Thursday, February 23, 2006

The Salt Lake Tribune is proud to announce nominations for the fourth annual Golden LaVar Awards to honor -- and abuse -- those brave, bodacious bloviators who provide much of the local entertainment through the dreary winter months.

While the LaVars share a name with a certain prominent conservative crusading lawmaker from Draper, they really are not aimed at any particular legislator. No, these sights are trained on all you lawmakers out there.

A somewhat convoluted acronym (coined by a former Trib editor who was anything but simple), the LaVars stand for "Legislative Achievement, Virtuous and Ridiculous."

Unashamedly subjective, the awards give a chance to vent to those poor souls who have to spend six weeks on Planet Legislature, but are not members of that august body with all its inherent (and usurped) powers and perks (free Jazz tickets do not, in fact, fall from heaven.) Among those polled are news reporters, legislative staffers and paid and citizen lobbyists.

This year we expanded the franchise and decided to distribute printed ballots more freely on Capitol Hill and to allow votes from readers of our legislative blog, Planet Legislature. If you'd like to weigh in, just drop us an email at lavarawards@sltrib.com. Please just vote for one person in each category. The deadline is Feb. 28 at 2 p.m.

Does opening up voting heighten the chance of ballot stuffing? Absolutely. Does it diminish the fun? Not a chance.

We've also developed new categories, retaining some of the old favorites, but broadening into some new areas, including ones tailored for the 2006 session. So without further adieu, we've included some initial nominations for you to vote on, just to get the ball rolling, but feel free to add your own nominations.

We'll try and post results on our blog by March 1.

Now, without further ado, the categories are:



Most Fervent Moral Crusader

nominations:
Sen. Chris Buttars (anti-gay club and pro-intelligent design bills)
Rep. LaVar Christensen (anti-gay partner insurance and parental rights)
Rep. Aaron Tilton (anti-gay club)
Other _______________________________

Best Sense of Humor

nominations:
Sen. Mike Waddoups
Sen. Mike Dmitrich
Rep. Jeff Alexander
Other _________________________________

Biggest Bloviator

nominations are open:
________________________________________

Best "Recovering" Bloviator

nominations:
Rep. LaVar Christensen
Sen. Curt Bramble
Other ___________________________________

Best One-Issue Wonders

nominations:
Rep. Glenn Donnelson (anti-illegal immigration)
Sen. Carlene Walker (anti-drunk driving)
Other __________________________________


Legislator in Over His/Her Head

nominations are open:
____________________________________


Most Romantic

nominations:
Sen. Darin Peterson (tearful memories of the smell of his wife's hair)
Sen. Pete Knudson (sneaking off with spouse to "Kinky Shoes" film)
Other __________________________________________


Most Conflicted

nominations:
Sen. Howard Stephenson (only sitting legislator who also is registered lobbyist)
Rep. Aaron Tilton (could anti-environment bills he is sponsoring help his businesses?)
Sen. Al Mansell (developers unite behind this realtor's lobbyist-written land-use bills)
Other ____________________________________________


Most Memorable Quote

nominations:
Sen. Chris Buttars "There are big dogs and little dogs, big cats and little cats, but you haven't seen a 'dat.' "
Sen. Howard Stephenson "The media has to pursue its prey like a swarm of killer bees, using snide innuendo and invective to attack their prey."
Sen. John Valentine Lawmakers don't know better than voters, but "We know more than the voters do."
Sen. Scott McCoy "[Gays and lesbians] are not trying to take over the world. We are not trying to tear down the pillars of morality."
Other __________________________________________________


Most Evenhanded Committee Chairmen/women

nominations are open:
_____________________________________________________

Chairmen/women with Worst Case of Selective Hearing

nominations:
Rep. Margaret Dayton (excluding public testimony on the immigrant tuition repeal bill)
Rep. Wayne Harper (can't spot anti-poverty advocate even when dressed in red)
Other _________________________________________________

Most Likely to be a Member of the Other Party

nominations are open:
_______________________________________________________

Best Behind-the-Scenes Operator

nominations are open:
________________________________________________________

The coveted "Machiavelli Would be Proud" Award

nominations are open:
____________________________________________________


The "Founding Fathers Spinning in Their Graves" Award

nominations are open:
_____________________________________________________


And for our friends/foes among the teeming ranks of professional persuaders:
The Most Effective Lobbyist

nominations are open:
________________________________________________________


The Most Overrated Lobbyist

nominations are open:
__________________________________________________________


Finally, for those who by session's end are already fantasizing about such things: Who would win in a street fight between House Speaker Greg Curtis and Senate President John Valentine?

_______________________________________________________
why? ___________________________________________________