A Guest Commentary that the Standard-Examiner refused to print
By Dan SchroederI was pleasantly startled by the
Standard-Examiner's recent editorial advocating campaign finance reform for
Utah legislators (
"Too much insider cash", February 17).
Of course I was pleased, because the editorial was absolutely right. We need to put limits on corporate contributions, and the public has a right to know where contributions are coming from.
But why was I startled? Because I naively assumed that the
Standard-Examiner would have the same attitude toward the legislature that it has toward local elected officials. Let me explain.
Utah's campaign finance disclosure statute applies only to state-level races and school boards--not to county and municipal elections. Cities and counties can pass their own disclosure ordinances, but most of these ordinances are even weaker than the state-level requirements.
For example,
Ogden City's ordinance shares all the weaknesses of the state statute, and adds several more:
• It requires no disclosures from incumbent office holders between election cycles;
• It contains an ambiguity that has been interpreted to exempt all political action committees (PACs) from filing disclosure statements;
• It doesn't require that disclosure statements be posted on a web site, so citizens must visit the City Recorder's office and pay 25 cents per page to obtain copies;
• Its enforcement is left up to the City Recorder and City Attorney, who serve at the pleasure of the mayor and thus have a conflict of interest when the incumbent mayor is a candidate.
These weaknesses could perhaps be forgiven if the amount of money involved were negligible. But Ogden's last mayoral campaign cost well over $200,000, while the contested city council races cost over $20,000 each. When office holders have to raise that kind of money, it's too easy for them to become beholden to the contributors.
And who are the contributors? For our incumbent mayor, the pattern is striking. His disclosure statements read like a who's-who of companies and individuals doing business with the city: Gadi Leshem, $10,000; R & O Construction, $10,000; Staker Parson, $10,000; Boyer Company, $9000;
Larry Myler, $9000; and
on down the list. The conflicts of interest are obvious, but they're completely legal under
Ogden's ordinance.
Meanwhile, two of the 2007 city council candidates took advantage of
Ogden's loophole for PACs. By receiving most of their contributions through PACs, they were able to hide the origin of these contributions until months after the election.
During the first half of 2007, an organization called
Envision Ogden conducted various fundraising activities, including the
"Sneak Peek" opening of the
Salomon Center. A few citizens became curious and eventually learned that
Envision Ogden intended to register as a political action committee with the
IRS. Its first political contribution appeared on a candidate's disclosure statement on October 26, but the
full picture wasn't clear until the following May, when it filed the required disclosure statement with the
IRS (several months late). According to that statement,
Envision Ogden spent $26,884 on the 2007 election, including some direct expenditures in support of the mayoral campaign and several large contributions to another entity that immediately forwarded the money to city council candidates.
Yet in all of its extensive coverage of
Ogden's 2007 campaign, the
Standard-Examiner showed almost no interest in following the money. It did run
a perfunctory article after each set of disclosure statements was filed, informing readers of the total amounts raised and the names of a few of the donors. But it never looked at the big picture, or mentioned the large PAC contributions, or raised any ethics concerns. Citizens repeatedly tried to alert the
Standard-Examiner to the suspicious activities of
Envision Ogden, and were repeatedly told that the matter was not newsworthy.
So again, I'm pleased that the
Standard-Examiner is taking a strong stand for ethics and disclosure in the
Utah Legislature. I look forward to the day when the newspaper will show a similar interest in what's happening right here in
Ogden.
Dan Schroeder has been commenting on Ogden politics for over 15 years, and frequently writes for the Weber County Forum blog site (under his real name). His contributions to Ogden political candidates are listed on their disclosure statements, available at the City Recorder's office.Added note: This commentary was submitted to the
Standard-Examiner on Friday, February 20. The following Monday, the author received the following response from Executive Editor Andy Howell:
Sorry Dan.
We run guest columns in response to editorials when the author was the subject, or connected to the subject, of the editorial. You are free to cut this down to 300 words or less and submit it as a letter to the editor, or attach it to the comments to the editorial online.
Thanks,
Andy
Reader comments are invited as always.
