Wednesday, October 24, 2007 TO THE EDITOR... FOR LETTERS-TO-THE-EDITOR POLICY GO TO WWW.SANPETEMESSENGER.COM, CLICK ON ‘OPINIONS’ THEN ‘LETTERS TO THE EDITOR’ Thank leaders for vision with courts building Much has been said both privately and in public about the proposed Sanpete County Courts Building. There have been struggles about its location. There have been debates whether we need a new building or not. There are arguments on whether we can afford a new building. Most of the discussion has some value so that we can gain a perspective of the issue. However, it is most disheartening to hear the extreme criticism and the personal attacks on our county elected officials. It is one thing to be engaged in an issue. It is entirely another to impugn another’s character. I realize emotions run high on this issue but it has gotten out of hand. Our county commissioners were elected to serve the county. Let’s examine the issue. Sanpete County is growing, and all official projections are that it will continue to grow. So we will need a new courts building and the old jail and present courthouse will be needed for administration. If you look at our surrounding counties that are our size, most have already made the change to new courts buildings. Revenue bonds will be paying for the construction and maintenance of the new building. Revenue bonds are what they are titled. There is a revenue source to pay off the bond. In this case the State of Utah is the revenue source. Utah has a very high rating for bonding, so it is quite se- As Sanpete County mayors, we are united in our support of a new courts building, and we will be voting “yes” for the revenue bond on Nov. 6. This is a great opportunity to have a safe modem building that will provide space and security for the court systems that serve our citizens. The commissioners, responding to the concerns of some of our citizens, have selected a site at the south end of Manti, rather than the fairgrounds. Our commissioners have worked with state agencies to secure funds that will pay for the land, the building, and the operating and maintenance costs. Through the lease the state will pay all of these bills, much to the benefit of the citizens of our county. The revenue bond will be repaid exclusively from the lease agreement with the state. The county has not pledged any property or general tax revenue. This is the type of funding that has been successful in Beaver, Sevier, and other rural counties. An added bonus will be the freeing-up of space in our current courthouse. Additional office and storage space will become available for the other country departments and services. If you have questions or concerns, please visit with people that have correct information. Do not hesitate to contact your mayor or Brent Bowcutt, court executive, at 435-896-2711or cure. If we put off building a new courts building until later, it will cost much, much more. It is irresponsible to wait when the money is available now. Our county commissioners realize this, and we must too. Some people have said we are such a poor county. Apparently some are willing to stay that way. Poor is as poor does. We should be grateful that the State of Utah is willing to make this building available to us. Let’s unite in this effort and pass the bond and be proud of our county and thank our leaders who fortunately have some vision for the future. John B. Keeler Manti Sanpete mayors support courts building brentb@email.ut.courts.gov. Please join us in voting “yes” on the courts building revenue bond. It is an honor and a pleasure to serve the citizens of Sanpete County and we appreciate your support. The 13 mayors of Sanpete County: Spencer Cox, Fairview; Chesley Christensen, Mt. Pleasant; Eldon Barnes, Spring City; Byron Davis, Wales; Scott Collard, Fountain Green; Ron Pipher, Moroni; Cliff Birrell, Ephraim; Natasha Madsen, Manti; Garry Bringhurst, Sterling; John Christensen, Mayfield; Steven Buchanan (mayor pro-tem and acting mayor), Gunnison; Darwin Jensen, Centerfield; Scott Bartholomew, Fayette. Are we becoming felon dumping ground? Being Americans, we are allowed certain privileges that our country was based on. One of them is freedom of speech. We are not allowed that privilege when a newspaper publisher changes Letters to the Editor in ways that change the writer’s intended meaning. Letters to the Editor are just that, they are what the people want to say and any altering changes “the people’s voice.” Ms. Dean, you may think you are “not biased,” but you have changed letters of mine that have changed the meaning of what I wrote. All anyone has to do is read your paper and the Pyramid or Gunnison Valley to see the difference with “Editor’s Letters.” In a letter to the editor, published Sept. 26 in the Sanpete Messenger, Gordon Bissegger, Utah State Judicial member, addressed the issue of a courthouse being built next to schools. As he put it, “no laws prohibit” the building of a courthouse next to a school, but “the applicable statutes prohibit pedophiles and similar offenders from living or frequenting areas within 1,000 feet of such facilities (schools or other public areas where minors frequent).” Aren’t some of us just wonderful at back peddling? I guess he thinks we are county bumpkins. The courthouse can be built there, but anyone with priors or pending related cases cannot use the new courthouse if built there. That includes any minors from age 14 to majority, which would also affect our new juvenile division that is to be housed in our new courthouse. We could have a very expensive courthouse that anyone with related priors could not frequent? Who pays for it then? Since the location has been changed, why would Bissegger even address this issue? Is the fairgrounds location still a possibility? Woops, is the cat out of the bag? The good old switch-a-roo after the vote is set? If you think your vote won’t count, you are wrong. All the expense of the new courthouse is coming out of your taxes and your pocket. Whether from “county” or “state” monies, it is still your taxes and your pocketbook that it comes from. If we house