Monday Musing
A Shiver Up the Spine
By LaVarr Webb
It could happen any day now, and it certainly will happen within the next couple of weeks. It will occur like this: After an ordinary hot August day, for no apparent reason the evening will cool off more quickly than usual and, no denying it, a perceptible chill will be felt in the air.
A little shiver will run up my spine, clear evidence that summer is on the wane and autumn, my favorite time of year, awaits her turn. Not to say that summer will be over. Still plenty of time for long hikes in the high Uintas, for fishing and boating and barbecuing; still plenty of watering and lawn mowing. It will be harvest time in the garden.
But after that telltale evening when that nip in the air is first felt, the hottest part of summer will be history, soon giving way to Utah’s long and glorious Indian summer . . . warm, sunny days with increasingly chilly nights. Time for sweaters and warm campfires (and, yes, football). Before long, clumps of red, orange, yellow and gold will burst forth up high on the mountains keeping watch over the Wasatch Front, and those explosions of color will creep down the hillsides. Streaks of yellow will emerge in the quakies in the high country.
To me, that first chill in the air is a magical moment in the rhythm of Utah’s seasons, a harbinger of change and freshness. When you feel it, take a moment to enjoy it. And shiver a bit as the chill works its way up your spine.
The Week Ahead
It’s a rather slow political week, although candidates are starting to step up their campaign activities. Over the next couple of weeks, campaigns need to be ramping up so they are hitting on all cylinders by Labor Day. Then it will be a sprint to the finish over the last two months of the campaign.
Behind the scenes this week, plenty of maneuvering and negotiations will be occurring over tax reform and rail transit funding. A lot of leaders are very hopeful that both topics can be addressed in a special session in early September. Presently, a quarter-cent sales tax hike is on the ballot in Utah County for FrontRunner commuter rail, and an $895 million property tax boost is on the ballot in Salt Lake County for TRAX light rail. For the systems to properly hook up, a regional approach to rail transit is needed, most likely utilizing the sales tax. Plenty of important work to do in a special session.
For all the week’s political activities, see the Utah Policy Daily calendar.
The New World of PR
Communicating the message is important to all politicians and everyone involved with public policy. But the communications world is undergoing a dramatic transformation and delivering the right message to the right audience is more complicated than ever before.
A Boston/San Francisco PR agency, SHIFT Communications, has published some excellent guides to help communications professionals take advantage of the Web 2.0 Net services. One guide is a “social media press release” that incorporates technology-rich features such as audio, video, links to blogs, etc. The firm also has a lengthy guide to PR in the New Media world.
Blog Watch
At Out of Context, Dan Harrie says UPD's LaVarr Webb has a "conflicts of interest" problem... Rep. Craig Frank says of the SL Co. Council's decision to put an $895 million property tax bond to expand TRAX on the fall ballot: "With a plethora of other transportation needs it doesn't make sense to dedicate $900,000,000 for a light rail system with an extremely limited ridership ... This approach ... seems reckless and ill-timed ... We as policy makers need to be careful about how we 'encourage' taxpayers to 'choose' to spend their limited, strained tax dollar resources on transportation needs"... Rep. John Dougall, in a post about the Real Salt Lake soccer stadium deal, says: "[SLC Mayor] Rocky [Anderson] only hates the back-room deals to which he isn't invited. He seems perfectly fine with all the other ones"... Educating Utah discusses "the future of Utah charter schools"... Reach Upward says of Pete Ashdown's Senate candidacy: "[W]hile Utah Democrats like to be optimistic about the party's popularity in the state, the fact is that it operates more like a third party in Utah than a viable opposition party. That could certainly change in the future. I'm sorry if this hurts people's feelings, but the state party currently lacks the resources to offer a strong support system for candidates for major races ... Is it impossible for Pete Ashdown to win in November? Well, nothing is impossible. But I stand by what I wrote last November, when I said, 'I believe that most of the people that actually vote in Utah won't give five seconds of thought to Pete Ashdown between now and the '06 elections.' I'm not saying that this is my personal choice. It's simply the way I see it coming down in real life" (see also here and here)... Congressional candidate Christian Burridge has a post on ethics reform... Rural Blogging discusses HHS Sec. Mike Leavitt's surprise appearance at the Utah Rural Summit in Cedar City... Evangelicals for Mitt says: "You know, [Mass.] Gov. [and likely '08 presidential candidate Mitt] Romney's like a drink of cold water to me. Maybe it's because the Bush administration is notoriously so opaque. Maybe it's because Gov. Romney's executive competence has been on magnificent display this week. Or maybe his straight teeth and perfectly coiffured hair give me a sense of patriotic well-being ... A friend and I were debating the responsibilities of Christian voters. While I can't speak for everyone who rolls out of bed for Sunday School every week, even my partial list is pretty ambitious -- to elect a candidate who will win the war, solve the immigration crisis, solidify the definition of marriage, and defend unborn children. (Oh, and I may have mentioned a little something about the neccessity of electorally annihilating Hillary Clinton.) When I see Gov. Romney tackling the Big Dig, talking frankly about airport security, and practically throwing his body between Massachusetts's radical judges and the rest of America ... it creates in me a sense of hope -- there actually is a candidate who articulates conservative positions effectively and has enough moral courage and political savvy to do something about them. In other words, Gov. Romney fits the bill. And that, to me, is refreshing" (see also here).
-- Compiled by Golden Webb
Washington Watch
Editorial: Hands Off N-Waste Bill
Editorial criticizes the Coalition of Northeastern Governors for opposing a bill co-sponsored Sen. Bob Bennett that would require the temporary storage of nuclear waste near the reactors that produce it (Las Vegas Sun).
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