Utahns for Ethical Government sues the State of Utah for illegal petition administration

From a The Republic article, which offers reader commenting:

"A Utah public interest group sued the state Monday, claiming an ethics initiative is being illegally kept off the November 2012 ballot even though the group says enough signatures have been gathered to qualify it for inclusion.

Utahns for Ethical Government aims to force state elections officials to certify the signatures that officials have so far refused to do.

The group began collecting signatures in August 2009 to push the initiative that would create an independent ethics commission for legislators and other government officials, require fuller disclosure of potential conflicts of interest and prohibit transfers of campaign funds, among other things. "

Remember, "voting turnout and activism means spreading the word!"

Utah government restricting citizens' freedoms to redress grievances

Full article from CPRBlog, which offers reader commenting:

"Center for Progressive Reform Member Scholar Robert Adler has an op-ed in the Salt Lake Tribune looking at a series of developments in Utah-- administrative actions as well as pending legislation-- that could hinder citizen engagement in environmental decisions.  The context, writes Adler, is this:

'Whether or not one agrees that Tim DeChristopher was legally or morally justified in his civil disobedience as “bidder 70” in Bureau of Land Management oil and gas leases, virtually everyone asks why he did it.I do not presume to speak for him. But one possible reason was surely his frustration about what he perceived as the ineffectiveness of other avenues to influence public decisions that affect his health and the quality of his environment.It is ironic, therefore, that at the very time Mr. DeChristopher and his attorneys have been fighting to highlight this frustration, multiple levels of Utah’s state government have been working to systematically shut the door to other citizens who want to raise — through entirely lawful means — important questions about the quality of our air and water, the use of our public lands and resources, and the nature of the world we will leave to our children.'

Adler's full op-ed is here."

Americans already, in general, suffer from a lack of freedom to redress their grievances with their government.  Why would their public servants want to further erode those Constitutional freedoms??

 
Remember, "voting turnout and activism means spreading the word!"

Utah Senate passes bill to restrict citizen initiative rights; bill goes to House

From Ballot Box News blog, which offers reader commenting:

"The Utah Senate passed a bill to make it tougher for voter initiatives to appear on ballots.  The Senate voted 26-1 to pass SB165 by Sen. Curt Bramble, R-Provo, and sent it to the House. It would prohibit using electronic signatures on websites to help qualify a candidate, party or referendum for the ballot. It also would base the number of signatures needed to get an initiative on the ballot on the number of votes cast for president in the last election, instead of those cast for governor — essentially requiring more signatures."

 Utah: How to contact your own State Representatives concerning bill SB165.

 
Remember, "voting turnout and activism means spreading the word!"

FOI, FYI: A dark day for Utah Freedom of Information (Elected Official Accountability)

"On Wednesday, the Utah House Public Utilities and Technology Committee gave its OK to a bill that essentially dismantles the 20-year-old Government Records Access and Management Act (GRAMA). As The Salt Lake Tribune reports, the bill, House Bill 477, would strip the legislative intent statement from GRAMA, which states that privacy concerns would be balanced with the public’s right to know; requiring those who appeal a records denial to make the case for disclosure by a “preponderance of the evidence” rather than submitting to a balancing test of the public’s right to know verus privacy concerns; makes text messages, instant-message chats, video chats and voice mails private records; fee waivers would be based on whether it was in the best interest of “taxpayer resources” to do so, rather than whether the person is seeking the records for a public benefit; and would allow for the inclusion of overhead, salary and other costs associated with filling a request; and make much of the Legislature’s paperwork exempt from disclosure.And those are just a few of the things it does. ...
The real intent appears to be to punish journalists and others who dare to use GRAMA to hold public officials accountable for what they do — or do not. ...In the end, they are punishing the people they claim to represent and watch out for as they work on Capitol Hill. GRAMA, like all open-government laws, was drafted to allow the public to get the information they need to know if government is acting on their behalf. In this session, legislators made a big stink about how America is a “constitutional republic” rather than a democracy. What they are forgetting is that under our form of government, the people have hired them to do the work of goverment, and the people have a right to call them into account. To do that, they need access to public records. As James Madison wisely wrote, “A popular government without popular information or the means of acquiring it, is but a prologue to a farce or a tragedy or perhaps both.” ...
Update: HB 477 passed the Utah House 61-12. It is now in the Senate, where Sen. Lyle Hillyard is the sponsor. The Senate number is (801)538-1035. Hillyard can be contacted at lhillyard@utahsenate.org."

The entire article, with commenting, is at http://blogs.spjnetwork.org/foi/?p=1079

 Utah: This bill has been put on the fast track, and is already being considered by your own state senator-- contact him/her now to make your voice heard.


 
Remember, "voting turnout and activism means spreading the word!"