OCR Text |
Show THE ZEPHYR JUNE 1990 PAGE 2 page two Jim Stiles Later In the afternoon, the Attorney General called again. "An elector," he If you've got three or more attorneys, whether they explained, "la the same as a voter. as electors; that fits under the statute. qualify as candidates or anything else, they qualify vote. It would not be a yesno So eligibility has nothing to do with It? "No, not for this purpose. who decided to run In other words, we could have had one attorney county-wid- e, In after the moved If of bunch a But filing deadline, the lawyers for county attorney. sense. make It Its one of the any candidate could still run unopposed for election. doesnt dumbest laws Ive ever seen. Id like to find out what It takes to put a straw vote on the ballot a yesno vote but shouldnt our elected officials want to know of confidence. Of course, Its If they have the support of the people they represent? What elected official wants to win an election by a loophole? non-blndl- ng, When our elected representatives write and pass laws, It Is to protect the citizens to and provide for the welfare of our society. Most of the time, these laws work sometimes they dont If a law is written ambiguously, If It doesnt dot every "I" and cross every "t" If It doesnt seal every loophole, then the law falls as an effective tool of society. Grand County Is about to pay the price for sloppy legislation. In this column last month, I noted a newly amended law that allowed citizens to vote "yes" or "no" to a county attorney candidate running for election. The law stipulated that the county must have three or fewer active, licensed attorneys residing within that county. Previously, the law did not place that restriction and Included any county with a population smaller than 10,000; that part of the law was excluded In the last legislative session. To me and to many others, the Intent of the law was clear. If three or fewer lawyers were eligible to file, and only one chose to file, the voters of the county were provided an opportunity to express opposition to that candidate. That's supposed to be the American Way. Even the Soviet Union Is giving up on the idea of unopposed candidates for "The Evil Empire Is going democratic. But not us. election Because the law Is not specific enough, Elaine Coates will be allowed to run unopposed for office, subject to any last minute write-i- n campaign. Here Is what happened: Only two persons In Grand County were active, licensed attorneys who met the Elaine Coates and William Benge. eligibility requirements for the office of county attorney to a submitted William Schultz Mrs. Coates filed. suspension from the Utah Only State Bar that began on January 12. Although his suspension technically ended on April 12, he was required to go before the Bar and request reinstatement This occurred on April 28. Mr. Schultz himself has stated that he was Ineligible to file for the office, since the filing deadline was April 16. A fourth attorney, Sandra Stariey, moved to Grand County last winter, but did not meet the residency requirement to file. When County Clerk Fran Townsend told me that she was required to count all four attorneys, and thus exclude the yesno retention vote from the ballot, I was Incredulous. Fran told me that shed received her Information from Kane County Clerk Kathy Chamberlain, Secretary of the Clerks and Auditors Association of the Utah Association of Counties. This made no sense to me. The UAC Is not a governmental agency with the authority to Interpret laws. I decided to call the State Attorney General Paul Van Damm. He returned my call on May 23 and at first, he was as baffled as I was. He read from the law, "'When there Is only one candidate for county attorney at the general election that has three or fewer electors of the county who are active, licensed, members of the Bar In good standing...' So you're talking about members In good standing and It sounds to me like you probably have fewer than three. I asked him about eligibility of the candidates, and again Van Damm went to the to U.S. an to a licensed have be code, "They citizen, attorney practice law In Utah, who Is In an active member good standing of the Utah Bar, a registered voter In the county In which he Is elected to office, a current resident of the county for at least one year. Those are the requirements for office. But already Van Damm was beginning to see the loophole: "The problem Is, It doesnt distinguish (eligibility) very clearly, and thats the one thing Im a little concerned about I want to clarify that before I give you the final word." 90-d- ay I know no safe depository of the ultimate powers of the society but the people themselves; if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise their control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them, but to inform their discretion. Ralph Waldo Emerson once wrote, "Society everywhere Is In conspiracy against ce the manhood of every one of Its members.... The virtue In most request Is conformity. customs. and names Is Its aversion. It loves not realities and creators, but Self-relian- Sheriffs Search and Someone has sentiments. with those Rescue Team would agree suggested that the town erect a giant sign at both ends that reads: Many from Moab's business community and