Here's an update from Tony Musci of Common Cause Utah.  They had a great bipartisan event last weekend and I asked Tony to fill you all in:

Here were the options for folks.  On one hand, Saturday afternoon, perfect bluebird skies, the last chance for skiing Alta's 162" depth, and Real Salt Lake, Utah's new MSL team playing its first home game ever just up the street.  On the other hand, a chance to sit in a library for 21/2 hours to discuss political ethics.

Well, we must have sold it better than that, because close to 40 people filled a room at the striking edifice of the Salt Lake City Library to attend our first Holding Power Accountable Forum.  State Senators Karen Hale (D) and Greg Bell (R) joined us to reprise their efforts at reform legislation, but more importantly to discuss the politics of ethics.

Senator Hale talked about her bill that would have prevented the personal use of campaign funds by state officials.  Senator Bell discussed his bill that would have lowered from $50 to $10 the threshold at which lobbyists would have to identify the recipient of their gift.

Senator Hale is a favorite of progressives, which seemed to be the predominant political flavor of the audience.  Her unabashed support of government reform was a hit with the audience.

Senator Bell is a skilled and rational debater, whose philosophy is one of gentle persuasion and accommodation for the realities of politics.  Asked why the Republicans refuse to open their caucus meetings like the Democrats do, he responded that open caucus meetings do not lend themselves to honest and open deliberation, and that he prefers to know what his colleagues true feelings are on the issues.  His tone of accommodation for those realities did not seem to convince many in the audience, but nobody could deny that Senator Bell spoke his mind in a reasoned and respectful manner.

Both Senators are outstanding public servants, and we are indebted to them for helping to make the session a success.  We are also grateful for the assistance of the League of Women Voters and UPNET in spreading the word.  The audience included a few journalists, and one attendee made the drive up from Provo to attend.  We had some concern about whether there would be enough energy to fill the 21/2 hours, but as it turned out, most everyone stayed the entire time, and I was forced to cut the discussion short.  Stay tuned for our next forum.  We will begin the planning this week.  I look forward to seeing what we can achieve with less "competition."