LaVerkin will consider 17th Amendment repeal
So he wants LaVerkin's City Council to pass a resolution to repeal the 17th Amendment, which gave individual voters the right to elect U.S. senators. The original Constitution allowed state legislatures to choose senators.
Asking to repeal Amendment 17 is an idea that has surfaced nationwide over the years. So while it's not new, neither is LaVerkin's wanting to go out on a limb. Gubler hopes his effort doesn't repeat the commotion of a city resolution in 2001 that declared LaVerkin a United Nations-Free Zone.
The LaVerkin City Council tonight will consider the resolution on the 17th Amendment. The resolution states its purpose is "to restore order and balance between the states and the federal government."
"We need to go back to what the founding fathers set up," Gubler said.
He does admit, however, that there might not be enough national or even statewide support to make a big push for the change.
Karl Wilson, LaVerkin's mayor, wants the City Council to consider the issue and then move on to matters that are more pressing for residents.
Councilman Phil Jensen said he is reserving judgment until he has a chance to hear from Gubler. But he doesn't want to see the matter turn into the brouhaha that occurred in 2001, when the council prohibited the spending of any city funds to support the United Nations.
"That concern is always in the back of my mind when we start to look at those kinds of issues," he said.
Other groups, such as Common Cause, are skeptical that such a resolution would even fly if brought to state government. Common Cause generally opposes efforts to take power out of voters' hands, said the group's Utah chairman, Tony Musci.
Gubler argues that repealing the amendment would give power back to the states. But Musci said it would decrease the accountability of U.S. senators to their constituents. Senators would only be responsible to legislators who put them into office.
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