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Show PAGE 4 THE ZEPHYRJAN-FE- B 1994 left unlocked overnight "they" live, not in a town where until just recently door were were left in ignitions. The Year In Review By Ken Davey parents, their neighbors? One night early in the spring, a handful of Moab's young adults decided to drink a little bit and head up to the Slickrock area. They then decided to visit some of the visitors, by driving a through a campsite. When a sleeper arose to voice complaint, he was greeted with punch in Just a few weeks later, we were the proud hosts to a group of youthful Utah revelers, who decided Sand Flats was just the place to celebrate high school and college spring break. Thousands massed in the area, with heavy drinking, drug use, and violence. If it had happened in a dty, it would have been termed a riot. And when they left they didn't exactly dean up after themselves. Is that why we live here, to provide a playground and trash dump for hopped up, spoiled brats from up north? There's a feeling in the air. th mid-Decemb- er, In the world of local politics, it was a year that began with the optimism of more than 20 candidates vying for the brand new county council, a fresh start to remake the government. It ended with a council under siege, surviving recall but almost immediately under heavy attack for a budget that didn't seem to please any interest group. It was a year where people bitched and moaned about the poor quality of education then voted to deny students a modem library, an auditorium, and a place to eat It was a year where everyone and their aunt talked about the need for better health care, yet even now no one can agree on how to pay for it It was a year where senseless violence took the life of a Green River Highway Patrolman, and almost took the life of a pregnant motel derk. It was a year where locals and visitors alike saw the power of the Colorado River, a river that killed four people in just a couple of months. It was a year where film "experts" predicted the entire industry would dry up due to BLM action spurred on by "obstructionists," yet more money came into the local economy from films than every before. It was a year where a local county board conspired with another county to get us into a long and costly lawsuit It was a year where the city council decided to get rid of mayor administrator Tom Stocks, easily. and hire their own person to manage the city, while the mayor gets It was a year of a few lurches forward and some tumbles back, of false starts and missteps and a host of small victories and defeats. And through it all, in 1993, there's been a bad feeling in the air. Dennis Lund was a highway patrolman from Green River. A community activist, a civic volunteer, he had found the perfect place to raise a young family. Then one evening he d chase along Interstate 70, a gas skip out of Thompson. responded to a radio call of a The chase ended just west of Green River, when another patrolman shot out the tires of the automobile, but not before the car's occupants fired shots that hit Lund, killing him. The assailants? Arrested at the scene were two teenage males, one 18 years of age, the other just 16, to vote. runaways from Indiana, killers before they readied the age an attack at a local motel. They of a A few months later, Moab police received report discovered a pregnant motel derk who had been cut with a knife 7 times in an apparent later police arrested a local youth, accused of robbery attempt. The suspect? A few days 18th of his birthday. committing the crime 2 days short violence that most of us, no matter how hard we try, just cannot mindless the of Examples in the places where understand, the kind of stories we're supposed to hear about in big cities, high-spee- It's been, once again, the biggest year ever for tourism, with more national park visitors and more public land users than ever before. It's swelled the cash registers of more downtown businesses than anyone could have predicted just a few short years ago. And yet, there is a but palpable. Some Red Rock feeling of resentment, a mean edge that's hard to identify, the what's biggest problem in Moab? And the Elementary school teachers asked their pupils, answer was, mountain bikers. First graders, and they've already learned to hate mountain bikers. You think they came up with that on their own, or do you think they learned that from their the face. There was a popular song a little more than 20 years ago, that began with the words: "There's something happening here... What it is ain't exactly dear. This was supposed to be a fairly traditional Year End Review of News and Politics in Moab, a account of what happened and who did it. But as I began looking back, from the first county council primary election January 5th through the county budget in the first lines of that song started running through my mind. Something is happening in Moab, something is in the air. And it's not something good. month-by-mon- and keys Can a town the size of Moab survive without adequate emergency medical care? Many of us wonder if we'll be forced to find out over the next year or so. Hospital service and doctors have been a part of the Moab scene from the beginning of the century, but we may close out that century by heading to Grand Junction, or Price, or maybe even Monticello, for the basic emergency services taken for granted in the past. Can a small community marshal its fin anrial resources to provide the facilities we believe we deserve? A rebuilding hospital board is searching as hard as it can to find a way to do that. More and more residents are realizing it's time the carping stopped and the cooperation began. But there is still a tone in the town around hospital discussion, a blame-layin- g tone, an attitude the mistakes of for coffee shop talk than ways that and slights the past are better topics perceived to make the hospital work. There's a feeling in the air. As you observe members of the county council slowly trudging along the streets of downtown Moab through the cold January winds, observe the changes that have taken place from just a year ago. Note the droopy eyes, the haggard jowls, the pasty, greenish-gre- y pallors, the slight nervous ticks, telling symptoms of a less than fulfilling political life, and absent 12 months ago. Back then, there were cheerful smiles, confident eyes, optimistic, upbeat personalities. What happened? Elected in a euphoria of change last February, the council took office with the idea of changing the nature of county government. They would be responsive, where past county commissions were insular. They would concentrate on advanced planning where past governments thought little of the future. They would patiently, reorganize county government into a more efficient, cohesive organization. But it hasn't worked out the way they expected. Instead, they spent their first 10 months in office cleaning up festering county problems, rightly or wrongly trying their hardest to come up with solutions, from the difficulties of managing a massive courthouse construction project to with to need the come with a dealing up county master plan. They faced outraged citizens on every Bide of every possible zoning and planning controversy that came up (and they came up at a pace of 2 to 3 per week.) They put an end to the Book Cliffs Highway, fulfilling a campaign promise and freeing up hundreds of thousands of dollars that otherwise would have come from property taxpayers for the operation of the landfill and emergency funds for the hospital. Their reward? A recall campaign. They submit the first balanced budget in years, and they do it WITHOUT increasing taxes. To pay them bade, we accuse them of having a "secret agenda" when they scale back tvnpe of our pet projects. They put in hundreds of hours for less money than past commissioners, and no health and retirement benefits, and in return they face a constant stream of abuse. Don't expect many of them to run for office again, and don't expect many others of their caliber to step up to take their place. There's too much meanness in the air. step-by-ste- p, City councilman Sakrison has earned the affectionate nickname Friendly Dave. He was reelected overwhelmingly four years ago to the Moab City Council. But that was a different era. By the time you read this, Dave will be out of office. And in many ways he's leaving because WE drove him out. You could always show up at his market, ask him what was going on, tell him what the council was doing right and wrong, and leave after a cup of coffee with a smile. But things have changed. In 1993, Dave was under attack. It wasn't people just telling him he was wrong, it was people telling him how stupid, or dishonest or he was, into corrupt storming |