This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

At the Capitol:

— Miller has lost effectiveness and should quit — Salt Lake Tribune Editorial

"Rep. Justin Miller should quit his job at the Utah Legislature. He should do so because can't seem to satisfactorily explain his actions to even his allies in the Democratic Party, let alone the people he is supposed to represent.

"In a world full of political influence peddling and bribery, Miller's situation is none of that. Instead it's the case of a poor money manager who admits to depositing some of his boss's campaign cash in his own account. He says he has a legitimate explanation, but what he has offered so far is not convincing anyone. ..."

— Having lost public and voters' trust, Justin Miller should resign — Richard Davis | For The Deseret News

" ... [Mayor Ben] McAdams was mistaken in not releasing information about Miller sooner. Last October, he quietly dismissed Miller as associate deputy mayor. Instead, he should have explained publicly why he was firing him. At that time, Miller was a candidate for the state Legislature in House District 40. The voters should have been able to hear this recording before the November elections to provide them with important information about Miller. It may not have changed voters' minds about Miller, but that was a decision for them to make. They were ill-served by not having this information. ..."

— Democrats Ask Miller to Stay Away from Interim Day — Bryan Schott | Utah Policy

At City Hall:

— Salt Lake City chief deserved better exit — Salt Lake Tribune Editorial

"If Chris Burbank deserved to lose his job as chief of the Salt Lake City Police Department, it should have happened a year ago. If he didn't deserve to be fired, he certainly didn't deserve the shabby way he was treated as he was shown the door Thursday by Mayor Ralph Becker.

"It is impossible to shake the feeling that Becker did not act because he was perturbed by the way Burbank handled a series of sexual harassment accusations leveled against a now-retired deputy chief. It is much more likely that Becker was rattled by the fact that the case was going to be in the news again this summer, thanks to a newly announced lawsuit, just as he faces a squad of challengers to his re-election. ..."

— Chief Burbank's resignation doesn't fix much — Jay Evensen | The Deseret News

"Unmistakable irony surrounds the saga of the Salt Lake City Police Department.

"The man accused of sexually harassing three female subordinates, Deputy Chief Rick Findlay, has full retirement, at $53,000 a year, after six months of full-salaried administrative leave.

"Chief Chris Burbank, whom no one has accused of sexual harassment, now is unemployed, forced to resign over a minor point in a personnel struggle that the mayor, despite making it a major media issue one year after it was resolved, insists is not associated with election-year politics. ..."

— Lessons to be learned from Becker-Burbank episode — Deseret News Editorial

" ... Lesson No. 1 is that sexual harassment will not be tolerated and that the city's response to such incidents will be quick, certain and done in a way to leave no doubt that it is a top priority. That did not happen in the case of complaints filed two years ago against Assistant Police Chief Rick Findlay in incidents that began as early as 2011. ..."

At the polls:

— Transit tax hike will need widespread support — Salt Lake Tribune Editorial

"The Utah Transit Authority is in serious danger of being stuck on a fiscal roundabout. The rest of us would be trapped with it.

"The Wasatch Front's public transit agency needs more money to expand services for a growing — and increasingly gridlocked — population. But its public image is such that the only way to that revenue — a series of public votes on higher local sales taxes — will be a serious uphill slog. ..."

— Term limits should be on ballot — Ogden Standard-Examiner Editorial

" ... We're not taking a definite "yes, no" stand on the issue; our concern is that backers should be unimpeded in their efforts to gather the 101,981 voter signatures needed to place the initiative on the ballot. ..."

Other interesting stuff:

— Keep a spotlight on animal abuse — Denver Post Editorial

"The shocking undercover video of animal abuse at a Fort Morgan dairy farm is a perfect argument for why states should not discourage documenting such incidents. ..."

— Go further on privacy push — Casper Star-Tribune Editorial

"We like the idea of officially establishing a right to privacy, especially since the federal government does not seem to have many qualms about intrusion.

"So at first glance, a push to amend the Wyoming Constitution to state that individual privacy is "essential to the well-being of a free society and shall not be infringed without the showing of a compelling state interest" makes some sense. The feds certainly do fall far short on transparency. ..."

— Stop detaining immigrants to fill quotas in ICE facilities — Seattle Times Editorial

" ... Detention of any civil prisoner should be based on the severity of the alleged crimes, not on a bed quota that guarantees private prisons make a profit at the expense of human rights of detainees. ..."

— Resist the deep-fried foolishness of our ag commissioner — Dallas Morning News Editorial