Brian’s Utah Weblog

This is a continuation of the post on partisan House roll calls in 2005 (q.v.). More of these are coming, including the recent sessions.

Utah Representative Dave Hogue (R-Riverton) retired after 2006 to run for Senate. He recently reentered electoral politics to run for his old seat. There was a twist, though, as he filed to run as a Democrat. The Riverton area is strongly Republican with the Republican winning 66% of the vote in 2006 for House District 52 so his prospects will depend on name recognition and constituent memory. The history here indicates that Hogue has always been a centrist, crossing party lines more than one third of the time. Democrats should expect no different if he rejoins the House.

The legislators on the 71 partisan votes of 2006 Utah House,

Just like the post on the house (q.v.), with all the caveats. Two thousand six, 2007, and 2008 are coming up along with lists of votes that divide partisans in the Utah legislature and some other exciting analysis tools that allow us to compare issue and ideological trends.

The legislators on the 56 partisan votes of 2005 Utah Senate,

Note: Senator Paula Julander (D-SLC) retired mid-session and was replaced by Senator Scott McCoy.

This is the first of a fairly long series of posts that may take a while to complete.

This table is a result of analysis of every roll call vote from the 2005 Utah Legislature.  Later years will be in future posts.  The 66 roll call votes where a majority of Democrats voted differently from a majority of Republicans are considered for each legislator and one tally is made in the D Votes column for each vote with the majority of Democrats, one in the R Votes column for each vote with the majority of Republicans, and one in the Missed Votes column for each absence.  Most roll calls are nearly unanimous with Republicans and Democrats voting the same so this list will not reflect any legislator’s total absenteeism.

The Democratic Rating is the percentage of all partisan votes that agreed with the majority of Democrats.  Half a vote is assigned for absentees.  A Republican rating would be the difference between the Democratic Rating and 100%.  Therefore the highest Republican rating would be Representative Brad Daw (R- Orem) with 96.21%.

The legislators on the 66 partisan votes of 2005 Utah House Of Representatives,

Note:  Rep. Ty McCartney (D-SLC) retired after the first partisan vote of the session to take a job in the Mayor Rocky Anderson administration.  He was replaced by Representative Larry Wiley.

Every four years the Democratic National Committee and the Republican National Convention set rules for the next presidential nomination cycle. These rules include the dates on which state parties may take the “first determining step” toward choosing pledged delegates. That first determining step is usually the state’s primary or caucus. Before that step, there can be no bias toward choosing any particular delegate pledged for any particular candidate.

Michigan and Florida’s state Democratic Parties ignored the rules and now are unable to come up with a plan to select delegates. In 2004, Utah faced even harder challenges than Florida or Michigan do and our Democratic Party ran an organized, efficient, popular primary that seated all our delegates at the 2004 convention in Boston.

In 1996 and 2000 the Delaware legislature chose run a presidential preference primary earlier than the Democratic National Committee allowed. Delaware wanted to grab the limelight of being first in the nation. The Democratic National Committee rejected the plan to choose delegates based on the early primary. Both times the Delaware Democratic Party wrote a new plan that included caucuses later on to select real delegates who were then listed on the roll.

In 2004 the District Of Columbia legislature chose to run a presidential preference primary before all the states. D.C. wanted attention to focus candidates on the issue of statehood. The Democratic National Committee followed its precedent and rejected the plan. The D.C. Democratic Party wrote a plan that selected delegates based on a lated caucus and those delegates were seated.

And in 2008 Michigan and Florida legislatures decided to run a presidential preference primary earlier than the rules allowed. The Republican National Committee responded by dropping those states’ superdelegates (yes, Republicans have them, but not very many) and cutting their delegate counts in half. The Democratic National Committee followed its precedent and rejected plans submitted by the state Democratic Parties to use those elections to select delegates.

Now Florida and Michigan could write new plans to use caucuses as their first committed step and select delegates. But the state party leaders in both states are partisans for a candidate whose campaign believes that it doesn’t have the skills to organize in caucuses. As a result, party leaders in both states refuse to hold a caucus and insist that only a primary will do.

