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Show PAGE 4 THE ZEPHYR APRIL 1993 Facts & of the community, the quality of life we have here, the quality understanding that economic base think and plan ahead. that draws a million visitors a year, can be lost if we don't The arguments for further promotion are strong. Las Vegas, Hawaii, Colorado, most tourist numbers, because you can never be too areas continue to lure visitors despite the car or Supersaver coach seats and kids into memorable to people planning on packing the dollars into their wallet But there are other possible avenues erf promotion beyond passing out brochures and hosting familiarization tours, including projects to preserve and protect the resources. The council has taken a big step toward finding some of those solutions with the decision to Then they took a big step backward at their open up the discussion with the questionnaire. March 18 meeting. The public was invited to come and give their views to the council. One local restaurant owner, Dick Rose, did so, stating he did not like a $100,000 commitment to the proposed Green River golf course. Dick Rose is not an example of a public relations genius. And if you point out to him that it's easier to attract flies with honey than vinegar, he will stare at you for a second or two, then question your intelligence for wanting to attract flies in the first record-breaki- Opinions a summary of the month's news by Ken Davey ng place. But despite Rose's obvious and inability to start a new career as a that many in town have voiced, at a number erf facilitator, he expressed a sentiment public meetings. And instead erf listening to him, board members reacted defensively, with one board member actually castigating him for daring to raise the question at a meeting where the board encouraged people to raise questions. In one of the more bizarre public meeting occurrences in a county with typically bizarre meetings, that board member criticized Rose for not, months ago, commenting on a golf course feasibility study that has not yet been completed, much less read by the Travel Council. One step forward, one step back. At least the Travel Coundl is not moving in the wrong direction. self-admitt- ed FACT The Grand County Travel Council has solicited the opinions of local residents on what the priorities and programs of the council should be. The group sent out hundreds of surveys, asking local businesses questions pertaining to promotion of tourism and ways to improve it. Hie council is funded by transient room tax TRTL paid by guests at area motels and other overnight accommodations. By state law, the money is to be spent on tourism promotion and maintenance erf visitor facilities. "bring-us-togeth- er OPINION in Moab the last few years, the Travel Council is now one of bodies wealthiest the around, with annual TRT revenues that by next year should government approach half a million dollars, though the ability to spend it is subject to county council approval That's more than the hospital gets from property tax, and it's dose to what local landowners pay into the county general fund, so it's not surprising that everyone and their unde has gone to the .travel council with a jim dandy way to spend it. Lucky Morse is the Travel Coundl chairman, taking over at the beginning of this year. He e came to Moab a few years back to manage the Utah Power and Light office here, a job and a half itself, trying to fit an explosion of electrical power demand on to a system that lacks even a basic backup system. And Morse also agreed to take on community service as well, seeking and accepting an appointment to the Travel Council Board a year ago. I Iis timing was less than impeccable; his term began just a short time before the county commissioners decided to take the bull by the tail and pick their own Travel Council director, over the unanimous objection of the board. In response, some good and honest board members dodded to hand in their resignations. Other good and honest board members, including Morse, decided to hang in there, to see what can be done to ferret some good out of a bad situation. As it turned out, not a lot of good did come out of it. The visitor center staff is demoralized, the office is in shambles, promotion campaigns routinely authorized in recent years went by the boards, and the Travel Council, cast in the light of the enemy before both the Chamber of Commerce and the Gty of Moab, found itself tossed out of its building, with no place to go. A recommendation by the council to hire another director is a step toward ending some of those problems, but the best of the board realized even that move, necessary stopgap that it is, doesn't address a gnawing feeling that the work of the council is not quite in sync with where the town is going. The nature of tourism here has changed. Instead of an area that attracted the odd drive enthusiasts and the equally odd fans of the high desert who included Arches and vacation swings, we now attract the totally Canyonlands in their bizarre urban residents who stream down from the Wasatch Front or Colorado for a chance to pedal up canyons even wild sheep, not the brightest of beasts, realize are no place for those with a sense of energy conservation and relaxing quality time. We have a boom going on, and the effects it will have