prisoners from other counties in our new jail, are we going to develop enough homes in this county to house their families? We will have a new courthouse to try them in, along with a large new runway at our Ephraim/ Manti Airport. Oh you did know about that didn’t you? Sure hope we are not heading to become the new dumping ground for felons and their families. If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, you bet it is. Making any sense yet? What’s the real motive? Has anyone asked and got a straight answer yet from our officials? The bottom line is, do you want to pay higher taxes? Get out and vote on it! Genie Stressing, Manti In a previous letter submitted to the Messenger, Stressing wrote, “This is not Salt Lake City and our needs here are not the same nor in the next ten (10) years will they be the same here.” During processing from paper to computer, the letter was changed to read “…two years.” The change was accidental and in our view did not affect the message. Publisher Suzanne Dean had no role in processing the letter. In the letter above, Stressing identifies Gordon Bissengger as a “Utah State Judicial member.” That is incorrect. His title is “director of facilities” for the Utah State Courts. - Editor Didn’t move to Manti for criminals, courthouses We moved to Manti some 12 years ago to be near the Manti Temple where we serve, not to be near more criminals, attorneys and judges. Since that time, prices in everything have gone up. Now our property tax makes a giant leap up. The reason? Property speculators sell homes to young people bigger and more grand than their parents who worked much of theirs lives to get them. How? By contrived loans that look good to begin with until the interest gets so high they go bankrupt and the government gets the debt. The Problem? The government is already trillions of dollars in debt, while China has a trillions of dollars in cash on hand, waiting for the right moment after the World Olympics, to make its move. What’s ahead for the widows and widowers, the old and older, on fixed incomes, who live in old and older modest homes? Does the county want to drive us out of town, or maybe expand the cemetery? Bart Tollefson Manti Courts project good way to solve present problems I appreciate the work done by those who circulated the petition to let our votes determine if Sanpete County should issue revenue bonds to build a new courthouse. The delay has given us time to hear how the courthouse is to be financed, where it will be built, plus all the pros and cons. The political process has worked, elected officials can do no more than the public will allow. I believe a new courthouse will be a benefit to Sanpete County. The removal of court facilities will make our present building adequate for a growing population. A new courthouse adjacent A5 Sanpete Messenger/Gunnison Valley Edition to the jail should solve security problems in moving inmates to and from court. Revenue bonds will be retired in a rental agreement with the State of Utah. It just seems like an easy way to solve present problems before they reach a crisis. Doug Bjerregaard Mayfield Become informed on voucher issue As voting time approaches it is important to take time to become informed about referendum 1. It is not enough to make a decision based on the media ads we see on television I am particularly bothered by the negative ads against the referendum. They claim that the referendum fails Utah families and is full of loop holes. These negative ads are deceiving and are using fear tactics. Be an informed voter and vote with confidence I once heard someone say that “it’s amazing what people can be so down on when they are not up on it.” Make sure you are “up” on this issue before you vote. When you take time to understand the need for Referendum 1 and how it can benefit families and public schools, you may see it as a positive thing, rather than the negative issue being portrayed in some ads. You can learn about the benefits and truth about Referendum 1 at www.votefor1.org. Remember that the money for the vouchers does not come from the pub- lic schools, and that it would actually increase per student funding in the public schools. The referendum will also help to decrease class sizes and allow parents to choose the best educational option for their children. Whatever your current position is on this issue, I urge you to become better informed before you vote. Remember that you can make a difference in the lives our children when you vote on Nov. 6. Sherri Boekweg Mt. Pleasant Not right time, place for courts building The plain and simple truth is that we don’t need a courts building, at this time. Everything has a time, a place, and this is neither the time nor the place for a new courts facility. Is it the right time? Why do you think that “Sanpete County wasn’t even in the radar for them a building”? (Commissioner Mark Anderson KMTI Table Talk, Oct. 9) Could it be that the state hasn’t put our county on the priority list for state funding because they don’t think that it is needed, right now? The state courts know that we already have adequate facilities provided for the courts...they are using them. Is it the right place? There isn’t even a location secured for the building. The commissioners are looking at property south ofManti. On Table Talk, Mark said that they are “in negotiations and fine tuning” for that property, but in checking, twice, with the Division of Wildlife Resources, (again on October 19) they said there are “no negotiations, no appraisal.” The county needs to wait for the right time and place, when other projects, such as the jail, don’t need our full attention. Remember, November 6, Election Day, and vote “against” the revenue bond for the new courts building. David Van Wagoner, Manti Let’s not spend beyond our means I have been reading in the paper for the last month or so about the problems with having a new courthouse built. I remember back when the county commissioners had an open house to sell us taxpayers on the reasons that we needed a new jail, and that it wouldn’t cost the taxpayers anything. I