Support for Bell integrity resonates in contrast with Swallow

It says a lot about Lt. Gov. Greg Bell that so many people have stepped up to defend him. I count myself among those that believe in his good will and integrity.

The outpouring of support, though, is a stark contrast from near absence of any advocates for Attorney General John Swallow.

Since the City Weekly article last week reported that an FBI assisted investigation was looking into Bell’s internal audit of a Division of Child and Family Services case, prompted ostensibly by “widely divergent accounts from DCFS and the family,” according to Bell in a statement Friday, supporters on and off of Utah’s Capitol Hill have gone to bat for the former state senator.

Utah state Sen. Todd Weiler, R-Woods Cross, is reported in the Salt Lake Tribune to have criticized any comparison of Bell to Swallow—also is under investigation by the FBI –because “what Greg is accused of doing is trying to help a friend and neighbor.” And “There’s no money involved, there’s no financial [motive]. It’s a completely different situation,” said Weiler. “Those two situations are entirely different.”

He wasn’t alone is his support of Bell:

“If I were to put it in transportation terms, I believe that Greg Bell is so straight, you could use him as a template to stripe the freeways with,” said Sen. Stuart Adams, R-Layton, who succeeded Bell. “I hope there’s no foundation to these allegations.”
Senate President Wayne Niederhauser, R-Sandy, said Bell was an “outstanding” senator and “was one of the top people as far as doing the right thing.”
And Governor Herbert called his Lt. Gov. “”as honest as the day is long.”‘

Perhaps the most descriptive, and damning to Swallow, quote came from Sen. Lyle Hillyard, R-Logan: “We’ve stood shoulder to shoulder with Greg Bell,” said Sen. Lyle Hillyard, R-Logan. “We don’t have that same relationship with John Swallow.”

Swallow was a member of the Utah state legislature back in the late 1990s and left to make the first of two runs for Congress. Despite his time in the Utah House of Representatives, though, support has not been forthcoming.

As I indicated Thursday when the story broke, I very much like Greg Bell. His track record as an honest and sincere individual resonates because of a lifetime acting in integrity and generosity. Serving as Lt. Gov. is a thankless, and mostly powerless, job. In fact, this may be the real rub that has put Bell in trouble. If what he has portrayed in response to the City Weekly story is true–that he was seeking truth and good government in his role as a state official–then it is proof that no good deed goes unpunished.

It’s unfortunate that it requires an investigation, but the public’s faith requires a higher standard of proof.

Asked for comment, Speaker Becky Lockhart said that “We are consistently trying to respond and do things that would engender trust from the public[…] It appears it may be time to address some things within the executive branch and with constitutional officers.” With any luck, the investigation into Bell’s audit will vindicate his behavior, and the legislature will clarify the roles and responsibilities of the state wide elected officials to avoid future problems like those encountered by Bell and Swallow. While Senator Weiler is correct that the two situations are not similar in nature, they do share one thing and that it the potential to lose the public’s trust in their democratically elected government.