An emotion-packed election
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ampaigns and elections don't get more spirited than this last go-round. Now that all the shouting's done and the voters have spoken, it's worth looking at what it means.
The most contentious issue on the statewide ballot was Referendum No. 1, the private school vouchers question. In no uncertain terms -- by more than 60 percent to less than 40 percent -- Utahns rejected subsidizing private school tuition. It was interesting to hear the opposing sides' explanations for the lopsided vote.
Overstock.com's CEO Patrick Byrne, principal bankroller of the failed voucher campaign, said in a televised interview that parents who voted against vouchers "don't care enough about their kids." Wow. That could be the sort of crippling accusation that lingers in voters minds for years to come.
Kim Burningham, chairman of the state Board of Education, said it's proof Utahns support public education -- a much more reasonable and certainly more defensible analysis than indicting people for not caring about their children. Though the reason also might be simply that people don't want tax dollars going to private schools.
It will be interesting to watch how the Legislature reacts during its next session in 2008. Will lawmakers accept the wishes of voters, or will they pass another, similar voucher law? We hope they take a break from their annual voucher-promoting rituals and attempt to build a consensus on smaller bites of the voucher pie. It would be a better approach than adopting another ill-considered, one-size-fits-all program packed with enough potentially controversial measures that it will, again, be guaranteed to offend most voters.
And tax fatigue apparently convinced Davis County voters to reject the idea of an additional sales tax for transportation and transit measures. The county has been hard hit by increased property tax valuations this year. Three communities in southern Box Elder County, however, enthusiastically embraced the additional tax as a way to fund extension of FrontRunner commuter rail from Pleasant View to Brigham City in the coming years; they see the benefit of a hassle-free connection to Ogden and Salt Lake City. Then there's Weber County's vote, which of this writing was still too close to call.
In Syracuse, voters decided to retain their current form of city government, leaving the CEO title with the mayor instead of transforming the city administrator into a city manager. Syracuse could also see the opening of new sit-down restaurants, since voters overwhelmingly endorsed an earlier city council-passed ordinance that allows restaurants to serve alcohol to patrons.
Now Syracuse can pursue a more thoughtful discussion about the form of government, and they won't have to travel to Clearfield or Layton to enjoy a good meal.
As for Ogden ... who knows? Counting of the absentee and provisional ballots for the mayor's race and the city council's at-large seat A are not scheduled to be finished until Tuesday, so everyone involved will have to be content to bite their fingernails and ponder both victory and concession speeches in the meantime.
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