It could be argued that making the decision between primaries and caucuses after the contest begins is unfair to the candidate who is prepared to organize a caucus. However the precedent was established in 2004, 2000, and 1996 that state Democratic Parties get to make that choice, even if their delegate selection plan is late. The scant evidence that one candidate under performs in caucuses is more a media creation than a statistical conclusion, anyway. Furthermore, primaries are a more democratic way to select candidates than caucuses. So we should all be looking forward to new primaries in Michigan and Florida this Spring.

In 2004 the Utah Democratic Party showed Florida and Michigan the way to do it. The three-fourths Republican legislature knew who their candidate would be and canceled Utah’s primary as a mean-spirited stab at the minority. Energetic young Democratic chairman Donald Dunn stepped up to organize a firehouse primary instead.

The Utah Democratic Party borrowed space in public buildings across the state to set up polling places. Mostly it was libraries rather than the traditional firehouses; we Utahns love to read and better fire codes have reduced the need to build firehouses in every community. Radio ads went on the air and there was a statewide media blitz to attract Democrats to the polls. On primary day volunteers across the state spread out to take the pulse of the public.

I headed out early to run the polls in the Salt Lake County South Jordan library. All day and into the night I took took registration forms, kept the polling book, and handed ballots to Democrats, independents, and even a few Republicans from across our great state. Salt Lake Tribune reporter Dan Harrie visited our polling place to see how the primary was going. A local Republican activist came to vote in our primary because there was a candidate on our ballot she wanted to support more than Bush. (She whispered to me who it was, but it’s a secret ballot so I’m never repeating it). Hundreds of citizens from the heavily Republican area came in to mark their choice.

Statewide turnout was over fifteen thousand. That was as many as voted in our 2000 primary, but not nearly as many as we had in 2008. At the Salt Lake City main library, the lines filled up the main atrium of the building. We made a giant splash in the news. People learned about the mendacity of our Republican legislators and that we had a healthy Democratic Party in Utah.

I’m proud of our 2004 primary. And we did it without any state support and with not one state dollar. I don’t know exactly how much it cost, but we didn’t have a lot of money so it couldn’t have been much.

Now in 2008 we see Michigan and Florida Democratic Parties can’t seem to get it together to hold a primary. So far they’ve spent a lot of time whining that the Republican Florida legislature and Republican Michigan Senate won’t take care of it for them and ruled out doing it themselves. Utah has shown that it’s entirely possible. The only conclusion is that these states are too lazy or incompetent to do the right thing. The Democrats of those states should dispense with their current leadership at the next available party leadership election.

Perhaps both states want to play a game of chicken with the Democratic National Committee. They might like to establish that they can select delegates in any manner they please, even outside the established rules. There is a procedure to appeal to the whole body of the Democratic National Convention to be added to the roll. It is mandated to be the very first order of business at the convention in Denver.

Florida and Michigan aren’t the closest of states in partisan preference, but they could be considered swing states some years. If the local parties argue that excluding their proposed slates of delegates, chosen based on the invalid plans rejected by the Democratic National Committee, could lose votes in November perhaps delegates from the other states might be persuaded to add them to the roll. It would violate any reasonable sense of fairness or democracy to seat delegates chosen according to those rejected plans, but it might happen.

Adding those delegates to the roll would be extremely unwise. Our nation is at war and the media love the Republican candidate who is an established war hero. Democrats have enough trouble proving to the American people that our candidates are tough enough to lead in wartime. A candidate who can’t stand up to rule breakers here at home can hardly hope to prove that he will stand up to nefarious forces abroad. A candidate who can hold firm against his own local parties in Michigan and Florida will win enough support with firm resolve and commitment to justice to overcome any sour grapes within those local parties’ leadership. Even in Michigan and Florida themselves, a strong leader should win more votes than a poor negotiator.

From today’s Washington Post:

It sounds like maybe they spent their time visiting Park City instead. Sure, most Utah Democrats are white and Utahns in general are very well educated but “affluent” is an exaggeration.

Still, there are worse things the East Coast press corps could think of us.

Ralph Becker became the mayor of Salt Lake City today. New members Luke Garrott and J.T. Martin
joined the Salt Lake City Council. The ceremony was held outside in 33° weather, which kept the speeches short.

