No sweeping changes for county GOP
Party leaders retained; voucher resolutions axed
More than 600 members of the county GOP gave their party leaders another two years at the helm, with only the incumbent treasurer, Ted Pierce, defeated by Robert Wright during their organizing convention at the South Towne Expo Center. They also did so in resounding fashion, as both the current chair, James Evans, and vice chair Dana Dixon won with more than three-fourths of the votes, and incumbent secretary Patti Florence won another term with 64 percent of the vote.
Perhaps the most surprising result of the day was votes on two resolutions dealing with the new tuition voucher law, which was passed by the Utah Legislature earlier this year. One of the resolutions "applauded" legislators for passing the Parent Choice in Education Act and urged "all Utahns to support school choice," while the other one opposed vouchers because the party should "reject philosophies that encourage our citizens to become dependent on government programs."
Both resolutions were voted down by the convention delegates after more than an hour of debate.
Supporters of the vouchers law said that the ability for people to send their children to private schools was important, and that vouchers would prevent the double-taxation of those parents.
Opponents of vouchers — who supported the freedom of choice in education for parents, just not the government funding — argued that if vouchers were put into place, they would become just another form of government assistance. They also feared that they could potentially place restrictions on what private or home schools could teach.
"We believe in limited government, and if we adopt vouchers, then all of those private schools and home schools will be subject to government regulation," delegate Janet Jensen said.
The county party also rejected sweeping changes to its party platform that supporters said would make it easier to read by consolidating topics, removing issues that are no longer relevant and changing negative stances to positions of support. But opponents worried that the positions on many big issues, including abortion and gun rights, were not strong enough or simply removed.
Even with the failure of the resolutions and the revised platform, the Salt Lake County party members seemed generally pleased with the direction of the party. They roundly cheered when notable successes of the 2006 elections were highlighted, especially Lohra Miller's election as district attorney and continued control of the Salt Lake County Council, and also when Evans promised to them that his top priority in 2008 would be the defeat of Democratic County Mayor Peter Corroon.
Unlike some previous years, the convention was devoid of peripheral controversies, and delegates even thanked the rest of the convention for debating divisive issues in a very civil manner. Afterwards, Evans said that he was pleased that it went smoothly.
"The great thing about Republicans is that we have definite opinions, and as an organization we cherish individual thought," he said.
One other vote taken during the convention was a presidential straw poll that was done as a fund-raiser for the party, which Mitt Romney won with 79 percent of the vote. However, one caveat: each vote cost $1 to cast, and people could vote as many times as they wanted.
E-mail: jloftin@desnews.com
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