Last Monday, the ethics committee meeting that was held to hear the complaint was quickly ended when, at the 11th hour, the representative in question submitted his resignation. Somehow one is left to wonder if his party "threw him under the bus," since earlier he had said he wanted a hearing on the matter and his name cleared. The ethics committee was all-too-quick to accept the opinion of the legislative counsel that since the individual had resigned, they had no further jurisdiction over the matter and the committee should be disbanded.

Rep. Carol Spackman-Moss, a committee member, did ask if that meant the committee could not look into other elements of the complaint and was given the same answer. There was no opportunity, and little appetite, to challenge counsel's opinion, though it would have at least given the appearance legislators were interested in restoring ethics in our government.

Once again, residents lose out and continue to lose faith and trust in their government. Hopefully, there will be other lawmakers who will follow the example of their five colleagues who are trying to restore ethics in the Legislature. As citizens, we also need to ask ourselves, "If not us, who? If not now, when?"

---

A Utah native, John Florez has founded several Hispanic civil rights organizations; been on the staff of Sen. Orrin Hatch; served on more than 45 state, local and volunteer boards; and filled White House appointments, including deputy assistant secretary of labor and as a member of the commission on Hispanic education. E-mail: jdflorez@comcast.net