Lawmakers Ask for SUWA Financial Documents
Mar 05, 2008 by Jeff Robinson
SUWA: We Have Nothing to Hide
(KCPW News) Forty-one Republicans in the Utah House and three Democrats are asking SUWA, the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, to turn over bank records and other financial documents in light of the conviction of two former SUWA officials last year. Last week, they sent a letter asking the organization to turn over the information in the next thirty days. SUWA's Public Lands Fellow David Garbett says they will provide financial data because they have nothing to hide, but they don't like the way the legislature is handling this request."When this originally happened, we were concerned, as the legislators are expressing now. We went so far as to have a third-party auditor come in and take a look at everything, and they gave us a clean bill of health," said Garbett. "I don't think we're afraid, however this letter sometimes feels a little more like a McCarthy smear campaign."
Garbett says the letter seems aimed at demonizing the organization rather than advancing any kind of dialogue about environmental issues.
Republican Representative Mike Noel, the most vocal of SUWA's detractors in the legislature, didn't address the issue at a news conference today until asked by KCPW. He said the organization has a history of lying and the letter was part of his duties as a legislator.
"We're asking specifically, as part of our representative responsibilities, to determine -- and they're a taxpayer-subsidized entity -- to make sure that that money didn't go into their coffers or that they didn't do something illegal, too," said Noel.
Noel made that remark at an event introducing a new coalition called Utah Consumers for Affordable Energy. He says he'll go to the Attorney General if SUWA doesn't turn over the information. The letter does not subpoena the information, but Representative Aaron Tilton said the legislature has the authority to do that.
Email to a friendPosted in KCPW Newsroom and 2008 Legislative Coverage. Copyright 2008 KCPW
1. Geezer said:
SUWA is doing something the Bureau of Land Management would have done 30 years ago if politicians hadn't interfered: articulate an alternative to the piecemeal destruction of Utah's glorious red rock landscapes. This prank by Noel and Tilton shows once again why SUWA is needed.
2. Kanabite said:
It's pretty disingenuous of Noel to be accusing SUWA of doing something illegal when his conflicts of interest and persistent lining of his personal pockets via inside information is well known in his district.