The problem was that if you take, use, oversee, and deal with federal dollars, the feds get to make the rules. If you don't want those dollars, the rules don't apply. You do want them, you have to follow the rules, especially if you're a chief of a police department.
Standard-Examiner Guest Commentary
Column on Hatch Act was off the mark
May 2, 2010
This appeal will further waste money, which Ogden really can not afford and it ranks with the passage this year of several bills by the state legislature that will end up in the courts, and which the state of Utah will lose. As much as we don't like it, federal law trumps state law, and it would be much more realistic and economical to grasp that point sooner rather than later.
Standard-Examiner Reader Letter
Appeal of Hatch Act ruling will further waste money
May 2, 2010
Sensible John Thompson guest editorial this morning, springboarding off last Tuesday's guest commentary, wherein regular Standard-Examiner guest contributor Neil Humphrey had groused about the federal Office of Special Council's recently zealous Hatch Act enforcement in the Jon Greiner matter:
• Column on Hatch Act was off the markOne thing we really appreciate in Emerald City's perennial political candidate, John Thompson... his uncanny ability to drill down the the essential facts and principles, and to not allow himself to get distracted by the collateral B.S.
And while we're on the topic of Jon Greiner and the Hatch Act, here's another sensible SE reader letter with a similar argument, which also appears on this morning's editorial page:
• Appeal of Hatch Act ruling will further waste moneyPlenty of good lumpencitizen common sense is displayed on the SE editorial pages this morning.
What a shame that we find none of this in Ogden City Hall.