don’t know about you, but I just re- ceived my property tax statement in the mail, and the jail seems to be costing me plenty. The commissioners are telling us the same thing: that we need this new courthouse and it isn’t going to cost us a thing. As far as I know there is no free ride, everything comes with a cost. Many of the people I have talked to lately, especially the people on fixed income, cannot afford any higher tax. After the jail is paid for, then let’s talk about a new courthouse. The existing courthouse is very nice, and has been updated with new air conditioning as heat, and is all paid for. Glen Morris Ephraim Still too many questions on courts building I am a person that likes to know all of the facts on what I am voting for. I am glad that our local newspapers have printed information, on both sides, about the bond election for the new courts building. I keep studying the issues and I have come to the conclusion that I can’t vote for something that I know little about. There are too many unknowns, too many unanswered questions: 1. First of all, I know that the bond will be $8.5 million dollars, but what will the final cost of the district building be? The commissioners have already said that they won’t have a bid on the building until after the election, if it passes. We don’t know if the cost will be above the $8.5 million dollars, but it most likely will, if it follows suit with the cost of the jail. 2. Where is this building going to be built? Citizens who have been watching the events of this bond election are aware that there was much controversy about the fairgrounds being the location for the new courts building. Because people signed a petition and then campaigned against the location, the commissioners were forced to look for another location. The commissioners have mentioned a location, south of town, but nothing has been finalized for another site. Another unknown. 3. How many people in Sanpete County have seen the floor plans and drawings? Two GRAMA requests were made, before the commissioners delivered those plans, last month, to the recorders office. Why weren’t those plans available this entire year and posted in a public place, for citizens to see, before the election? How can we vote on a building when we don’t even know the design, or more importantly, where it will ultimately be built? 4. Until recently, many people were unaware that the building would be a large 22,000 square feet on 3-5 acres of land. Many people still don’t realize that not one county office would be moving to that building and that it would only house a small amount of state staff and three state judges. Another unknown. 5. One of my biggest concerns is that there is no legal document, signed by the state and the county, saying what costs will be paid by each party. Until the building of the facility, we won’t know if there will be costs above the lease. Can we take that chance? More unknowns! Are you comfortable voting for this bond? I’m not. Lalagene Calkin Manti Vouchers would meet the needs of many students I would like to address the issue of vouchers in regards to remarks made by Principal Alan Peterson. As a parent, I am concerned about the lack of accountability within the public school system for quality education that operates from a system of testing and other “accountability” tools that graduate many students who can neither read at a level that would merit any scholarship nor write a decent essay or composition without plagiarizing the topic chosen. To also denigrate a parent’s choice in education by citing an example of a private school in Sanpete that might not meet Mr. Peterson’s standard of “tight scrutiny or regulations” is to deny parental choice for working with children whose needs are not being met within the system at an extra cost to parents. Perhaps Mr. Peterson was not aware of the successful private teaching and schooling in Sanpete that produced several honor students, competition on a national level for history, and a teacher-of-the-year award from the Sate of Utah for excellence in teaching? Am I myself against public education? Absolutely not. My children attended the local schools, after I home-schooled them for the first eight grades. There are wonderful opportunities there for growth, learning and interaction. Are there some private schools and parents that might not meet the needs of a student? Most certainly. However, testing will never create an environment of meeting all students’ needs, primarily because we seem to forget that they are also spiritual beings. No matter what any educator or official might say, a parent’s choice for including that as part of a private curriculum is the ultimate choice that no current public school can offer. Would that any teacher or official would support that willing, rather than judge that the “fate of public ed hangs in balance with voucher system.” Public education has no need to worry if the fruits of its labor are there. But the ultimate argument is not accountability, testing, credentials etc. It is a freedom of choice without interference for parents. Did I also mention that I am a certified teacher, have taught in the public schools, alternative education, private education, and am currently teaching youth at risk at a lock-down facility and also adult education at Snow College? How else would I know that many students that graduate can neither read at a level that would merit any scholarship nor write a decent essay or composition without plagiarizing the topic chosen? I know about education. Who benefits from the voucher system? It should be the children, receiving more choices for their education. There would not be such an explosion of growth in charter schools, private schools, home-schoolers, etc., if there was not a need for an alternative in meeting children’s individual needs. I hope that voters will recognize that more choices available are pro-children, attempting to meet the many needs of students who do struggle in a setting that cannot always meet those needs regardless of the “accountability” of public schools. Kris Juncker Manti