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Show VISITOR GUIDE Sports At nine and counting, Miners roll through season. Rage Scrabblist Sundance doc returns to The PARK CITY, UTAH www.parkrecord.com New voting technology put to the test ^•^^^ ^M ^M ^^k Serving Summit County since 1880 Park Keooix D jate and the Rockers will play The Forum at The Canyons Resort today. The concert is sponsored by The Canyons and is a part of Mountain Town Stages' spring concert series. The show will run from 3:15-4:45 p.m. and is free for the public. For more info call 901-SONG. V UJi'lP UlftH ^lKL L i " ! Y Clownin' around Lawyers vie for top county post Tesch, Brickey and Cameron interviewed SCOTT S\HEJPARK RECORD Salt Lake resident Tammie Hansen voted with her mock ballot on a proposed direct record electronic voting system using the optional audible feature, which allows the visually impaired to hear ballot choices. Lt. Governor Herbert lets the public give their input By ANNA BLOOM Of the Record staff The most popular spot at South Towne Mall Wednesday evening did not contain sale racks, but voting booths. Indeed, as Utahns voluntarily lined up to test out new ballot machines in a mock election, they were eager. The only real complaint heard by Elections Office Director Michael Cragun was 'when's my turn?' Instead of relying solely on his own judgment for the final verdict, Lt. Governor Gary Herbert and his elections office will make the final pick on the proposed new voting technologies based partially on the results from the mock election event. The Director of Utah's Services for the Adult Blind Bill Gibson reported the visually-impaired community in Utah is enthusiastic about the potential the new voting systems since Herbert may decide to implement touch-screen audible ballots for the entire state, allowing voters to vote by hearing their ballot choices. Gibson estimated his organization provided nearly 30 volunteers to help organize Wednesday's event in Sandy. "We're all very excited about the speechaccessible voting, because it could mean the first time a blind individual will be able to vote on their own in this state," Gibson told The Park Record. "We're all really active in the election process. In fact, I've heard a legislator say that the disabled community is one of the most involved demographics when it comes to voting. We really appreciate having such a concerned lieutenant governor." The mock election used a ballot full of unlikely (many deceased) iconic candidates like Frank Sinatra, Ernest Hemingway and Karl Malone, and proposed the mock constitutional amendment to the Utah Constitution that would replace lime-flavored gelatin with orange-flavored gelatin as the leading flavor in Utah. So long as the mock election attendee would be at least 18 years old by November, they got a chance to use their ballot to vote on four different technologies proposed by two companies: Electronic System and Software (ES&S) direct record electoral voting system (DRE) and optical scan; and Diebold DRE and optical scan. The first voters were asked to fill out surveys about demographics and their experience using the ballots, and were followed by proctors who would record their observations as they used the machines - data to be used to compare voter perception with observation to make analysis more scientific, according to Cragun. The event was so well-attended, Cragun said the lieutenant governor's office had collected enough voter samples Please see Voters, A-2 4 SECTIONS • 52 PAGES Agendas Automotive Business Classifieds Columns Crossword Editorial Education Events Calendar Letters to the Editor A-8 C-20 B-7 C-14 A-14 C-4 A-15 A-9 C-2 A-15 Legais C-21 Movies Professional Services Restaurant Guide Sports TV Listings Weather C-4 B-10 C-11 B-1 C-10 B-2 ™ParkRecoixL Serving Summit County since 1880 www.parkrecordxom 94937 00001 Ul SCOTT SINB'PARKRECORD John Curtis, from Park City, dressed up in a clown suit on Friday, upholding a Park City Mountain Resort tradition on April Fools' Day. Some people at the resort each April 1 dress as clowns. By PATRICK PARKINSON Of the Record staff After interviewing the three candidates this week, the Summit County Commission next Wednesday expects to announce the replacement for former Summit County Attorney Robert Adkins. Adkins, a Democrat, was recently sworn in as a Third District Court judge. Two Democrats and a Republican applied for his old job. The applicants include Summit County Chief Prosecuting Attorney David Brickey, Joe Tesch, who has a private law firm in Park City, and Anne Cameron, a prosecutor for Salt Lake County. Tesch, 61, is currently litigating cases for two different clients against the county and has sued Summit County several times in the past. Commissioners peppered him with questions about how he would handle his pending cases if appointed. "I've never abandoned a client," Tesch responded. "They have a lot invested in me." If appointed, he would work to resolve his disputes with the county before June. They both involve "big issues [and] big players in Summit County land development," Summit County Commissioner Bob Richer said. "I think we could work something out," Tesch said, adding that, as county attorney, he wouldn't make public appearances with his private-sector clients and would advise commissioners to seek outside counsel on his unresolved litigation with the county. Tesch's Park City practice thrives. But to avoid potential conflicts of interest, which sometimes dogged Adkins when he represented privaiesector clients as county attorney, commissioners want to hire an attorney with no other job. "Do you see Tesch Law closing up?" Richer asked. Adkins' term ends Dec. 31, 2(XKi, and if he is appointed and voters elect Tesch next year, he would cut ties with his firm. "I would ... diminish it to nothing in a reasonable period of time,'1 he said. Tesch, a former chief deputy Utah attorney general, Wasatch County attorney and law professor, criticized Adkins' management skills this week. "One of the things that [Adkins] never did