Agenda Utah Daily Newsletter

News Highlights

Salt Lake Tribune reports that Gov. Walker will soon unveil her tax reform plan. Utah delegates share perspectives on John Kerry .s speech as reported by Deseret Morning News and Tribune.

Quote of Day

"I don't know if I would have voted for (the platform) or not. I don't play follow the leader. I don't care what's in either party (Democrat or Republican) platform."

- Rep. Jim Matheson, who acknowledged he had not read either the national or state Democratic platforms in a Deseret Morning News story.

UTOPIA Moving Ahead

Congratulations to the Utah Telecommunication Open Infrastructure Agency (UTOPIA), which closed on financing for Phase I of the 11-city fiber-to-the-premises project. It has been a long, tough battle, fought on both political and business fronts over the last few years. Between UTOPIA and iProvo, Utah will have by far the largest fiber-to-premises project in the country. It will be closely watched by the telecommunications industry to see if this is the best model to provide desperately-needed ubiquitous Big Broadband service to homes and small businesses. UTOPIA will feature multiple service providers, all competing on the open network.

Convention Observations

Maura Carabello, a Utah delegate to the Democratic convention, said it was great to rub shoulders with so many Democrats. "As Utah Democrats who sometimes feel isolated among the Republican super majority, it was a good reminder that at least half of the country agrees with us and wants the programs and ideas we Democrats are supporting. It was great to see so many Democrats in one place at one time."

Gary Lawrence, a national political pollster from California with strong Utah ties, made this prediction about the election outcome: "Kerry gets a bounce out of the convention and next week will lead in percentages and electoral votes. Bush gets a bounce from his convention, but not as much. Probably makes it even. Then it see-saws. By the end of September, Kerry is ahead and the press is all but anointing him. Then about October 10, Kerry starts to slip and the slide becomes very noticeable by October 18, which is Get Serious Day. Bush then wins going away – both the popular vote and the electoral vote. Now, all that being said, we know the terrorists will try something. But they think America will be like Spain, when in fact just the opposite will happen. If they pull off an attack, then Bush wins by an even greater margin."

I thought John Kerry made a fairly mediocre speech. It lacked a central theme and Kerry's delivery was ragged at best. Still, the Democrats did what they needed to do in Boston. They showcased a party full of patriotism, strong on defense and even moderate on a lot of issues. Speakers were disciplined, staying on message at the tightly-scripted convention. There was nary a liberal in sight, judging from the rhetoric. But I don't expect Kerry to get a large bounce from the convention and it was certainly not a knock-out blow for President Bush.

-LaVarr Webb

McKeown is EPA Chief of Staff

Rich McKeown has assumed a familiar role for EPA Administrator Mike Leavitt. As of today, he is Leavitt's chief of staff. Thomas Gibson, former chief of staff to the EPA administrator, announced earlier this month that he would step down and return to the private sector. Gibson served as chief of staff to former Administrator Christie Whitman and stayed through the transition to the new administrator. McKeown served as Leavitt's chief of staff when he was governor of Utah. McKeown is a former state tax commissioner and ran for Salt Lake City mayor several years ago against Deedee Corradini.

E-Voting Feedback

Electronic voting remains a highly charged issue. This week we learned that the electronic records from touch-screen voting in the 2002 gubernatorial primary have been lost in Miami-Dade County , Florida (where else?). Utah elections officials are still dealing with issues surrounding electronic voting.

David Pogue of The New York Times has been looking into electronic voting in his weekly Circuits email column over the past few weeks. Yesterday he wrapped up his series by sharing reader responses to his previous columns. He discusses the issues of the vote paper trail, recounts, voting machine security, and voter confidence.

Upcoming Birthdays

- Rep. J. Morgan Philpot, District 45, July 30
- Rep. Katherine M. Bryson, District 60, August 6
- Rep. Joseph G. Murray, District 8, August 8
Elected Officials Birthday List