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The Week Ahead
The Salt Lake mayoral election rolls on with candidates Ralph Becker and Dave Buhler appearing at the Hinckley Institute of Politics on Wednesday, 11 a.m. (broadcast live on KUER FM 90.1, and rebroadcast at 7 p.m.); County GOP organizing conventions begin Saturday with the Emery County Convention. See all the week’s political activities at the UtahPolicy.com calendar page.
Monday Profile
Vicki Varela: Fast-Track Career Covers Journalism, Education, Politics, Business
By GM Jarrard
 This BYU journalism graduate didn’t plan on becoming a land developer, a public policy expert, a consultant in high demand, or a spokesperson for a governor. All she wanted to do was write, tell stories and uncover the truth. And somehow, somewhere along the way, make a difference.
And that Vicki Varela has done.
Today, she is the chief advisor for government and corporate relations for Kennecott Utah Copper and Land. Kennecott Utah Copper has mined here for more than 100 years. Now, Kennecott Land is building Daybreak, a planned community in South Jordan, on Salt Lake Valley’s West Bench.
A native of Denver, Colorado, where she was raised and went to school, Varela landed back on the Front Range after graduation from journalism school as a correspondent for Associated Press, feeding stories to the national wire on anything and everything newsworthy that happened in Wyoming and Colorado. If a rancher in Lander, Wyoming, delivered a two-head calf, it was her job to report it. An opportunity to work at a daily paper brought her to the Deseret News in 1978.
That move made all the difference to a young writer and editor who would mix and mingle with Utah’s movers and shakers, people who would soon come to recognize her unique gifts and talents—gifts and talents that perhaps even she didn’t realize she possessed. One of those people was LaVarr Webb, then the paper’s political editor.
“LaVarr was my mentor at the News who first inspired me to run marathons. He was easy to pick out in those days; he was the only runner who wore black church socks with his running shoes,” she said with a smile.
Varela has been running ever since and discovering in herself the strength, grit and determination that others recognized right off.
One of those was Wm. Rolfe Kerr, the Commissioner for Higher Education for the State of Utah. After seeing her byline on education articles for years in the Deseret News, he wanted her to come to work for the State Board of Regents.
“It was a momentous week,” Varela noted about Kerr’s job offer. “I turned 30 one day and agreed to change careers the next day. When I found out I was pregnant on the day after that, I went back to Kerr to tell him I would stay at the Deseret News where I would have more flexibility. He wouldn’t take ‘no’ for an answer.”
That wouldn’t be the last time that people in high positions would refuse her refusal. (Read entire profile.)
More SLC Race Polling Data
Jill Remington Love and Carlton Christensen, who co-chair Dave Buhler’s mayoral campaign, have sent out a memo responding to the Deseret Morning News/KSL-TV opinion survey released over the weekend.
“It shows that among a crowded field of candidates, Dave is emerging as one of the top two, with 12% of the vote, the memo said. “Candidates in third-place and lower are all in single-digits. … Even though the primary election is still five months away, it seems to be shaping up as a two-person race between Dave and Jenny Wilson.”
The media poll, conducted by Dan Jones & Associates, sampled Salt Lake City adults, whether or not they are currently registered to vote. A March survey conducted by national pollster Vincent J. Breglio for the Buhler campaign interviewed city residents registered and most likely to vote. “This poll shows that among the most likely voters, Dave and Jenny are virtually tied at approximately 20%, with the other candidates trailing far behind,” says the memo.
Meanwhile, a separate Dan Jones poll of 506 registered voters in the city conducted March 24-29 shows Wilson with 21% support; Buhler with 16%; Ralph Becker and Keith Christensen with 9% each; and Nancy Saxton at 4%. Other candidates were 2% or lower. Some 33% were undecided. Among voters with the very highest interest in the election, Wilson gets 26%; Buhler 18%; Becker 11% and Christensen 10%.
Utah Taxes Now Conference
The Utah Taxpayers Association will host its annual Utah Taxes Now Conference on Friday, May 4, at the Little America Hotel. Speakers include Gov. Jon Huntsman, Senate President John Valentine, House Speaker Greg Curtis and several legislators, tax practitioners, and policy experts. Also addressing the conference will be John Horner of the U.S. Department of Transportation, who will speak on congestion pricing.
Topics covered at the conference will include: Transportation issues including rails/roads prioritization, corridor preservation, congestion pricing, gas tax increase; Education reforms such as vouchers, differential pay, merit pay, classroom technology; Future tax initiatives including individual income tax cut, exempting business inputs from sales taxes, corporate income tax reduction; 2007 legislative session tax legislation; For more information, please click here
Utah Fund of Funds Featured
The progress and benefits of the Utah Fund of Funds will be the topic for the Governor’s Office of Economic Development April Tech@Breakfast event, on Friday, April 20, 7:30-9 a.m., at the Venezia Garden Room, Grand America Hotel, 555 South Main Street.
