From City Weekly: The $50,000 Question: Utah’s attorney general explains campaign donations received from company his office investigated for fraud

By Eric S. Peterson
Posted 06/19/2008

Jean Welch Hill, Democratic challenger to Republican heavyweight Mark Shurtleff, believes it’s time she took over as the state’s attorney general. Hill counts many reasons why she should get the seat, including Shurtleff’s courtship of the payday-loan industry and his conflict of interest in investigating the alleged bribery charges of political ally Mark Walker in the treasurer’s race—and now she can count at least 50,000 more reasons.

That’s one for each dollar Shurtleff accepted in campaign donations from Jeremy Johnson, president of the St. George company IWorks. While Shurtleff maintains that he only knew Johnson from meeting him once at a fund-raiser last March, several attorneys at the attorney general’s office have known of Johnson for much longer. That’s because they’d been investigating his company for more than a year for allegations of fraud.

“If you’ve been involved in litigation with some company,” says Hill. “Then you ought to have the discipline to say this isn’t the best donation for me to accept.”

More here!...

You know you've got them when they say, " "This is really just a cheap campaign ploy"

Endorsement under fire
AG's challenger says Shurtleff backing of state treasurer is an ethical breach
Shurtleff is backing Mark Walker for state treasurer; Walker is accused of bribing the opposition

By Cathy McKitrick
The Salt Lake Tribune
Salt Lake Tribune
Article Last Updated:06/10/2008 10:03:40 AM MDT

Jean Welch Hill, Mark Shurtleff's Democratic challenger in the race for state attorney general, raised concerns Monday over what she views to be an obvious conflict of interest.

"By hosting a fundraiser for a candidate that could soon be under investigation by the Attorney General's Office, Mark Shurtleff has plunged his office into an obvious conflict of interest," Hill said in a news release. "His actions flunk common sense and legal ethics 101."

Shurtleff has made no secret about his endorsement of Rep. Mark Walker, R-Sandy, in his run for state treasurer. He donated $5,000 to Walker's campaign and nominated him at the state Republican convention in May.

On May 29, Walker's Republican challenger - Chief Deputy Treasurer Richard Ellis - filed a complaint with Lt. Gov. Gary Herbert alleging that Walker offered him a job and a hefty pay increase if he would drop out of the race.

On Friday, Herbert, the state's chief elections officer, said he was postponing any determination until after the June 24 primary.

That same day, Shurtleff and other powerful Republicans, including House Speaker Greg Curtis, hosted a noon fundraiser for Walker.

While Shurtleff did not attend the fundraiser - he underwent surgery that day to repair a leg injury - his campaign consultant, Jason Powers, confirmed Shurtleff's role as co-host. He said the event had been planned before Ellis launched his complaint.

"We were expecting these sorts of political tactics from Jean, but not quite so early in the season," Powers said. "This is really just a cheap campaign ploy."

Attorneys who work under Shurtleff function separately from their high-profile boss, said Paul Murphy, spokesman for Shurtleff.

"We have means to create firewalls so they can act independently on any investigation or prosecution," Murphy said. "They are merit employees who have the ability to do their jobs without political influence."

Hill, a former editorial writer and columnist for The Salt Lake Tribune, asserts that consistently lax enforcement of election laws destroys the public's trust.

"This is a pretty serious allegation. The fact that it will sit in the Lt. Governor's office is untenable," Hill said in an interview. "Both Herbert and Shurtleff dropped the ball, Shurtleff because he's too connected to the candidate."

cmckitrick@sltrib.com

Shurtleff's judgment ?? People and payday loans

AG Shurtleff and other top GOPs are avidly supporting this Walker guy who has zilch experience for the job as Utah Treasurer even though he claims otherwise contrary to all available evidence (See lack of experience below).

Also the Walker guy the current AG is pushing:

According to his opponent Richard Ellis, Mark Walker offered him a $160,000 job in March if he'd drop out of the race.

Walker denies it, calling it a desperate political move.

"Our hope is to have some kind of determination by the end of this week," said Herbert spokesman Joe Demma.

In contrast to Walker's non- experience:

Richard Ellis, lists 22 years in public finance - eight of those serving as the state's chief deputy treasurer.

But top lawmakers, such as Shurtleff are backing Walker, saying the treasurer's office needs a leader with new perspective, but no experience for an important job.

http://www.sltrib.com/utahpolitics/ci_9473417

On Mark Walker's campaign Web site, he touts his private-sector experience during his three-year stint as Zions Bank manager of government finance.

However, the Zions Human Resources office defined his position as a sales resource officer, a job he left (?) at the end of March to run for state treasurer.

