Davis County Clipper
Not happy with the way their petition drive ended, members of Kaysville Citizens for Responsible Government addressed the city council Tuesday, asking council members to put the initiatives on the ballot anyway. “I’m not here to appeal to you,” said Walt Parrish, “frankly, I feel it would be futile.” He said the residents’ rights to freedom of speech and to petition the government were denied for “frivolous reasons” in the process, which he called “highly unusual if not criminal.” Parrish said citizens were competent to make their own decisions, “and as elected officials, you must let them,” he said.
Proponents of changes in Kaysville government were struck with another blow Monday, but apparently aren’t giving up their fight. The Davis County Clerk’s office, after consulting with the offices of the state Attorney General and the Lieutenant Governor, determined that insufficient signatures could be verified to put three initiative petitions on the ballot in November. “We very thoroughly examined these petitions,” said Pat Beckstead, election director for the county. “We double checked (election law) and we had a second person look at them and make sure that we were accurate.”
Signature sheets are in the hands of petitioners, who are now working to collect the almost 1,500 signatures required to get three measures on the Kaysville ballot in November. The final hurdle, a fiscal impact estimate on the initiatives that would alter Kaysville’s governance, was completed by Dean Storey, finance director, on Tuesday and signature sheets were prepared by Linda Ross, city recorder, by Wednesday.
With the census coming around again next year, a small group of concerned residents gathered at the South Branch Library, last Thursday, to push forward a Fair Boundaries initiative. The Fair Boundaries project is looking to form an independent commission to oversee the redistricting process, rather than keeping it in the hands of the Legislature as it is now. Redistricting takes place after a census is completed.
Ethics in the Legislature seems to be the dragon no one can slay. But a citizens’ group called Utahns for Ethical Government (UEG) is going to try. Gathered with other representatives of the group on the front steps of the Utah State Capitol, Kim Burningham, a former Republican legislator and member of the Utah State Board of Education, explained why the UEG was formed and the points of its ethics initiative.