was manage the office." Tesch said. "He was not a manager of men ... I don't think Bob had everybody on the same page." He claims he would have no difficulty working with his former adversaries in the Summit County Attorney's Office, adding, "the question is, would they have trouble working with me?" Most often, it would be up to comPlease see Three, A-2 Eastsiders oppose changing the government South Summit residents speak out during final meeting By PATRICK PARKINSON Of the Record staff A committee studying whether Summit County's form of government should change heard from a group of roughly 30 South Summit residents Thursday who mostly oppose altering the current three-member Summit County Commission. Not surprising when considering that no voting precincts in eastern Summit County supported even studying the issue last November. A ballot proposition to study a change was passed in 2004 by roughly 61 percent of the electorate, mostly from Park City and the Snyderville Basin. Three elected, at-large commissioners have governed Summit County for more than a century, but state law allows voters to expand the commission to five or seven representatives, or replace it with a county council and an elected or appointed executive. A series of public meetings conducted by the committee throughout the county in March, drew mostly meager crowds. But this week several Oakley residents expressed concern about hiring a county manager. Discussion about Summit County beginning to appoint department heads - including the county auditor, treasurer and sheriff - instead of requiring officials run for office every four years, also drew fire from eastsiders. Three-member commissions govern four of the five largest counties in Utah. Voters in Salt Lake County, the largest in the state, opted in 2001 to replace their three commissioners with a nine-member, elected council and mayor. In 2003, voters in neighboring Wasatch County replaced the threemember Wasatch County Commission with a county manager and seven elected councilors. Summit County Commissioner Ken Woolstenhulme, an Oakley Democrat, opposes any change and claims switching governments in other counties caused problems. "You don't accomplish anything," he said. The seven-member study committee, made up of Basin, Park City and East Side residents, expects to meet with officials in other counties before making a recommendation to the Summit County Commission next fall. Commissioners can accept the recommendation and put it on the November ballot, submit their own recommendation or take no action, Woolstenhulme said, adding that voters would have the final say about any proposed change. "I say we leave it like it is," said Oakley resident Roy Potter. Last year, a burgeoning population in the Snyderville Basin allowed West Side voters to sway local elections, evident not only by westsiders who supported studying a change of governance, but also by the defeat of Snyderville Republican Stephen Osguthorpe, who failed to win a single West Side precinct in the race for a seat on the County Commission. Though she lost in eastern Summit County, her West Side support allowed Democratic Summit County Commissioner Sally Elliott to prevail in the race. Summit County Commissioner Bob Richer, a Democrat, says five commissioners could belter represent the county. The days of the "gentleman's agreement," which in the past had unofficially reserved a seat on the commission for a resident from South Summit, North Summit and the West Side, are over, he adds. However, eastsiders reject the notion that more commissioners, elected by smaller districts, would more evenly represent the county. Population dictates the district boundaries and a mixture of residents from each side of the county would not favor the East Side, Woolstenhulme said. "If it's not broke, why fix it?" Oakley resident Gerald Young asked. But those who oppose altering the commission may support full-time, instead of part-time commissioners, or hiring assistants for the representatives. Summit County commissioners are currently paid an annual salary of $50,865. "Right now, we don't need full-time commissioners," Woolstenhulme said. But Oakley resident Dick Jorgenson says a combination of district and at-large county councilors, and a manager, would run Summit County more effectively. "I think strongly we need a county manager." he said. And hiring, instead of electing, county department heads would likely result in county employees with more "knowledge and skill," Jorgenson added. Voters must only choose the county attorney. For more information about the study, contact the committee chair. Park City resident Eric Easterly, at 649-2525. Film Series Giving it the ol heave ho board brings indies to town Organization seeks five new members to help pick movies By MATT JAMES Of the Record staff Interested in having an effect on the Park City arts community? In brining new works to town to put on display for all to see? The Park City Film Series will give some members of the community that opportunity. "Our goal is to broaden the cinematic horizons of Park City," board president Destiny Grose said. The organization is seeking five new members for its board of directors. The openings, said film series executive director Frank Normile, are a result of several board members retiring and several others leaving Park City. The board is the policy-making body for the film series and is responsible for setting the direction of the organization, but the primary qualification for membership, according to Grose, has everything to do with the series' subject matter. "To be on the Park City Film Series board, you should have a fundamental love of movies," Grose said. One of the unofficial responsibilities of film series board members, Grose noted, is to see a variety of films in order to have an opinion about which films should and Please see Film Series, A-2 GRAYSON WEST/PARK RECORD Denise Gray shoveled out her car on Park Avenue Wednesday morning after a late-season storm dumped nearly a foot of snow In Park City. |