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Show THE ZEPHYR/FEBRUARY-MARCH wu ering (or uncovering) everything from streakers on graduation day to backcountry toilet etiquette. Thanks guys. 1992: THE CITIZENS REVOLT! In 1990 David Knutson and Manuel Torres won landslide elections as Grand County Commissioners. With their election, The Zephyr observed what it thought was a growing arrogance by its elected leaders. Some citizens began to talk about referendums and revolts. Here's how it played in March 1992 after Knutson informed me he and Torres would no longer participate in Zephyr interviews... ...Didn’t he think the interviews were a public service, I asked? To the contrary Dave replied that they were a detriment to the citizens. He believed that the 1990 election gave them a mandate to run the county as they saw fit. Annoying ‘media’ like the Zephyr merely confused the voters and made their jobs tougher. So I asked, did he think we should just pack up and go home, let them ‘do their job’ and check back in 1994? Always the candid commissioner, David grinned and said, ‘Something like that.’ What can be done? A possible solution lies within the Utah State Constitution. The law provides specific ways of re-structuring local government to make it more responsive to the citizens it serves. And the citizens have the opportunity to decide which re-structuring options suit their needs best. It is the best example I have seen of government BY the people. Incredibly, Moab and Grand County citizens did it again. For the second time in four years, a petition drive was created. Enough names were obtained to put the issue to a vote: Did Grand County want to scrap its current three-person county commission in favor of a seven-person county council? After a long and hard-fought campaign, the referendum won with 56% of the vote. The next February a special election was held to fill the seven new county council spaces. It felt like the dawning of a new day. It proved later to be our high water mark. And years later, I found myself missing Dave Knutson’s candor, even if ] thought he was wrong. 1993: CHICKEN LITTLE WAS RIGHT (“Incoming!!!’”) From the June 1993 issue... The United States Army wants to launch missiles from Green River and drop their boosters over Canyonlands near Hatch Point, scenic helicopter flights have started opera- tion on both ends of town, the state office is about to lease the old airport to a company that will provide...guess what...more scenic flights. You just can’t have too many scenic flights over the canyon country. Yes you can. Where did I put my Stinger Missile Launcher?” Eventually, the Army backed off, helicopters were restricted and the old airport is still just sitting out there crumbling. Proof that good things could still happen in Mob, Utah in 1993. 1993: THE RECALL ELECTION From the December 1993 issue... All six council members who faced recall were retained, with an average 60/40 margin of victory...It must now make hard decisions on the future of the hospital, planning and zoning, possible consolidation of some city and county services, the threat of everincreasing property taxes, and a community that seems to be growing and changing at a speed that hasn’t been seen since the uranium days. And that broader concern, uncontrolled and unlimited growth, is the council's great- est challenge. Can the council...WILL it be able to help maintain the small-town values that make Moab such a special place? Is it willing to take action to keep north and south Highway 191 from turning into another ‘Strip’ of fast-food chains and modular motels? Is it willing to protect home-grown businesses from invading Wal-Marts? Does the council have the vision or even the right to shape Grand County’s future in such a way?” 1993: TRAM RIDE TO GLORY? From the November 1993 issue. : You say exploding tourism, nine new motels, a McDonald’s, JB’s and a water slide EVEN THEN... BEGGING FOR AD DOLLARS... _ In the early 1990s, struggling to keep The Zephyr afloat, | was forced to humiliate myself when local rich guy Will Petty offered to take out a full page ad if I would allow myself to be photographed wearing LYCRA and publish have left you ina state of shock? You haven’t seen anything yet. The Portal Recreation Area, Inc. plans to build a 2200 foot aerial tram to the top of the sandstone cliffs just south of the Colorado River that will forever alter that spectacular view, and it doesn’t appear there is a thing anyone can do to stop it. According to the business document, ‘initial plans call for the 2,200 foot low profile quad chairlift, a paved parking lot, giftshop and snackbar facilities, amphitheater and stage, trails, shaded look-out points, and night time illumination of the majestic red rock rims. Hey! I know...let’s move the water slide from the east side of town to the west, right along side the chairlift. You can take the tram up, grab a bite at the snack bar, take in the view of the Atlas tailings pond from the gazebo, and ride a wave down. More and more, we're looking like a town for the 21st century, aren’t we? the image in the next issue. It was a mortifying experience that I never quite recovered from. 1992: MOAB MOTEL MANIA In the winter of 1991-92, seven new motels were built, almost overnight it seemed. Old landmarks like the Canyonlands Cafe vanished in a day. It was a watershed moment for Moab...we’ve been tearing down and bulldozing under ever since. 1993: THE NEW COUNCIL IS ELECTED From the March 1993 issue... A year ago I ran an agitated diatribe about the latest shenanigans of the Grand County Commission...which ultimately led to mutiny by the general public. What followed is the stuff of political legend. From the proverbial straw came the Citizens for Better Government, a proposal to change our government, a spirited debate and then a vote by the people. A frazzled County Clerk Fran Townsend proceeded to put the mechanics in motion to fulfill the mandate set by the people. We endured the primary, culled the number of candidates from 24 to 14. And finally, on February 9, we completed our long journey with the election of the first Grand County Council. The new councilmen are: Peter Haney, John Hartley, Charlie Peterson, Ken Ballantyne, Paul Menard, Bill Hedden and John Maynard. With their election came the death of the Book Cliffs Highway. The road had a lot of public support in 1989 when it was first proposed. But four years later, public opinion had shifted as Grand County citizens wondered if there weren't better ways to spend the mineral lease monies. The road board insisted that the funds could only be used for roads and warned that the revenues would be lost completely if the new council tampered with it. The council tampered with it anyway. The project was killed and the mineral lease funds diverted to other areas of need in Grand County. Before its “death” the Special Services Road District spent almost $500,000 on the Book Cliffs Road. Creamer & Noble were paid handsomely for its engineering work ona road that would never be built. 1993: EASTER MADNESS...MADNESS! From the May 1993 issue... “New West Blues” I had been doing so well. After last spring's overwhelming tourist onslaught, I was determined to improve my attitude. It was time to put an end to all those dismal apocalyptic editorials about the end of civilization as we know it. After all, I convinced myself, this madness only lasts six to eight weeks. I could survive that. -. And then I was. run over...flattened...in mid-Bliss by Easter Weekend. I have never seen anything like it in my life. It surpassed anything anyone in this town has ever seen. In spite of my pledge to the contrary, do you know what we all witnessed? - Yes, that’s exactly right. It really WAS the end of civilization as we know it. Did I once complain about Don Holyoak’s cows? How We Looked in 1989... Some Familiar Faces for SOME of us. (here and on the following pages...who do you recognize?) Eventually, the tram went broke. It was bought up for pennies on the dollar and the new own- ers went broke as well. Finally, The Nature Conservancy bought the property and removed the tram altogether. Shocking good news! at |