Mayor Becker’s address was a very good short speech, though. Does anyone have audio for it?

Hallowe’en is the best holiday. You take the kids out to trick or treat and neighborhood kids come by your house for candy. It reminds you why you love your neighborhood and your neighbors.

Best of all, you can go out and tell your neighbors how you hope they’ll vote next week and all of them are home. I remember the year Todd Taylor (now Utah Democratic Party Executive Director) sent us out to canvass with sacks of red-white-and-blue locally made candies to give away to each household we visited.

Parking and traffic aren’t as sexy as new malls or theaters, billion dollar bonds, intense rivalries between the founding institutions of the city, or a national campaign to impeach the president. Parking and traffic won’t make the headlines of national and local news stores about our mayor’s legacy in January. What parking and traffic are is the lifeblood of commerce and the texture of day to day life.

Our mayor has given us unprecedented leadership finding ways for citizens and businesses to get together in our downtown. Visionaries like Rocky aren’t known for focusing to get the details correct right down to the stripes painted on the street but we are lucky to have a mayor who does.

About ten years ago the nation’s urban planners took note of experiments in Pennsylvania with back-in angled street parking. There is considerable evidence that it reduces collisions and makes traffic smoother while allowing easier loading on occasions when large items go into the trunk. It’s not for every street and needs to be evaluated and tested at each location.

Environmental Advisor Lisa Romney brought up the subject with Rocky early in his first term and he had already heard of it and wanted to try a demonstration. This is a common pattern with Rocky; when you first hear of a new idea in the research some technical specialty in public affairs, Rocky has already read the paper and thought about the possibilities for Salt Lake City.  As soon as plans could be prepared there were streets being restriped. The first two I saw were on the blocks of 1000 East 900 South and 300 West 200 South. The ones at 300 West 200 South are still there. Love them or hate them that kind of support for innovation from the mayor is a rare treasure for any city.

That was just the beginning of new parking ideas in Salt Lake City. Soon there was a citywide token system and more ways for downtown businesses to get access to parking garages for customers. On street parking was expanded in parts of downtown, too. But the biggest change came in 2003.

Broadway (300 South) and 300 East were rearranged to cut out a lane of traffic and add a row of angled parking down the center of the streets. Not only did the city add hundreds of new on-street spaces but crosswalks were added and traffic was calmed both of which drive retail business in commercial corridors.

It was unprecedented. On-street parking is by far the most valuable kind downtown. It doesn’t require a garage or take up valuable real estate with empty lots or require a long walk to businesses. It does encourage pedestrians and calm traffic making streets safer. On-street parking is a treasure and Rocky conjured up a couple hundred spaces from thin air.

There was opposition. Skeptics including the city council and Rocky’s opponent for reelection worried about losing traffic lanes and building an unfamiliar street design. But Rocky saw that fewer traffic lanes would make the street more walkable and that on local downtown streets demand for parking is more pressing than demand for through lanes.
Walking and biking along Broadway is a delight now. The through traffic takes wide 400 South where it belongs and businesses have thousands more potential customers every day.

Today the new street design and pedestrian improvements are being set in concrete and the final effect is beautiful. More parking, better walking, better commerce, and better neighborhoods all came from attention to detail and the basics of making our city work.

Thanks, Rocky.

Before Rocky was mayor our city had fine parks. Liberty Park, my own neighborhood park, was a treasure but like many city facilities it was falling apart.

The Seven Canyons fountain was closed because it didn’t have a filtration system that met health standards for children to play in it. The Issac Chase Home was closed, the row of giant cottonwoods was facing disease and decay, the Chase mill building was vacant and falling apart, the bicycle path was potholed and crowded, the concession building was an old shack, and springs were fenced off. It was a nice park but it was decaying.

Rocky arrived determined to improve our parks and open space and embarked on a program of capital improvements. The Seven Canyons fountain runs filled with happy children all Summer. We have a new fancy concrete grade separated bike path and separate jogging path. There is a new concessions building and a restored Youth City program building. There is a new playground thanks to Utah’s Rotarians. The restored Chase Home is an expanded museum of Utah Folk Art. Fences have come down and water features are restored. The Tracy Aviary has expanded and updated exhibits and habitat.

