|
Why we need the ethics initiative: a case in point |
|
|
 During the early summer of 2007, the Utah County Republican Party was in need of a float for the parade season coming up. Senators John Valentine and Curt Bramble asked Mountainlands Applied Technology School administrators if the school could build a float for the Republicans. This conversation took place in the middle of a meeting discussing the school's funding. That funding is determined by the state legislature and, at that time, Valentine and Bramble served, respectively, as Senate president and majority leader.
Not surprisingly, the president of the school, Robert Brems, recruited the school's instructors to work full time on building a float for the Republican party. After it was finished, Representative Becky Lockhart picked up the float.
When word of this breach of legislative ethics and improper use of taxpayer resources leaked out, the chair of the board of trustees for the school quickly paid for the float out of his own funds. An internal investigation by the Utah Board of Regents found that Brems had acted improperly. He resigned under pressure in the wake of the float controversy and other improprieties. Even though three state legislators were involved in the improper use of state funds, including two of whom actually initiated the request, only the school's president was punished.
This past week Brems was re-hired as president by the school's board of trustees. The action prompted William Sederburg, Utah commissioner of higher education, to criticize the school's board for not disclosing the names of finalists, which is required by state law.
According to the Salt Lake Tribune, the UCAT board members felt that Brems had been unfairly treated two years ago. They have a point. Taking the float issue alone, Brems was singled out when those who unethically made the request in the first place got off scot-free. Despite their role as the instigators of this abuse of the neutrality of the state's educational system, Bramble and Valentine were not punished or even investigated. Due to their positions as legislators, only the Senate ethics committee could investigate them. Not surprisingly, the ethics committee did not conduct an investigation of the president and the majority leader. This despite the fact that both were implicated in the report of a state audit committee.
As citizens consider whether they should sign a petition to place an ethics initiative on the ballot -- one that will take investigation of legislative ethics out of the hands of the legislators themselves -- they should remember the float issue and how well our current system of legislative ethics monitoring works.
|
|
