Utah lawmakers are swimming against a rough tide of public criticism these days.

And so it was not welcomed news on Capitol Hill this week that the Utah College of Applied Technology executive board (which oversees the state's technical colleges) re-appointed a former UCAT director with a blemished past and the State Trust Lands board approved healthy bonuses for some employees while other bonuses for state workers were banned.

Both of the boards' decisions may be legal (although there is some question about the UCAT action). But both decisions look bad to the public and could leave Utahns asking if the Legislature and Gov. Gary Herbert are really in charge here.

And if so, how does this stuff happen?

Many of the 104 lawmakers think they are under siege from a group of Utahns who want to greatly tighten lawmakers' ethics rules. And many lawmakers also see the local media as more than interested in bashing them at every turn.

It's like each legislator is wearing a sign on his back that says: "Please kick me."

But on the other side, maybe it's time state GOP leaders just get tough.

I remember after a very critical audit of the Utah Retirement System, then-House Speaker Nolan Karras, bashing a table with his hand, yelled that if the retirement board didn't fix the problems, legislators would. Heads rolled at the retirement fund.

And even further back in history, I recall that after a prison inmate was improperly released from custody and went on a crime spree, then-Gov. Scott M. Matheson not only cleaned house at the prison, he fired his Social Services executive director (the Corrections Department was then under Social Services).

In both cases, the word was clearly sent — such screw-ups won't be tolerated in state government.

Over the years, it seems that decision-making has been spread out in the large state-government bureaucracy — and responsibility diluted along with it.

Some may say it's a good thing that an appointed board, like UCAT or the Utah School and Trust Lands Administration, be given more authority. That could take politics out of running a successful technical-training program or overseeing the state's valuable school-trust lands with their huge investments.

But then where do current-day policymakers turn when stupid stuff like this happens?

As House Majority Leader Kevin Garn said to me this week, "We're not sure what we can do" about the latest problems. In other words, the Legislature has delegated power for those decisions to appointed boards.