The Utah Fund of Funds, one of Utah’s most significant ongoing economic development programs, was created in 2003 to increase the amount and diversity of capital available to the state’s entrepreneurs and growth companies.
A panel of leading investors and entrepreneurs will explore the progress of the Utah Fund of Funds and the benefits it is providing for Utah entrepreneurs and the state’s economic development. Panelists include Jeremy Neilson, director, Utah Fund of Funds; Peter Jarman, vice president, Fort Washington Capital; Mark Foley, managing director, RWI Ventures; Andrew Schwab, managing director, 5AM Ventures; Tim Hunt, CEO, Lingotek.
For more information and to register online, click here, or visit www.utahfof.com and click on the registration link. Call GOED at 801.538.8820 or the Utah Fund of Funds at 801.531.3072.
Regional Politics
West Going Green?
Columnist Ronald Brownstein says a "renewable revolution" is sweeping the West "that could transform the national debate over energy, the environment and global warming. ... Across the West, governors from both parties are advancing the nation's most ambitious policies to promote clean energy, encourage conservation and reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. On each of these fronts, leaders in the West are racing far beyond the gridlocked energy debate in Washington -- and drawing support from ideologically diverse local coalitions that include new residents concerned about preserving an attractive environment and agricultural and tourism interests fearful that global warming may undermine their industries" (Los Angeles Times).
National Politics
Best Stories From . . .
-- Washington Post: Columnist David Broder says the popularity of second-tier candidates like Tommy Thompson and Fred Thompson illustrates "[t]he unsettled state of the Republican presidential race" (see also related George Will column).
-- Newsweek: Columist Jonathan Alter says John McCain's continuing support for the Iraq War is hurting his presidential bid.
-- New York Times: Some GOP moderates welcome the Democrats' ascendance on Capitol Hill.
-- USA Today, Boston Herald, and Chicago Tribune: Editorials condemn Rep. Nancy Pelosi's trip to Syria.
Today in Political History
April 9, 1865: Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee surrenders his army at Appomattox Court House in Virginia to Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant. (Source: NBC5)
April 9, 1866: The Civil Rights Bill is passed over President Andrew Johnson's veto. This is the first presidential veto of any significant legislation. (Source: perspicuity)
Wise Words
“If living conditions don't stop improving in this country, we're going to run out of humble beginnings for our great men.”
-- Russell P. Askue (Source: Quote Garden)
Leadership Tip
Honesty: Foundation of Leadership.
“Leadership is a reciprocal process between those who aspire to lead and those who choose to follow…Clearly, those who aspire to lead must embrace their constituent’s expectations” (pg23). So what do the constituents (us) expect? We expect “a leader who is honest, forward looking, competent and inspiring” (pg 25). “In almost every survey we’ve conducted, honesty has been selected more often than any other leadership characteristic; overall, it emerges as the single most important ingredient in the leader-constituent relationship” (pg27). (Source: The Leadership Challenge by Kouzes & Pozner 3rd Ed)
Blog Watch
-- Paul Rolly reports that Sen. Carlene Walker was named "Legislator of the Year" by the Salt Lake County Lincoln Club. Also honored in various categories were Rep. Carl Wimmer, S.L Co. Councilmember Mark Crocket, Rep. Sylvia Andersen, Sen. Chris Buttars, S.L. Co. District Attrney Lohra Miller, and Sen. Orrin Hatch.
-- In a guest blog at The Senate Site, John Marshall Law School Professor Matthew Prince says of Utah's new trademark protection law: "Utah has long prided itself as a business-friendly state. Utah's offering enhanced protections to trademark holders through the creation of the Electronic Registration Mark proudly continues this tradition."
-- Phil Windley says: "I'm trying to wrap my head around the fact that when Energy Solutions wants to bring more low-level nuclear waste into the state everyone from the Governor on down gets all up in arms. But when a new coal-fired power plant to produce electricity for Las Vegas or California is proposed, there's nary a whimper. Is this just ignorance and a general fear of all things nuclear? ... The kind of waste that Energy Solution would bring into the state has almost no chance of ever doing anyone in the state harm. It's contained, managed, and, as it's name states 'low-level.' Note that this isn't someone's opinion, classifications like 'low-level' have a technical meaning. It's the kind of stuff produced by hospitals, for example. This is very different stuff from spent nuclear fuel like what the Goshutes proposed putting on their reservation. One the other hand, we have a very real and growing problem with air pollution in Utah that is causing real health problems for people right now" (see also related Holly Mullen post). |
