We Can All Get Along
Here is a lesson in bi-partisan politics.
Last year, the Utah Legislature, in what some saw as Republican-inspired vindictiveness toward Salt Lake County District Attorney David Yocom, passed a bill allowing the Salt Lake County Council to hire it's own in-house attorney instead of relying on the office of Yocom, a Democrat, for its legal advice. Yocom, you might recall, triggered GOP angst with his prosecution of Republican Mayor Nancy Workman. She was acquitted of misuse of public funds charges, but the prosecution effectively ended her political career.
Yocom fought the legislation, but it passed.
So this year, with a Republican-dominated Legislature, a Democratic County Mayor, a strong Democratic presence on the County Council, and a newly elected Republican District Attorney by the name of Lohra Miller, the plot was set for the Legislature to repeal last year's dig at Yocom and give the Republican full sway over what legal advice is given to the council.
But with this so-called Republican ploy, you would think the bill to repeal would be sponsored by a Republican, right?
Wrong.
Democratic Sen. Mike Dmitrich of Price was preparing to run the bill. And that makes sense, right? A Democrat sponsoring a bill giving more power to a newly elected Republican, and a Democrat from Carbon County, no less, sticking his nose in the business of Salt Lake County.
Usually, it's Utah County Republicans who do that.
Dmitrich was coy when I asked him why he would sponsor such a bill. The speculation was that it might have something to do with his long friendship with former Democratic Sen. Blaze Wharton, a principle of Tetris, the lobbying company that ended its relationship with Salt Lake County rather unceremoniously last year and which supported Miller in the D.A. race.
But the plot thickens.
Guess who put the kibosh on the idea to give Republican D.A. Lohra Miller more authority in the county?
It was Republican D.A. Lohra Miller.
She met with Dmitrich and told him everything is running just fine right now. She says she is getting along well with the council's lawyer, Karl Hendrickson, who is a long-time Democrat.
Couple Miller's hand of friendship to the Democrats on the council with former Republican County Sheriff Aaron Kennard's classy departure by doing everything he could to help Democrat Jim Winder, who defeated Kennard last fall, transition into the job, and it appears Republicans are trying to spread the love in a traditionally contentious Salt Lake County right now.
Cheers,
Paul Rolly
Last year, the Utah Legislature, in what some saw as Republican-inspired vindictiveness toward Salt Lake County District Attorney David Yocom, passed a bill allowing the Salt Lake County Council to hire it's own in-house attorney instead of relying on the office of Yocom, a Democrat, for its legal advice. Yocom, you might recall, triggered GOP angst with his prosecution of Republican Mayor Nancy Workman. She was acquitted of misuse of public funds charges, but the prosecution effectively ended her political career.
Yocom fought the legislation, but it passed.
So this year, with a Republican-dominated Legislature, a Democratic County Mayor, a strong Democratic presence on the County Council, and a newly elected Republican District Attorney by the name of Lohra Miller, the plot was set for the Legislature to repeal last year's dig at Yocom and give the Republican full sway over what legal advice is given to the council.
But with this so-called Republican ploy, you would think the bill to repeal would be sponsored by a Republican, right?
Wrong.
Democratic Sen. Mike Dmitrich of Price was preparing to run the bill. And that makes sense, right? A Democrat sponsoring a bill giving more power to a newly elected Republican, and a Democrat from Carbon County, no less, sticking his nose in the business of Salt Lake County.
Usually, it's Utah County Republicans who do that.
Dmitrich was coy when I asked him why he would sponsor such a bill. The speculation was that it might have something to do with his long friendship with former Democratic Sen. Blaze Wharton, a principle of Tetris, the lobbying company that ended its relationship with Salt Lake County rather unceremoniously last year and which supported Miller in the D.A. race.
But the plot thickens.
Guess who put the kibosh on the idea to give Republican D.A. Lohra Miller more authority in the county?
It was Republican D.A. Lohra Miller.
She met with Dmitrich and told him everything is running just fine right now. She says she is getting along well with the council's lawyer, Karl Hendrickson, who is a long-time Democrat.
Couple Miller's hand of friendship to the Democrats on the council with former Republican County Sheriff Aaron Kennard's classy departure by doing everything he could to help Democrat Jim Winder, who defeated Kennard last fall, transition into the job, and it appears Republicans are trying to spread the love in a traditionally contentious Salt Lake County right now.
Cheers,
Paul Rolly
10:34 AM
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1 Comments:
Nice article. I'm pleased to read this.
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