Thread by @betterutah

THREAD:

The @sltrib has been doing excellent reporting on Utah senator Kirk Cullimore. The latest story does a great job outlining his brief but clear history of using his position to line his pockets.

Here are some points worth highlighting:

sltrib.com/news/2020/07/1…
#utpol

Cullimore is an eviction attorney, and his dad’s law firm (where he works) represents most of Utah’s landlords. Its website boasts that Cullimore Sr. “directly wrote” & works with the #utleg on landlord & rental laws, and that they file the most eviction cases in the state.

Btw, here's how Utah evictions work: 3 days after you get an eviction notice, you start racking up “treble damages” — 3x your per diem rent until you move out. After eviction you owe treble damages PLUS attorney fees. Your future wages are garnished. It’s a debt whirlpool.

So after the COVID shutdown, Cullimore & his firm tried to get courts to open sooner so they could help their property-owner clients evict people— i.e., they tried to get people kicked out of their housing during a pandemic. sltrib.com/news/2020/07/1…

Earlier this year, he ran a bill to get a judge automatically taken off a case if a lawyer said so. No reason required. According to this @sltrib piece, he's has had past issues with a judge who has refused to rubber stamp everything he asks the court for sltrib.com/news/politics/…

Cullimore also ran a bill to re-allow confessions of judgement in contracts. Basically, this makes it super easy for creditors to get automatic wins, because the debtor agrees in advance that they’re automatically wrong if a dispute arises.
sltrib.com/news/2020/03/0…

Now, we learn Cullimore’s firm also receives the largest share of the state’s low income housing fund— a payout to landlords who rent to low-income Utahns. sltrib.com/news/2020/07/1…

The ethical issues with Cullimore keep piling up.

Having a part-time legislature means you’re going to have some conflicts of interest, since people tend to run bills on issues they’re familiar with.

But Cullimore has a pattern of running bills to directly benefit himself and his business. And his business is evicting people.

This is just one example of why Utah badly needs ethics reform. And also, why everyone should be supporting local journalism.