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Show a touch of irony A decision Monday by this members of tfhe Four Corners Regional Commission to move the offices of that agency from Farmington, New Mexico to Albuquerque, Albu-querque, came as a surprise here, and must have come as quite a shock to the residents of Farmington. Cited as prime reasons for the office move were difficulties in gaining adequate air schedules in and out of Farmington important to the agency which has so many ties with other agencies in Washington; and difficulties in obtaining needed clerical personnel in tlhe Farmington area important to the agency due to the high volume of paperwork involved in any government project. It seems a little ironic that the very things that are supposedly forcing the agency out of a small city and into a major city are the things that the agency was created to improve in the tfirst place. Recognizing that adequate transportation and well trained labor pools were among the instrumental factors in the proper economical development of an underdeveloped ansa, the agency has set about trying to change the situation around tJhe Four Corners area by initiating transportation studies and funding vocational voca-tional training centers. Apparently they couldn't improve it fast enough to satisfy their own needs in Farmington, however, hence the announced move to Albuquerque. Tlh'e rationalization will undoubtedly be that the small, underdeveloped communities of the Four Corners Cor-ners will be hetter served 'by the Commission, if it is in a large city where a variety of air travel possibilities possibil-ities exist, as wisll as an adequate, highly trained labor force. Whether or not this rationalization will hold water remains to be seen. We have never been much enthused with the argument ar-gument tftvat rural Utah can best be served by a healthy, vigorous, growing Salt Lake Valley. On the contrary, as the Wasatch Front has grown in opportunity, oppor-tunity, rural Utah has suffered because of its inability to compete witlto the attractiveness of opportunity, and the youth of rural Utah have gradually been drained away from the? outlying counties into the big cities. Only in isolated cases, where mineral development develop-ment and scenic features have 'brouglht about growth, as in the case of Moab, has rural Utah 'been able to stem the tide of rural-to-city population flow. The situation with the Regional Commission office of-fice seems the same. If air travel opportunities were inadequate to hold even an administrative office, they couldn't possibly he adequate for any new industry that administrative office attempted to attract. The solution would 'be to insist on better air service, not simply move away from it. If the labor pool was insufficient in-sufficient for the needs of an administrative office, it would definitely be inadequate for any new industry that administrative office hoped to attract. The solution solu-tion would be to develop vocational training programs sufficient to meet the needs of an expanding economy, not simply move away from the situation. Although we have been enthused over some of the programs initiated by the Regional Commission, the decision to move the office leaves us cold. We are afraid that the healthy will get healthier and tlhe poor get poorer, if the office move is indicative of a changing philosophy by members of the Commission. Moab was a strong contender at one time as the location sit? for the Commission offices. In light of this week's action, we're glad we lost out. |