinced UTA did not need the money because of increasing other taxes allocated to UTA. Months of fact finding, negotiation, testimony, discussion [all on the public's dime]. Finally the wingnut Troika [Bramble, Curtis, Buttars] slip a rider into a final moments unrelated bill, take the tax decision out of the Weber County Commission's hands, rendering all that work, meeting, voting, discussing, fact finding by the Commission pointless, and it was all done by the legislators without so much as a by-your-leave to the County Commissioners, and that's just fine with Zogmaister? The County Commissioners were completely cut out of the loop on whether to impose a county sales tax they didn't think was needed, and it's just fine with Zogmaister?

Somebody remind me, what exactly are we paying her for? Perhaps she could tell us what other Weber County Commission responsibilities she'd be happy to have the legislature take over for her? Oh, and of course what cut in her pay she thinks should accompany the further reduction in her responsibilities as a County Commissioner. Don't hold your breath waiting.

The Weber County Commission has three members. All are Republicans. That is not healthy for the County. One of them ... alas not the "sure I'd like the legislature to run the County instead of us" Zogmaister... is up for re-election. It would be wise of the voters to replace him with the Democratic candidate. It is not healthy for any elected body to have members from only one political party on it. [And yes, I'd say the same thing if the Commission was composed of three Democrats and no Republicans.] You always want at least one member of such bodies willing to ask questions the other two would rather not have asked.

The Weber County Commission completely "cut out of the loop" on this County sales tax decision, and "that's fine" says Zogmaister?

Our Republican elected leaders at work. Amazing... just amazing.

And what say our gentle readers about all this?