Comments about ‘Utah legislators mull ethics reform’

Constituents complaints should not be taken so lightly or passed off so easily. When a constituent does call their representatives its usually because there is something wrong with the law, not the boss of an agency. These agency's have to deal with the law the representatives have written and if their is a problem with the law the representative has to get involved and fix or explain the intent of the law.

If I was an agency boss I would be very offended if a legislator called me when the problems are in the laws they write. The agency boss can't change the laws and constituents call representatives to fix it, not ignore it. Who else are the people to call or write to if not their representatives?

These legislators are passing the buck instead of doing their job and that's the unethical behavior.

Best option: sign the ethics initiative petition so voters can be sure ethics reform really happens in the future.

Poor option: leave ethics reform to our local legislature to decide what loopholes they can create for themselves.

The use of "undue influence" is hardly the main issue in ethics reform. In the overall issue, it's minimal at most.

Look, boys, it's OK to call someone to represent your constituents. That's part of your job - just don't imply that you'll try to remove the person you're calling from their job if they don't do what you want. What we want is real ethics reform - we're telling you to swear off lobbyist money, altogether, forever. Is that unclear?

Best alternative -- the initiative on ethics. Having the legislators trying to determine their ethical standards is the same as having the fox guard the henhouse. True ethical reform will never happen unless the legislators are taken out of the process.

ethics and legislator should not be used in the same sentence.

The most ethical thing they should do is serve no more than 3 terms.

What 'Utah' really "NEEDS" is to evaluate the "ethics, ‘PROGRESSIVE MORALITY’ of those ........that want nothing other than to legislatively bridle/abuse our elected officials into going down the path 'they' want Utah to go, no apology for being so "transparent".

I am sick and tired of hearing and seeing Utah go bankrupt from the reforming disciples of the "'PROGRESSIVE MORALITY' ethics" doctrine being preached from outside UTAH groups that do not even know the definition of the word ethics, 'MORALITY', unless of course 'they' interpret it as everybody making the same PROGRESSIVE MORALITY ‘lifestyle' choices 'they' are making. (Thank You Josef Stalin)

Are we going to stand up to the national progressive bumper sticker media and demand that 'they' give a "FAIR and BALANCED" reporting of the issues, rather than taking the liberty to be judge and jury every time something happens in UTAH that 'they' can use to further their “PROGRESSIVE MORALITY" social engineering, CREATIVE DESTRUCTION?

To activ2004 | 1:08 p.m. May 22, 2010

You're speaking of Sarah Palin, Gayle Ruczicka, the Eagle Forum, the Tea Party, the far right authoritarians, etc. -- you perfectly describe them. People need to recognize them for that they're worth -- NOTHING!

1:47 p.m. May 22, 2010

I thought we were discussing UTAH legislat[ors].
Sorry your anger and "PROGRESSIVE MORALITY,ethics"
have failed you once again. Keep trying though.
Good Day Furry1993

Abe Sarvis - well said!

Lobbyists influence with gifts and freebies, conflicts of interest, how campaign donations are used - those are the issues most of us have concerns about certainly undue influence is down a ways on the list.

Question - What would it take to make the SAME background check mandatory for our public servants (ie. police officers, teachers) mandatory for those wishing to serve in the Utah House and Senate, added to the ethics reform legislation? Would the legislators, themselves, have to vote this in or can we, as public citizens, demand this? Those holding records with prior criminal offenses should be not allowed to serve in our legislature ... yet they continue to do so, year after year. Which I find to be absolutely absurd and easily preventable.