on the landscape, on the human infrastructure, on the social fabric of the community, have never been seriously looked at by any government body. Instead we get proposals, projects, requests for funds. The Travel Council decided to step back and look at their own situation. They sent out questionnaires to a list of tourist businesses. What kind of promotion do we need? And the results dribbling back in are surprising. For much of the sentiment expressed, by people who in the main have a financial stake in attracting more visitors, was not so much how we should spend money to promote, but WHETHER we should, or whether much of that money should go toward education of the visitors we have, rather than trying to attract more. Ask the organizers erf the Jeep Safari and the Fat Tire Festival if they want their events to grow even larger, and you'll be told no, we're big enough, maybe too big, as it is. Ask the Rim Rock Roadrunners if they want help in doubling the size of the Canyonlands Half Marathon next year, and they'll politely say no thanks. A range erf individuals, both longtime residents and newcomers, are questioning the precept that the more people streaming south on 191 the better. Is that sentiment being driven by environmentalism? Undeniably, some of it is, but not a narrow definition of environmentalism that excludes humans from the equation, but a broader By virtue of the visitor boom full-tim- four-whe- el FACT The Board of Education and Grand County teachers are now getting prepared to begin contract negotiations, with the aim of reaching a settlement as early as possible, ensuring that the school year beginning in August is not disrupted. OPINION Grand County teachers remain among foe lowest paid in foe state, and Utah teachers remain among the lowest paid in the nation. And like everyone else, they have to look out for the interests of themselves and their families. On foe one hand there are benefits, real and concrete, to living in Moab: the outdoors, foe relative safety and insulation from urban ills, the small town atmosphere that contrasts so favorably to foe alienated crush of dty life. But on the other hand, they have growing families to support amid a rising cost of local living, they have medical and dental bills, and expensive college educations for their children to plan, and that takes money. They can't afford to ignore foe fact that other localities, many as nice as Moab, are willing to pay more for talented and caring teachers. There are some excellent teachers in Moab, who have shown year after year a concern for development of the youngsters entrusted to their care, be they first graders or high school seniors. And we run the risk of losing those community assets if we can't come up with a way of making their time and commitment more financially lucrative. There are also some teachers in town who are less than adequate. There is no more valid reason to OPPOSE pay increases for teachers than the fact that some of them aren't worth their current salaries, much less a raise. And there is no more valid reason for teachers to stop caring, to stop trying, than the fact that others in their profession don't even try to work half as hard, will as much or more. yet get paid The county is about to spend cm a construction program to replace inadequate school buildings. The school district will raise and spend hundreds of thousands more for the most technologically advanced equipment, to give Grand County students a chance to compete, if not a head of, at least equally with, others graduating from richer communities. But as the high school principal points out to anyone who will listen, the best brick and mortar, the newest texts, all the high-tec- h tools in the world, aren't worth foe sales tax paid on them without a dedicated, talented, and enthusiastic corps erf teachers. So what do we do? The positive outlook by most teachers and administrators that has characterized the current school year, an outlook that has been reflected in better academic performance throughout the year, will die on the vine unless something is done. So how about.... Raising school district property taxes by $100,000 or so per year for foe next three years. That's maybe 40 bucks per year for a household living in a home valued around $70,000. Approaching the county government and local businesses for aHdiHnnal contributions of about $50,000 for each and every one of those years. Assigning every dollar of that cash to increased teachers salaries, resulting in, over foe period, a pay increase for each teacher erf about $6,000, above and beyond step and grade raises they otherwise qualify for. And firing and replacing 10 percent of the teachers who faU at the bottom of the talent pod, rega ess of seniority, regardless of assignments, regardless of any consideration outside erf their classroom performance. By agreeing to that, Grand County residents will show their commitment to improving the overall education in the district in the most important way they can, by shelling out the bucks, y a8recmg to it, teachers show their commitment to erf improving not only the ability mega-millio- ns Theres no wai you're a god, Wayne. KA WMln Warren. AAOVNT-A-I- 391 S. 259-742- 3 I fe-Arf- e"- SIKET0UK4 N main St. moab, Utah or 800-451-11- 33 featuring: Salsa Slingshot o Bontrager Fat Chance Trek a Scott |