Ethics loophole | The Salt Lake Tribune

This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Thanks and congratulations to Sen. Todd Weiler, R-Woods Cross, for introducing SB83 to improve the ethics of Utah's statewide elected officials and senior appointed managers by strengthening the rules for conflicts of interest ("Senator aims to close loophole Swallow exploited," Tribune, Feb. 22).

Such a bill would not be necessary had Attorney General John Swallow followed ethical and widely known conflict-of-interest practices. For example, whenever my father, the late M.L. Marks, a Texas businessman, went to dinner with a salesman, Dad paid, so as not to be obligated.

After reading "No such thing as a free lunch? Tell Utah legislators" (Tribune, Feb. 19), to avoid being considered unethical, it would be good for Utah's Legislature to develop rules and a budget to practice the same no-free-meal approach.

John D. Marks Sr.

Holladay