Utah business, nonprofit and community members released a letter they signed urging Utah Gov. Spencer Cox and legislators to adopt voting maps from the Utah Independent Redistricting Commission. The letter was delivered to Cox and leadership in the Utah Senate and Utah House of Representatives prior to the Utah Legislative Redistricting Committee’s Monday meeting, where committee chairs Sen. Scott Sandall and Rep. Paul Ray are scheduled to present their own maps.
“The maps that were presented on Monday, Nov. 1 to the Legislative Redistricting Committee by the Independent Redistricting Committee reflect the will of the people as expressed by the passage of Prop. 4 in 2018,” Alliance for a Better Utah Deputy Director Katie Matheson wrote in a press release. “The UIRC delivered voting maps that are based on fair criteria, prioritize communities, received excellent grades from the impartial Princeton Gerrymandering Project, and were drawn through a nonpartisan, transparent process.”
The open letter is as follows:
“In 2018, Utah voters approved Proposition 4, which created a bipartisan Independent Redistricting Commission and established a fair, balanced, and transparent process for drawing voting boundaries. Past legislatures have used the redistricting process to secure positions for themselves or to ensure re-election of incumbents. Utah voters have made clear they are tired
of redistricting being used for such political gamesmanship.
“The Utah Independent Redistricting Commission has made its recommendations to our current legislature and governor. Throughout the state, Utahns are watching for the self-serving, backroom politics of prior redistricting cycles. We ask lawmakers and Gov. Cox to instead
respect the will of the people by adopting the fair, balanced, and transparent recommendations of the commission.
“According to a 2020 Utah Foundation research project, politicians not listening to voters ranked as a top problem in the minds of Utah voters. The brief states that two-thirds of Utah voters agree that elected officials are paying too little attention to voters in favor of corporations, the well-connected, or special interest groups.
“The relentless undermining of the 2020 election has shown a worrying distrust in government at both the federal and local level. But, Utah’s leaders have a remarkable opportunity to prove to Utahns that our government is trustworthy and first and foremost serves the people by adopting the commission’s maps instead of following prior legislatures’ ploys of picking self-serving, secretive maps.
“All of the undersigned are Utahns who live, work, and vote in this state. We have raised our families here and support our government with our taxes and through our civic participation. We are not only active and involved members of Utah’s business community, but are part of the fabric of its remarkable social makeup. We participate in the state’s political processes, both directly and indirectly, and we understand the credibility that is brought to those processes when they are conducted transparently and forthrightly. We also understand the damage to our government’s credibility and the way citizens become disengaged when those processes are conducted opaquely, behind closed doors, or in ways that raise doubts or leave room for suspicion regarding motives and machinations.
“The right to vote and select our politicians is a sacred constitutional right. We call on you, our legislature and governor, to protect our democracy, honor the will of Utah voters, and adopt the recommendations of the Independent Redistricting Commission.
“Sincerely,
Scott Anderson, Zions Bank
Kem C. Gardner, Gardner Companies
Robert Steiner, Alsco, Inc.
Jeff Miller, CEO, Mark Miller Subaru
Kathie Miller
Tom Love, Love Communications
Stand Up Republic
Mormon Women for Ethical Government
Utah Nonprofits Association
Utah Citizens’ Counsel
Utah Coalition of La Raza
Voices for Utah Children
Utahns Against Hunger
David Irvine, former Republican member, Utah House of Representatives, retired U.S. Army Brigadier General
Sheryl Allen, former Republican member, Utah House of Representatives
Jeff Wright, Actium Partners, LLC, national finance chair, Jon Huntsman presidential campaign
Amy Redford
Jonathan Ruga, Sentry Financial
Tina Ruga
Scott Young, Sentry Financial
J. Fredric Voros, Jr., former Utah Court of Appeals judge
Jonathan Campbell, executive vice president, Campbell Companies
Eric Olafson
Jaye Olafson
Roger Thompson, TM Equities, Inc.
Patrice Arent, former Utah state senator
Evan McMullin, U.S. senatorial candidate, former U.S. presidential candidate
Hank Hemingway
Kate Rubalcava, CEO, Utah Nonprofits Association
David Garbett, executive director, O2 Utah
Kip Paul, Cushman & Wakefield
Peter Metcalf, Black Diamond Equipment
Helen Cardon
Anne Milliken
Diane Stewart
Christina Jepson, Parsons Behle & Latimer
Dave Jones
Deborah Haslam, Grace Carter Design
Kevin Potts, Union Pacific Railroad Employes
Health Systems
Alan Sparrow, Frog Bench Farms
Jeff Polychronis, Salt Lake Brewing Co.
Jeff Hunt, Par Brown Gee & Loveless
Jeffrey Eisenberg, Eisenberg Cutt Kendell Olson
Sudhir Amembal
Kiran Emembal
Rachel Bebbington
Andrew Bebbington
Peggy Tomsic
Walter Romney, Clyde Snow
Jennifer Plumb
Karen Shepherd, former U.S. congresswoman
Park City Community Foundation executive committee
League of Women Voters
Rural Utah Project
Better Boundaries
O2 Utah
Sierra Club
ACLU of Utah
Utah Muslim Civic League
Alliance for a Better Utah
Better Utah Institute
SURF UVU Chapter
Stephen E.W. Hale, Parr Brown Gee & Loveless
Bret Yeargin, Wells Fargo Advisors Financial Network, LLC
Brad Parker, Parker & McConkie
Rochelle Kaplan
Art Lipson
Lawrence R. Barusch, Parsons Behle & Latimer
Gary Dodge, James Dodge Russell & Stephens
Kirsten Dodge
John Bird
Julie Day, Utah of University Health
Josh Kanter
Angela Keen, M.D.
Scott Leckman, M.D.
Anne-Marie Waddell
Kris Campbell, member, Utah Redistricting Coalition
Peter Corroon, former Salt Lake County mayor
Rocky Anderson, former Salt Lake City mayor
Ralph Becker, former member, Utah House of Representatives; former Salt Lake City mayor
Jackie Biskupski, former member, Utah House of Representatives; former Salt Lake City mayor
Shawn Clay
Marti Wolf, member, Utah Redistricting Coalition
Mirian Walkingshaw, member, Utah Parents Against Gun Violence”