This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Rep. Carl Wimmer, R-Herriman, urged Gov. Gary Herbert earlier this week to call a special session of the Legislature so House Republicans would be forced to cast public votes when determining whether to rewrite the legislative boundaries in Utah County and have a special election so Rep. Craig Frank, R-Cedar Hills, can keep his seat.
Republicans voted in their House caucus not to ask the governor for a special session and more recently have voted to not seat Frank, who discovered he doesn't live in his district because of an error by the county clerk. But when the Republicans rejected the special session idea, they did it by secret ballot. Wimmer wants them to be accountable for their votes when denying their colleague his seat.
That would be the same Carl Wimmer, by the way, who is Mr. Sacred Secret Ballot Guy, and sponsored legislation for a constitutional amendment requiring workplace elections about union representation be by secret ballot rather than the option allowed by federal law for an open petition.
Wimmer told me via e-mail that there is a clear difference between his insistence on secret union-shop elections and his desire for an open vote on Frank.
"We are elected representatives, not the public," he said. "We were not elected to do things behind closed doors and out of sight from the public. Anything we do in secret is not to protect us from intimidation, (such as the case in labor union elections). Anything we do in secret only serves to keep the public from knowing where we stand, and this is wrong."
That's funny. What about all those closed caucuses House Republicans have held over the years where the decisions were made, then rubber-stamped in public?
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The conspiracy theory • Some Republican activists believe they have the inside scoop on why Craig Frank's Republican colleagues are not rallying behind his efforts to be seated when the legislative session begins on Monday.
It's all Dave Clark's fault.
Conservative Republican activist Don Guymon broached this theory on his Facebook page and it is generating some support from like-minded conservatives.
Former House Speaker Clark, R-Santa Clara, lost his bid for a second term as speaker in a close race with Rep. Becky Lockhart, R-Provo, who was supported by Frank.
There is one problem with that theory: The vast majority of the Republican caucus voted not to seat Frank. But a majority voted against Clark. So why would he have so much influence over them now?
Then again, when did right-wing conspiracy theorists ever let the facts or logic spoil their fun?
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Sense and Sensibility? • Salt Lake City lawyer and Democratic Party activist Pat Shea wants Utahns to be sensible.
So he is co-hosting a free, public event at Sam Weller's Bookstore in downtown Salt Lake City at 4 p.m. Saturday. KUTV political reporter Rod Decker and I have been asked to talk about the upcoming legislative session and attendees will have a chance to purchase books for donation to the library at Bennion Elementary School, a Title I school at which 86 percent of the students are economically disadvantaged.
The event is called Be $ensible and, according to Shea, the goal is "to promote sensibility in all aspects of public life."
In addition, said Shea, Be $ensible will be conducting a contest throughout the 2011 Legislative session. Utah residents will be asked to submit nominations to http://www.besensible.org for the most sensible and the least sensible legislative acts and statements, the best alternative, and for the Pat Bagley cartoon that best captures the 2011 session.
Be $ensible will gather for a post-session review on March 12 at Sam Weller's, when awards will be presented for the winning nominations.