Also in contrast to Shurtleff's avid support of payday lenders and how they stop bankruptcy in Utah and elsewhere, read what protection the DOD (the US military) wants via
http://www.defenselink.mil/pubs/pdfs/report_to_congress_final.pdf .

f. The Department of Defense seeks the following protections against predatory lending to Service members, as described in the report:

(c). It is understood that such special military disclosures may discourage lenders and limit the availability of credit to certain Service members, but the Department believes this risk is justified given the impact of predatory loans.

(2). Require a federal ceiling on the cost of credit to military borrowers, capping the APR to prevent any lenders from imposing usurious rates.

6
(a). Lenders should be prohibited from directly or indirectly imposing, charging, or collecting rates in excess of 36 percent APR with regard to extensions of credit made to Service members and their families. This APR must include all cost elements associated with the extension of credit, including the “optional” add-ons commonly used to evade ceilings, such as credit insurance premiums.

(b). It is understood that such an interest rate cap may limit the availability of credit to certain Service members. Limiting high-cost options assists the Department in making the point clear to Service members and their families that high cost loans are not fiscally prudent. A clear, unambiguous rate ceiling is justified given the high fees, interest and other charges associated with loans to Service members reviewed in this report, and the impact of those predatory loans on military readiness and troop morale.

Uncle Don

Utah's Next Attorney General, JEAN WELCH HILL!

Democratic Attorney General Nominee, Jean Welch Hill
Nomination Address
Utah State Democratic Convention 2008


Jean received at least three standing ovations at our State Convention. Watch the videos above to see why.

NEWS RELEASE: Jean Welch Hill Criticizes Shurtleff's "OVERLY COZY" Support for a Pro-Voucher Judicial Nominee

SALT LAKE CITY - Jean Welch Hill, the Democratic nominee for Utah Attorney General, today took issue with Attorney General Mark Shurtleff after he voiced strong support for a judicial nominee who was one of the principal advocates for last year's failed voucher effort.

"As a sitting Attorney General, Mark Shurtleff should not be fawning over a judicial nominee," Hill said. "Our judicial system depends on strict independence between the executive and judicial branches. The public's faith in the system is compromised if there is any question about that independence. Overly cozy comments about judicial nominees could raise serious concerns if the Attorney General's office ever has to appear before the judge, which would be a near certainty if the judge is confirmed by the Senate."

The judicial nominee is Clark Waddoups, who was nominated yesterday by President Bush to serve on the Utah district court. Shurtleff was quoted in this morning's Salt Lake Tribune as saying, among other comments, that Waddoups "goes above and beyond in everything he gets involved in," is "as qualified as they get," and is "a great pick."

Waddoups has a long history as a voucher proponent. He unsuccessfully represented pro-voucher forces before the Utah Supreme Court in an attempt to strike down the referendum that enabled Utahns to vote on the voucher program. The Supreme Court rejected Waddoup's arguments, and Utah voters subsequently rejected the voucher scheme in a resounding fashion.

Shurtleff has been a vocal voucher supporter as well, and has clashed with Jean Welch Hill on the subject. Ms. Hill, who is an attorney for the State Board of Education, advised the Board against implementing the controversial voucher program while the issue awaited the referendum vote. Shurtleff was intensely critical of Ms. Hill and stripped her of her status as a special assistant attorney general.

"It is alarming that Mr. Shurtleff went out of his way to comment about this particular judicial nominee, because they worked so closely together on the voucher debacle," Hill said. "It raises legitimate concerns about cronyism, and also suggests that Mr. Shurtleff hasn't learned many lessons from the voters' overwhelming rejection of vouchers last November."

It is absolutely the responsibility of the attorney general to enforce the state's minimal election laws

By Jean Welch Hill
Candidate for Utah Attorney General

It is time to end Utah's appallingly lax enforcement of what few campaign ethics laws it has.

The latest example of our fair state's laissez faire attitude toward campaign finance and disclosure is the recent Salt Lake Tribune article noting that heavy hitting, sophisticated corporate donors failed to file the required financial contribution reports with the Lieutenant Governor's office.

Despite these clear violations of state law, the response of our top law enforcement officer, Attorney General Mark Shurtleff, was "that's not my responsibility."

It is absolutely the responsibility of the attorney general to enforce the state's minimal election laws. Given that $147,910 of the money contributed by corporations without proper disclosure went to the Attorney General, the least he could do is provide his generous benefactors with a reminder letter that the corporations do need to file a disclosure statement.

The attitude of Utah's current Attorney General toward ongoing violations of state election law is one of many reasons Utah's Republican dominated government continually fails to heed voter demands for ethics reform. Poll after poll shows that Utahns want comprehensive reporting of all lobbyist activities, yet the Legislature consistently refuses to even discuss the many bills brought forward by Democratic legislators. With an attorney general who is more than willing to ignore the violations of his own donors, there is little hope for reform.

