Who's ready to toss in their own 2¢?
Three items which caught our attention this morning whilst we somewhat unsuccessfully Googled the net for interesting red-meat political news:
1) Bad news this morning for Weber County lumpencitizens who appreciate elected officials with a strong work ethic, community dedication, ethical integrity and common sense. Weber County Commissioner Craig Dearden, one Commissioner who definitely hasn't been a real estate development industry "shill," announces this morning via the Standard-Examiner that he'll be retiring from the County Commission upon the end of his current term of office:
Commissioner Zogmeister is right. Dearden's "stability and wisdom" will be greatly missed.
Sodden prediction (based upon a little insider info): Expect a locally prominent Realtor candidate, one strongly supported by the the "Biggest and Baddest PAC in the Land" to file for Dearden's soon-to-be-vacated commission seat before month's end.
2) In a tangentially-related story, the Standard also reports that "Former Republican Utah legislator Dan Liljenquist announced Wednesday that he's going to run for the U.S. Senate in Utah and will challenge six-term Sen. Orrin Hatch":
Unlike the soon to be departing Commissioner Dearden, Senate candidate Liljenquist IS a real estate development industry shill. As our long-term WCF readers will recall, Senator Liljenquist was one of the real estate industry-backed legislative bagmen who worked feverishly to kill Rep. Gage Froerer's 2010 HB 218 (Disincorporation of Powder Mt. Town), an effort which ultimately forced the above-mentioned Commissioner Dearden and the rest of the Weber County Commission to abandon Weber County's carefully crafted zoning rules and to adopt the Powder Mountain Developer's self-serving "Development Agreement," a process which at least one Weber County Forum commentator labeled as "extortionate".
No, we're not big fans of Orrin Hatch; but replacing Hatch with an unabashed corporate shill like Liljenquist would be a big mistake for Utah voters... something akin to jumping outta the frying pan into the fire, wethinks.
3) If only for the sake of archival consistency, we'll direct our readers attention to this morning's Alan Hall guest commentary, which appears on the S-E editorial page this morning. Filled as it is with vague "political platitudes" we're not sure exactly what Mr. Hall is getting at. We've read the article over a coupla times, and despite (or perhaps due to) its rambling "wordiness," we're unconvinced that Mr. Hall (whom we do deeply respect) provides much useful guidance for "elect[ing] the right political leaders" or spending more (already "tight") money on "consumption," for that matter. Nevertheless, we previously vowed to follow Mr. Hall's series of S-E commentaries, so here's the latest, (for what its worth):
There is one of Mr. Hall's points which we do consider encouraging, wherein he urges Utah voters to elect "leaders" who'll "...avoid the pressures of lobbyists." It's refreshing to hear something like this from a "Captain of Industry" like Mr. Hall, don'tcha think?
That's it for now O Gentle WCF Readers.
Now, who's ready to toss in their own 2¢?
Wednesday, January 04, 2012
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