Fairmont Park and Jordan Park have seen upgrades and additions, too, as have many smaller parks. Gilgal garden has been protected with a permanent easement.  We have an open space fund that will soon be adding parks in neighborhoods like mine. The North Salt Lake watershed property in the foothills is being preserved. And a giant makeover for Pioneer Park is getting started.

Best of all, we have an entirely new city park on Library Square downtown that hosts the Salt Lake City Arts Festival and plenty of space for concerts, parties, or reading out in the sun on sunny Summer afternoons. It is the last open space we’re likely to get downtown and Rocky had to fight hard to get the Council to preserve it instead of privatizing it for development.

Not all the advances are due to Rocky alone. The city council adopted new capital improvement goals in the budget, the Olympics and Rotarians contributed, and the people voted new bonding for zoo and aviary improvements. But Rocky has been the leader making urban outdoor life better in Salt Lake City and we all enjoy it.

Thanks, Rocky.

We Salt Lakers look forward to electing Ralph Becker to be our next mayor and we should look forward because Ralph’s vision and experience will help make Salt Lake the great Americans city it can be.

But let’s also remember the things we have to be thankful for. One of those things is the vision and courage of Rocky. Sure, it hasn’t always been easy and I’ve been disappointed a few times as any advocate will be but on very hard issues, Rocky has made our city a better place.

Back in 1999 when we first elected Mayor Rocky there was no light rail in Utah. Over ten years of effort starting with corridor and study money set aside by great Utah Congressman Wayne Owens culminated in our first line opening just after the election. When Rocky was sworn in TRAX had just opened and skeptics had not been won over by its spectacular success.

The Olympics were coming in 2002 and there was a chance we could get money to build another light rail line along 400 South to the University Of Utah and its Olympic village quickly. Local support would have to be strong and unequivocal.

Unfortunately our city council voted to oppose 400 South light rail. Our city was looking at less mobility, more congestion, and a long hard fight to get transit money years later than we needed it. We wouldn’t likely even have the 400 South line today in 2007 if the Council’s decision held.

Rocky swept onto the scene even before he was inaugurated to persuade the Council. He shared his vision of vibrant and exciting walkable neighborhoods growing around transit. He organized special meetings. He negotiated understandings between UTA, UDOT, and the city.

The Council voted unanimously to reverse itself and support our TRAX line at its last meeting of the year. The Wasatch Front Regional Council, Federal Transit Administration, and Clinton Administration followed and 400 South TRAX was built on an accelerated schedule in time for the Olympics.

Today the 400 South TRAX line is exceeding ridership projections and helped persuade the people of Utah to fund four new extensions with a billion dollar bond last November.

Thanks, Rocky.

I was at Washington Square Saturday having a picnic with my family while the peace rally was going on. There were a few hundred people making their voices heard including the Progressive Democrats and the Quakers. The Quakers set up a large memorial of empty shoes commemorating soldiers and civilians who lost their lives in Iraq. The Ron Paul campaign set up a booth and warned us that none of the leading Democratic candidates are promising to pull out of Iraq. Rocky closed the rally with his indictment of the president’s blundering and abuse of our nation and our troops in Iraq.

Our mayor gives a great speech. The out of town relatives only heard a minute of it but they were impressed.

Update:  Wasatch Watcher has video.

I saw this on my way through Salt Lake City today. The house on the right has two “I’m For 1” signs supporting the pirates trying to raid our public schools. On the left there is a hand made banner declaring “Impeach Bush And Cheney.” The ‘ch’ from ‘impeach’ and the ‘Ch’ from ‘Cheney’ are artfully shared.

I hope these neighbors are getting along.

Senator Bob Bennett (R-Utah) hedged his support for the bill (S. 1257) to add a fourth congressional seat to Utah even as it needed just three more votes yesterday.

Does anyone wonder why he would back away from Utah’s best interests at a critical time? Maybe it’s because he knows the proposed second district would be an uncomfortable place for its current occupant and he might start looking across the Capitol lawn. I’m pretty sure Bennett, who is up in 2010, isn’t ready yet to start practicing the phrase “Senator Jim Matheson.”