Transparency
One of the problems plaguing the American political process today is undoubtedly a disconnect between the electors and the elected and I suspect that a major reason for the disconnect has to do with the fact that there is no transparency in the political process. I think that what is going on today here in Utah is a prime example of that lack of transparency.
In a nutshell, a legislator agreed to testify against another legislator who allegedly attempted to bribe her but NOT under the guise of an investigation into the violation of House Ethics rules but under the auspices of "ethics reform" and that "plan" got derailed when another legislator decided to leak the information to the media so that people would know what was going on and the ethics committee decided to "investigate" the alleged bribery attempt in a hearing that is CLOSED TO THE PUBLIC AANNNNDDDDD the legislator who "leaked" the documents is under investigation for violating House rules!!!!! There is so much about this story that is so very wrong that it is hard to know where to start!
First, the bribe - IF the allegation has a basis in fact why was the bribee not willing to go to an ethics committee for a real investigation instead of only using it to "make a case" for ethics reform? IF the allegation has a basis in fact why didn't she a) step forward sooner and b) more publicly? IF this allegation has a basis in fact why is the House investigating this in a closed door hearing? Don't the voters have a right to expect their legislators to be acting in a straightforward and ethical manner?
Second, the "leak" now we don't know the real motivation for Rep. Riesen decided to release these documents but in this hyper partisan era, one must really ask what the motivation was. Hopefully Rep. Riesen will let us know that.
Third, punishing the leaker. Regardless of motivation, why is the legislature so afraid of the electorate that they can not stand the disinfectant of sunshine? Why the need for secrecy? Are they so afraid that once the electorate sees what goes on behind the gilded curtain that they will get mad and throw all the elected out?
Lastly the private hearings. The same questions that I listed above apply and one more. Has the legislature never heard of open hearings legislation - the Government in Sunshine Act of 1976? The only exceptions to that law were national security (not applicable here), internal rules and practices (a weak tie, but a tie none the less), accusations of a crime (OK that could possibly apply here), situations where the information would "harm" the investigatory process, situations where the information could lead to speculative trading (hardly applies here) or the information released could hamper the agency in legal proceedings (well?????)
I am a firm believer that if the electors saw how the "sausage" was made, they would demand accountability from the elected and that they would take more control of the electoral process. Last spring, while waiting to sell our house in Minnesota, I live blogged the debates on a couple of different important votes. The feedback that I got from readers sadly did not surprise me. They were all stunned at how the work was getting done (or in many cases NOT getting done). The good thing was that they all decided to take more of an interest in what happened in St. Paul
Based on this (and a couple of other stories that I have read since moving here) it is obvious (to me anyway) that we need several dozen cases of disinfecting sunshine here in Salt Lake. There is too much being done behind closed doors that needs to be done in public so that the people will have faith in the elected.
Former Rep. Susan Lawrence appeared Wednesday before a House Ethics Committee to describe an encounter with Rep. Greg Hughes in which she claims Hughes offered her $50,000 in campaign aid if she would support a plan for private school vouchers... Lawrence met with the committee for about two hours. She declined to discuss her testimony afterward and ducked out a back hallway. One reporter seeking a comment during a break was physically blocked by her attorneys and they exchanged angry words.
Hughes' attorney, Thomas Karrenberg, who was in the meeting, said that Lawrence stood by her story about Hughes' offer, but told the committee that she had been assured that her story about her conversation with Hughes was going to be used to make the case for legislative ethics reforms - not used in an ethics complaint targeting one lawmaker.
Lawrence said that plan was "derailed" when Rep. Phil Riesen, D-Holladay, leaked the information about Hughes to the media, according to Karrenberg.
In a nutshell, a legislator agreed to testify against another legislator who allegedly attempted to bribe her but NOT under the guise of an investigation into the violation of House Ethics rules but under the auspices of "ethics reform" and that "plan" got derailed when another legislator decided to leak the information to the media so that people would know what was going on and the ethics committee decided to "investigate" the alleged bribery attempt in a hearing that is CLOSED TO THE PUBLIC AANNNNDDDDD the legislator who "leaked" the documents is under investigation for violating House rules!!!!! There is so much about this story that is so very wrong that it is hard to know where to start!
First, the bribe - IF the allegation has a basis in fact why was the bribee not willing to go to an ethics committee for a real investigation instead of only using it to "make a case" for ethics reform? IF the allegation has a basis in fact why didn't she a) step forward sooner and b) more publicly? IF this allegation has a basis in fact why is the House investigating this in a closed door hearing? Don't the voters have a right to expect their legislators to be acting in a straightforward and ethical manner?
Second, the "leak" now we don't know the real motivation for Rep. Riesen decided to release these documents but in this hyper partisan era, one must really ask what the motivation was. Hopefully Rep. Riesen will let us know that.
Third, punishing the leaker. Regardless of motivation, why is the legislature so afraid of the electorate that they can not stand the disinfectant of sunshine? Why the need for secrecy? Are they so afraid that once the electorate sees what goes on behind the gilded curtain that they will get mad and throw all the elected out?
Lastly the private hearings. The same questions that I listed above apply and one more. Has the legislature never heard of open hearings legislation - the Government in Sunshine Act of 1976? The only exceptions to that law were national security (not applicable here), internal rules and practices (a weak tie, but a tie none the less), accusations of a crime (OK that could possibly apply here), situations where the information would "harm" the investigatory process, situations where the information could lead to speculative trading (hardly applies here) or the information released could hamper the agency in legal proceedings (well?????)
I am a firm believer that if the electors saw how the "sausage" was made, they would demand accountability from the elected and that they would take more control of the electoral process. Last spring, while waiting to sell our house in Minnesota, I live blogged the debates on a couple of different important votes. The feedback that I got from readers sadly did not surprise me. They were all stunned at how the work was getting done (or in many cases NOT getting done). The good thing was that they all decided to take more of an interest in what happened in St. Paul
Based on this (and a couple of other stories that I have read since moving here) it is obvious (to me anyway) that we need several dozen cases of disinfecting sunshine here in Salt Lake. There is too much being done behind closed doors that needs to be done in public so that the people will have faith in the elected.
Labels: Open Meetings
posted by The Lady Logician at
3:31 PM
1 Comments:
Welcome to Utah! This was a very informative post. I also fine the information at the Accountability blog to be very informative. I'll add your blog to my list of blogs that care about what's happening behind closed doors. Your out-of-state perspective is needed here!
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Anonymous, at 4:04 PM
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