Comments about ‘In our opinion: Usurping local control’

I could not agree more with this article. But, I'll not be so nice as I think our legislators are hypocrites on this issue. They whine about any attempts by others to usurp Utah's control yet turn right around and step all over the cities and counties at will. It may be legal, but as the article points out, it's not right.

So our Republican legislature has no problem being hypocrites and doing the same thing about which they complain about Washington. Plus the fact that they do the bidding of lobbyists and special interests. This is the real problem, and this newspaper and the rest of the media ought to be screaming this from the rooftops to warn the people.

Our Republican legislature seems to only look out for business interests.
Another bill they are pressing is to transfer property taxes away from business owners to the home owners.
Does the peoples work mean anything anymore, without a huge (bribe/donation) check attached?

The concept of freedom in state government is not quite the same as in the federal government. The commercial entities who control state government are not the same entities who control our federal government. Hence the ongoing power struggle between the states and the federal government, city versus state, etc. etc. etc.

The reason the states are at war with the federal government is because of the commercial groups of private businesses are different. The intense competition between the groups and individuals has been going on forever. America itself was a bi-product of the economic war of the people in America versus the English.

One way to solve this problem is when the corporations become so big and powerful and have reduced their numbers such that they control both the state and federal governments and world governments.

Another way would be to stop commercial influence in government and let the people themselves control the government. For the most part non-commercial people are the same throughout the entire world.

I agree with this opinion, However, Dillon's Rule has been expressly rejected in Utah. In State v. Hutchinson (624 P.2d 1116), the Utah Supreme Court ruled that the Dillon Rule does not strictly limit local government authority. Local governments are created by the State, and derive their authority from grants of power given by the state government.

That being said, the gist of the opinion is correct. Local governments are perfectly capable of making their own decisions. It is deeply disturbing that the Utah Legislature has given billboard companies such preferential treatment. It is not protection of private property, it is crony capitalism and corporate welfare.

Utah reminds me of the parable of the Master and Servant in the New Testament.

The State constantly whines and complains that the Federal Government needs to butt-out, they have NO business telling the State what to do, blah, blah, blah...
and then turns right around and like the biggest hypocrites on the planet hammer on it's own Counties, Cities, Schools and Townships.

Parts of Salt Lake, the older more established Eastside and Avenues are clean, quiet, and classy.

Sandy and other parts of the valley remind me of Las Vegas.
Cheap, flashy, trashy, in-your-face-commercialism -- like a Strip Club.

Let the locals CITIZENS decide what kind of place they want to live in.
Not the COMMERICAL interests.

When I was younger I used to be a local control fanatic but no more. Local Government has raised my taxes several times. The states and feds have not. I've seen waste in all forms of Government, but local government seems to waste more with less. Corruption? Again, there is more in local government and it always has a direct effect. I also trust the Feds more than the state or locals to solve the big issues: air pollution, water, use of public lands etc. On balance the feds do it better and leave me alone.

This cracks me up - we can't force communities to treat everyone fairly by passing a bill that prohibits discrimination in housing and employment on basis of political opinions/activity, sexual orientation, or gender identity because that "might" go against the values of the community (even though the majority of businesses in Utah and the majority of Utah citizens support such legislation) but when we have proof of the values of a community in the form of ordinances their duly elected local officials have passed, it is okay to override those values and prohibit the citizen of that community from having the type of community they want.

This is where the true hypocrisy comes in.

What a crock of rancid butter....

And these guys are upset that the 17th Amendment won't let them do the same thing on the Federal level.

The billboard lobby has lots of money. Go figure.

First a bunch of cities didn't get together to create the state. A bunch of states/colonies did get together to create the federal government. That is the main difference. That is why States can do that to their local governments. A state can revoke a cities charter. The federal government can't revoke a state from being a state.

If a state wants its cities to follow certain rules then that is right. The federal government can only do that within in the bounds of the constitution. Now if the states constitution says it can't do that, then it can't. But we all know that doesn't matter because the federal government is doing it anyway and the constitution says it can't do a lot of the things its suppose to do.

@ Jory: Actually, it was people that got together and formed the cities, the counties, the states, and the Federal Government.

It is the will of the people that should be the determining factor - at all levels.

The area where our legislature is the absolute worst about this is Education.

Do away with the legislature's tinkering with education every year and send that money directly to the local school board.

You would instantly see some great things happen and the progress everyone would like to see.

Instead we see bill after bill changing education towards whatever pet project each legislator has in mind. Usually with some financial gain for the legislator on the side.

Get the legislature out of public ed!

Local control now!

The Utah Supreme Court rejected Dillon's Rule. I believe it was in 1980. Dillon's Rule isn't your problem. I tried to post a link to an article that talks about it, but the comment won't post with the link. Look for Richardson, Gough and Puentes "Is Home Rule the Answer".