What message is Real deal sending to kids?

By John Florez
Published: Monday, Feb. 12, 2007 12:06 a.m. MST
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Forget facts. Forget fiscal responsibility. After all, it's outside money, not taxpayers' money. That was the pitch Utah state elected officials bought when they voted on building a soccer stadium. I suspect if another salesman came to town with a take-it-now-or-lose-it deal, the same thing would happen. And when the deadline comes and goes, there is still another chance.

It's amazing to see how politicians can come up with all kinds of creative excuses for buying something with so-called outside money, not taxpayers' money. The whole deal demonstrated how grown people could get steamrolled, lose all sense of perspective and then try to hoodwink the public to think it's a great investment.

They try to tell us it's not coming out of the taxpayer's pocket, rather outsiders' money. Give voters a break. It seems we have endured great sales techniques for more than a year, a groundbreaking without a deal, other buyers waiting with a better offer, deadlines and ultimatums that come and go, and what a favor the Utah people are being given to have such a gem in our state. We have even been told it would be a "black eye" on the state if we turned away such a deal. The world would turn away from Utah.

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We have seen it all. We have a legislative leader who switched his support as many times as a losing presidential candidate who said, "First I voted for it .." Then we have another one who said that if the governor wanted it, he felt compelled to act on it.

The only problem is that has not been the case in the past. Matter of fact, it almost seemed that if the governor wanted something, there had to be a power-play showdown.

Somehow, Utahns will survive this ordeal. After all, we survived the crickets, but then we had the seagulls to save us. But most troubling is the erosion of trust and confidence in our system of government. One has to wonder how state legislators can go back and forth with caucuses at a moment's notice on a deal that benefits a promoter, yet cannot find the time to determine how to help the less fortunate of our citizens, not take the time to understand the challenges our state faces in educating and training our people so they can succeed in today's competitive job market or to find ways to provide affordable health care for our families. Somehow, those matters take time and we have to be careful with tax dollars.

Devastating is the message sent when legislators, who say they are champions of local government and local control and who cry out for fiscal responsibility, go around the decision of a local county official who turns down a stadium because it would be irresponsible to spend money on a deal that does not protect the public's interest. Furthermore, it tells the voters of that entity that local officials' decisions don't matter and neither does their vote. Being a responsible elected official that has the public's interest in mind when making public policy doesn't matter; it's getting re-elected and getting the campaign money that counts.

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