Springmeyer: Weber is ground zero
Text 
No Comments [ Add Comment ]By SCOTT SCHWEBKE
Standard-Examiner staff
sschwebke@standard.net
Bob Springmeyer came to an Editorial Board Meeting at the Standard-Examiner on August 7, 2008. Listen to his views on:
Weber County
Running for Governor
His personal history
Taxes
RDA and Education
Local government
Governor Huntsman
OGDEN -- Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bob Springmeyer said Thursday his victory in November could hinge on Weber County votes.
"As Weber goes, this statewide election is going to go" he told the Standard-Examiner's editorial board. "This is ground zero."
Springmeyer, who once lived in Ogden, said he's hoping presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama will re-energize voters in Weber and Salt Lake counties, typically party strongholds, which could help him beat GOP Gov. Jon Huntsman.
"One of the reasons I'm confident about this race is Obama," he said. "He's bringing in a whole new group of people (voters) ... that I haven't seen since Jack Kennedy."
Springmeyer, a 65-year-old management consultant from Salt Lake City, said he will have difficulty unseating Huntsman if presumptive Republican presidential candidate John McCain picks Mitt Romney as his running mate. He joked that he might as well go fly-fishing if that happens.
Romney is immensely popular in Utah because of his involvement with the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City and membership in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Springmeyer said if elected he would provide better leadership than Huntsman, who he claims is little more than a rubber stamp for the state Legislature and whose chief political aspirations are to serve as the U.S. ambassador to China.
"With the exception of Gov. Olene Walker, we've had two consecutive governors that have been go-along, get-along governors," he said. "Their daddies or mom wanted them to go on and thought this was a steppingstone."
Springmeyer also said Huntsman isn't an "engaged, hard-working governor."
"Huntsman's popular, but no one can tell you why," he said.
"They can never give you anything he's done other than look nice, smile well and have a pretty wife, have an attractive family."
Springmeyer criticized Huntsman's recent decision to implement a four-day workweek for state employees without consulting them and companies that do business with the state.
"Don't you think you might talk to your employees ... your suppliers?" he asked. "They didn't. They just announced it."
Lisa Roskelley, Huntsman's spokeswoman, said Thursday the governor has been extremely successful in looking after the state's interests.
"Governor Huntsman has worked for Utah in so many areas in the last three years, including (securing) record funding for education, focusing on economic development that has made that funding possible, as well as creating a more competitive business environment and historical reform of our tax code," she said.
Springmeyer said one of the reasons he's running for governor is to attract companies to Utah that will pay decent wages. He also said a flat tax implemented by the Legislature in 2006 is a fraud.
"That's a giveaway to the very, very wealthy in this state," Springmeyer said. "If I'm governor, I'll do everything I can to immediately go back to a progressive tax like we had before. I think it's fair and distributes the cost of government more equitably to those who can afford to pay it."
Springmeyer also said he would oppose the reintroduction of a private school voucher measure like the one defeated by voters in 2007.
"That was an anti-education proposal ... and a pro, unsupervised charter school proposal," he said describing the ballot measure.
Add Your Comment