Which is one more reason the state needs a Democratic attorney general with extensive experience prosecuting ethical violations. As a Democrat, I have little interest in maintaining the status quo of limited, and often untimely, lobbyist disclosure statements. As a prosecutor of educators who violate their professional ethical standards, I recognize the value of high standards for public employees and will advocate to raise the bar on elected officials to at least the level currently maintained by public school educators.

Violations of law are the responsibility of the state's Attorney General. To state otherwise shows a lack of respect for the state's Constitution and an unwillingness to fulfill the duties of the office.

DONATE TO JEAN'S CAMPAIGN

From Jean Hill: Utah needs an attorney general who will focus on people, not politics and do something to curb usuary

By Jean Welch Hill

Democratic Candidate for Attorney General

As an educator and a first time candidate for a statewide office, I find the campaign process to be a fascinating learning opportunity—one that should be shared for future aspirants to public service. As a part of a shared learning process, I will try to at least occasionally post some observations from the campaign trail.

While on the trail this week, I have been inundated with voice and emails of support. The kind words of so many friends and colleagues have been inspiring, and much needed as a face the, at times daunting, task of both raising $1,000,000.00 (so many, many zeros) and doing research on issues.

Thus far, the research portion of campaigning is my favorite part. Case in point: yesterday, a typical spring day that kept teasing me with moments of worth amidst gray skies, I walked to Crossroads Urban Center to meet with its director. In an hour of great import, I filled in several gaps in my knowledge about pay day lenders and the effect these extremely profitable businesses have on their far less prosperous clientele. Imagine paying anyone 10% PER WEEK interest on a loan. Times that by 52 weeks in a year, and you pay a whopping 520% interest in one year. Remember those early lessons in credit card debt that showed it would take the rest of your life to get out of credit card debt at 17% if you just made the minimum payment? Yet somehow a pay day loan at 520% is supposed to be a benefit to low income individuals.

What is less well understood, but potentially more costly to society at large, is the pay day lenders commitment to getting paid. A court in one city indicated to Crossroads that it had to hire three full-time employees just to handle the pay day lender collection cases; cases which make up 87% of the court’s cases. Those three employees are paid by taxpayers, as is at least one judge whose time is spent hearing pay day loan cases.

My meeting at Crossroads addressed other issues as well, and convinced me again of the very real need for an attorney general who will focus on people, not politics and do something to curb usury (charging outrageous interest rates on loans) in Utah (one of very few states that does not regulate pay day lenders in any substantive manner).

Stop Pay Day Loans Usury in Utah!

School Board attorney files to run for attorney general

SALT LAKE CITY— Jean Hill, an attorney for the State Board of Education, has filed to run for state attorney general.

"I am running for Attorney General of Utah because I believe in protecting the public interest,” said Hill. “When the AG and vast majority of the Legislature are from the same party, the public interest gets lost in partisan politics. However, with the combined talents of the attorneys in the AG’s office, the AG can do more, such as protect the vulnerable from predatory lenders or overzealous developers, or protect teens from dating violence, or protect the public coffers from legislation that does little more than generate useless and expensive litigation.

“I am running to protect the public interest and restore the balance necessary for good government.”

Legal advice Ms. Hill provided the Board of Education regarding implementation of a controversial voucher law was upheld by the Utah Supreme Court in June of 2007. The ruling paved the way for the November vote that threw out the law.

Comment from Democratic Party of Utah

“Democrats have struck gold. Jean has been at the top of our list of AG candidates for almost a year,” said Wayne Holland, chairman of the Utah Democratic Party. “Jean demonstrated her integrity and leadership last year when she took a stand against implementing vouchers and against the politically tainted opinion of the current attorney general.

“The current attorney general has politicized the office in service of his own ambitions,” said Holland. “Jean will bring a fresh spirit to the office; she will work for Utahns.”

Biography

Jean Welch Hill is an attorney for the State Board of Education. Since 1999 she has provided legal counsel to the Board, school districts, school administrators, teachers, parents, legislators and any one else with questions about public education law in Utah.

Ms. Hill also prosecutes educator misconduct cases before the Utah Professional Practices Advisory Commission, ensuring that educators who violate the public trust are no longer permitted to teach in this or any other state. She is a member of the National Council of State Education Attorneys and the State Advisory Board on Children’s Justice. She also serves on the Boards of Directors of Wasatch Community Gardens and the Law-Related Education Project.

Before joining the State Office, Ms. Hill worked as a high school history teacher at Judge Memorial High School in Salt Lake and was an editorial writer and columnist for the Salt Lake Tribune. She attended the University of Utah, receiving a Bachelors of Science in Political Science and in Geography. Ms. Hill graduated from the University of Utah College of Law in 1995.

Ms. Hill has three children, Noah, Nathan and Samuel, and will celebrate her 16th wedding anniversary in May. Her husband, Ron Hill is a history teacher and coach at Judge Memorial.