Metro Maelstrom
If you're confused about the city-no-city-maybe-a-township fight, you wouldn't be alone. Sometime around Nov. 17, we will know if Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams has any kind of clout in the county he heads. The latest Salt Lake Tribune article doesn't exactly clear things up, but it may not be the reporter's fault. There are "45 different ballots [going] to groups of voters among the area's 160,000 residents in six townships and 39 unincorporated islands," Mike Gorrell wrote. Millcreek alone has 60,000 of those voters, and no consensus on the subject. Greed is a big motivator, as some areas with big tax bases don't want to share, and cities have long been salivating over rich unincorporated areas. But tax bases can change and citizens voting for the metro township will get fixed boundaries and zoning control, which sounds like a deal.
Records Search
While there may be a large contingent of Utahns who scoff at the law—especially if the feds are involved—they should join in jubilation over the latest anti-Big Brother ruling. It came from the 3rd District Court and said police officers can't search driver-license records without some suspicion of a crime, according to a Salt Lake Tribune story. After an officer searched the database, a man driving on a suspended license was cited, even though he wasn't doing anything wrong at the time. Part of Utah's Government Records Access and Management Act (GRAMA) limits law enforcement's access to protected records. It's not just about the news media; it's about reasonable privacy expectations. "Fishing for crimes, without a factual basis whatsoever, cannot be a basis for disclosure of protected records," said 3rd District Judge Randall Skanchy. That's good news for the driving public.
Intolerable Crue-LGBT
By now, everyone has heard that Gov. Gary Herbert spoke to the World Congress of Families, and that there were protests outside the Grand America Hotel. But Tarso Luis Ramos, executive director of Political Research Associates, further explains the issue in the documentary Hunted: Gay and Afraid. He shows perspectives of people such as that of WCF's Russian representative, who said that laws protecting LGBT people would lead to "transhumanism" and "cyborgs." Ted Cruz's father, Rafael Cruz, apparently still believes there's a pedophilia connection, although it has been widely debunked. A WCF ally, the Family Research Council, had a member who once said LGBT people are diseased and mentally ill, so it's OK to discriminate. You have to thank the governor for shining a light on such idiocy, even if he believes it.
About The Author
Katharine Biele
A City Weekly contributor since 1992, Katharine Biele is the informed voice behind our Hits & Misses column. When not writing, you can catch her working to empower voters and defend democracy alongside the League of Women Voters.
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