That familiar stink
Too often, something on the Hill just doesn't smell right. Speaker of the House Greg Curtis works for a law firm that is intimately intertwined with a land development company that bid on St. George's old airport.But for the deal to go through, the state has to back a $43 million loan to St. George. The Tribune's Mark Havnes and Robert Gehrke explain:
The solution, sponsored by Sen. Bill Hickman, R-St. George, emerged 11 days ago and breezed through the Senate late last week without even receiving the customary fiscal impact analysis and less than five minutes of debate in committee and on the floor. It was brought up in House Republican Caucus on Tuesday with just one day left in the 45-day session.Only Democrats questioned the loans, which they say benefit Anderson Development and, of course, Curtis, who is the Utah House's dance instructor. Bob Bernick at the DNews offers his take on the Curtis-St. George deal here. (We'll have to wait until Bob's opinion column comes out Friday to hear what he really thinks.)
During last year's session, Curtis was enraged with a Tribune editorial that questioned his interest in an Anderson development at old Geneva Steel. The state Transportation Commission had balked committing $100 million to build a roadway that would benefit Anderson's project.
Curtis was involved in the back-room effort to fast-track the roadway ahead of projects that already had been thoroughly evaluated by the Utah Department of Transportation and ranked by priority. What is troubling about Curtis' involvement is the fact that he is a partner in the law firm that represents Anderson Development.Curtis dressed down a Tribune reporter* in front of House members, complaining in ripe language that the Tribune had damaged his honor by questioning his tactics in the Geneva deal.
*I was that reporter and, yes, the Speaker swears like a Hell's Angel. It was awesome.
2 Comments:
There are 20 voters in Sandy that should be taking responsibility for this, the 20 votes he narrowly won by in his last reelection bid.
Voters of Sandy, take it on as a personal challenge to get this guy out of office in 2008!! This isn't a republican/democrat issue. This is about having a representative who votes the will of his/her constituents, NOT their own self-interests.
West Jordan voters, you're next.
Maybe Curtis could join Dick Cheney in wishing us all a Happy GoF***Yerself Season.
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