the Grand County Hikers, Bikers, Crawlers, Rafters, Kayakers, Rock Climbers, Unlcycllsts, Parachutists, Four Wheelers, Children of all ages, Remember this: YOU ARE ULTIMATELY RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR OWN WELL-BEIN- G. the Search and Rescue Team participated In eight such operations. The number had tripled. The Team has already chalked up 13 S and Rs In that following year the first quarter of 1990. Their budget has been strained to the point where the S.O. has started charging victims for services rendered. A few weeks ago, the Sheriff was advised of a missing party of bicyclists on the Sllckrock Bike Trail. In the ensuing search, they found another group of lost bikers who had not yet been missed and reported. Recreatlonlsts are regularly setting out by foot or bicycle without water, maps, or a basic sense of direction. And when they become hopelessly lost and dehydrated, some of these confused souls seem to think that being rescued Is their right and some one elses responsibility. A few even fall to act embarrassed! This Is hardly a new phenomenon. During my bitter-swe- et tenure with the Park us Service at Arches, we rescued our fair share of rock Jocks. Once, a climber found himself rimrocked on a near vertical sandstone fin near Partition Arch. He couldnt go up or down, left or right Where he was trying to go, well... I couldnt tell you. His fingers were clinging desperately to a small nubbin of rock, and his worn out sneakers kept slipping slowing on the sllckrock. Beneath him, two hundred feet of open air greeted the In 1988, over-zealo- now terrified tourist Another hiker had contacted my partner and I about the mans predicament Roger Makl and I grabbed ropes and hardware and ran out the trail. When we saw him, we looked at each other and shook our heads. Are you ok? I yelled. The man who was plastered against the wall could not even turn his head. But he screamed at us In a voice etched with terror, "If you dont save me quick, Im going to be a corpse at the bottom of this canyon We started moving. It wasnt an easy climb and the equipment made It even more cumbersome. I Jumped a large crack and Roger threw me a rope and a harness. Finally, I found a place Just above him where I could belay his weight The stranded hiker, now whimpering, nodded slightly as I gave him Instructions and lowered the rope. Roger arrived, and In a matter of seconds, we began pulling him up a crack. When we finally saw him crest the lip of the crack, his bug-ey- ed sweating, pasty appearance was almost comical, but neither of us laughed. Roger handed him a canteen and I started to coll the rope. "FAR OUT, MAN! the rescued hiker exclaimed. Roger retracted the canteen, and I stopped colling. We stared at this man In amazement "Excuse me? I said. "That was really FAR OUT!" he repeated. "What a rush I We both thought of letting him ve the experience and when I stood up suddenly, Roger really thought I was going to push him off the edge. He stepped between us, blocking my view (thank God) of the goofy, toothy grin this kid now wore all over his face. Do you realize how close you came to dying Just then?" Roger Implored. The kid smirked. "Hey, that's what you guys are here for." I picked up the rope again and envisioned It as a hangman's noose, but colled It Instead and stuffed It In my pack. I gathered up the rest of the gear while Roger took Information from the Human Fly for our case Incident I tried not to listen (It was Just too painful), but when he said he was from Salinas, report I Kansas, couldnt resist Kansas? I repeated. "It's nice and flat In Kansas. I think you should stay there. Banned Idiotically and shook his head. "No "j1 man the rocks are In way, my blood. Roger lost It He grabbed our rescuee by the collar, and In measured but menacing tones snarled, Another stunt like that, moron, and your blood will be on the rocks." "Far out, said the kid..... 1 re-ll- Thomas Jefferson THE CANYON COUNTRY ZEPHYR P.O. BOX 327 MOAB, UTAH 84532 (801) 259-777- 3 JIM STILES, PUBLISHER Trish West production manager contributing writers Lance Christie, Jack Campbell, Ken Davey Lloyd Pierson, Alex Skye, Raquel Shumway Marcy Till, Alan West John Weisheit 1990 The Canyon Country Zephyr all rights reserved The Canyon Country Zephyr is a monthly newspaper, published eleven times a year at Moab, Utah. The opinions expressed herein are not necessarily those of its vendors, advertisers, or even at times of its publishers. Vt: vlsltatlon t0 th Parks has almost doubled In the last decade I1 even exist In 1980. The Sllckrock Bike Trail was still J,ountaln blk,n9 .. handfu' motorizd dirt bikes. But beyond that, there seems to be a unwHHngness by Individuals (I use the term loosely) to take responsibility for their has been diminished as a needed human quality. Its not rnuiiJLl!IPOrtanC?ifl8eW"re,lance k611 a lame, predictable conformity of thought by wnrf.rJm0r! that has many people hopeless. trandd, nd dehydrated, this helplessness carries over In ? mam ay y"-dliving. Tired, dirty hikers and bikers who apparently cant afford 10 taka one ln mk of a local restaurant or food store, Th11 J100? bathroom. splatter the walls, and leave without even making a owner ha ln ct become responsible for that person's clMnllnis. f gng Continued on next page. |