Thursday, December 29, 2011

Central Committee Meeting January 28, 9:00 a.m.

The next Central Committee Meeting is scheduled for Saturday January 28 at 9:00 a.m. at
Dixon Middle School, 750 West 200 North Provo.  Credentialing opens at 8:30 a.m. and
closes at 9:30 a.m.

Legislative District Officer Elections will be held and anyone wanting to run for Chair,
Vice Chair or Education Officer should file by emailing both kirby@kirbyglad.com and
jeremy.roberts@utahcountygop.org  before midnight on January 14, 2012.

Any registered Republican voter can file to run.

New Legislative Boundaries will be observed for the elections.

If you did not receive a post card in the mail, and are a member of the central committee,
 please e-mail Kirby Glad at the above e-mail. (kirby@kirbyglad.com)

Monday, December 19, 2011

Utah Environmental Groups Suing Kennecott

"Utah Moms for Clean Air and Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment have scheduled a 2 p.m. Monday news conference at Salt Lake City’s Main Library to talk about the lawsuit, which they announced in the fall and expect to file Monday afternoon in U.S. District Court. "  (Fahys, Judy.  Salt Lake Tribune)


Salt Lake Tribune

Utah Mom's for Clean Air Blog

Bios for Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment

Monday, December 12, 2011

275 Attended Special Dec. 10 Central Committee Meeting

The Central Committee voted to remove 78 automatic- ex-officio state delegates
on Saturday.  This vote will put 78 state delegates back into precincts to be
elected at the caucus.

All elected officials, all legislative officers (38), county GOP elected officers (4),
and appointed steering committee (5), will no longer be automatic state delegates,
but will have to get elected at the caucus.

All of the above retain their positions on the Central Committee and their automatic
county delegate status.

Automatic delegate video


Give the Party to the People Video


Robert Gehrke Salt Lake Tribune

Friday, December 2, 2011

Are Utah Redistricting Records Public Information?

Should all information relating to redistricting in Utah be public information?
How much should someone have to pay to view the redistricting records?
Is $2,000 a reasonable fee for a GRAMA request?

"The Democrats' lawsuit over redistricting is on hold because of a dispute over the party's open records request to the state.
They can get the documents, but they'll need to pay up."  . . . Billy Hesterman Daily Herald Newspaper
"Utah's open records law states that a person making a records request can be charged for the materials and time it takes for the information to be gathered, but the law also states that the fees can be waived if releasing the record primarily benefits the public. Dabakis argues these records would be beneficial for the public to see and argues that the Legislature's staff is acting in a partisan manner by charging for the records."


 The Utah law states that the fees can be waived if releasing the record primarily benefits the public. 
Democrats believe the redistricting records primarily benefit the public and want the records without the charge.

"Legislative staff confirmed that the records request has been made and that a letter has been issued to the Democratic Party explaining why the records request was denied. The Legislature's general counsel said the state has followed the law in dealing with the Democrats' request." Hesterman Herald Extra.com


"But Legislative General Counsel John Fellows says his office is treating Democrats and Republicans the same. He said the Republican Party made a more limited request for records of communications among lawmakers about redistricting and was willing to pay about $2,000 for them. So the records for the GOP were ready for delivery on Friday.
He said the Democratic Party has been unwilling to pay the $5,000 estimated cost for a much bigger request it made, so delivery is likely 60 days away from whenever party officials finally say they are willing to pay."  (Lee Davidson, Salt Lake Tribune)  Lee Davidson Salt Lake Tribune

"Legislative leaders also were miffed that, like the Democrats, the Republicans filed sweeping public records requests for all the documents and communications relating to redistricting." Paul Rolly Salt Lake Tribune