The mayor said she was probably going to have to sell her large house up by the block "U" on the north bench to make the settlement.

But instead of selling her house, she solicited $10,000 "gifts" from local bigwigs (taking more than $200,000 in total), some of whom had had dealings with the city. She was doing this while running for re-election in 1995 but didn't tell the public about it.

She won re-election, and when the gifts finally did come to light, the then-Salt Lake County attorney (a Republican) said he couldn't file charges against the mayor because Utah's applicable laws were so vague and weak, there was no case. Corradini could not be removed from office — even if city residents had wanted her out — because Utah has no recall election provisions. She served out her term but did not seek re-election.

On a much smaller scale, we've learned this week that Lt. Gov. Gary Herbert has accepted use of a free, furnished condominium in an exclusive east-side complex since he took office with Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. in January.

The gift was reported as an in-kind contribution on Huntsman's political action committee report. And Herbert says the condo is being sold by its owner and he won't be using it again, commuting daily from his Orem home.

Deseret Morning News investigative reporter Lee Davidson, who covered Congress for more than 15 years, says a congressman or senator would be in big trouble if he accepted free housing, yet, again, there is no Utah law prohibiting such an "intangible" gift from coming to a state executive.

In an unrelated faux pas, Salt Lake Mayor Rocky Anderson readily admitted last week that he used city funds to purchase liquor while entertaining visitors on official city business, even though there is a city policy against using taxpayer funds to buy alcohol. Anderson calls the policy "absurd" and will change it.

Over the years, this or that Utah legislator has introduced a bill that would set up an independent ethics commission to rule on questionable actions by public officials. The bills have all failed.

Currently, the Utah Senate and House have ethics committees that can review a complaint made by three of the bodies' members. But in the rare instance when a complaint is made (there is great institutional pressure not to sign such a complaint letter), legislators are routinely found innocent by their peers.

Twenty years ago, a House Democrat was on the verge of being expelled for a shoplifting conviction when she resigned. Since then, other members have resigned after being cited for sex-related offenses, or retired when their personal or professional problems grew so large it was clear they couldn't win re-election.

The point is, Utah remains a state where politicians have great leeway in raising money from anyone, spending it any way they want, being entertained in any fashion at any cost, and breaking no law, seeing little or no political consequences.

You have to steal a shirt or solicit a police decoy to get in real trouble.

You can take $200,000 from "friends" or accept hundreds of dollars in food and Jazz tickets from lobbyists seeking your vote. You can hop on a private jet for a round trip to a University of Utah bowl game. It's all legal.

Tom DeLay may well regret he wasn't born, raised and elected in Utah.

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Deseret Morning News political editor Bob Bernick Jr. may be reached by e-mail at bbjr@

desnews.com.