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Show iSUUiVAUViV. 'AiWAU'iV.ViAVi the people of Grand County and a private interest all at the same time. Call it coincidence If you will, but Bart, Ray, and Dale happen to be the only members of the Council whose seats are not up for election this year. But I digress... there's a better way to find out what's going on with local finances than my simplistic summary. In 199?, the voters of Grand government County approved a new form of government Article II, Section 15 of the charter of the new form of county government states: waste disposal came down ten years despite bickering between City age-ol- d happen. The reason I say "City Manager" and "County Administrator", instead of "Moab City" andGrand County", is that the best hope for common sense now is if we can remove the politics from this issue. What we need is a new dump; what we don't need is more whining about double taxation, unfair rates or tip fees, excessive collection charges, or excessive engineering estimates. I might add that what we also don't need is a Gty Dump and a County Dump. If I were king, we would also have convenient recycling and no fees for anyone who delivers garbage to the dump. Recycling, because it's necessary, even though not in remote locations like Moab; and no fees because I think people who take garbage to a dump ought not be charged more than those who throw it out the window. I know it's very hard to determine, but the fair way to charge for the dump is to calculate how much waste is generated by each household, each apartment or motel, each restaurant or store, each hospital or national park, etc. and then charge appropriately regardless of the method of collection or delivery. Charging for using the dump will cause a worse result than charging for trash generated. And did I mention a credit for those who recycle or generate less garbage? I didn't? well-manag- The County Council has been in operation now for over three years and has never yet met this requirement. What is meant by "...County financial information?" Certainly Grand County's own collecting and spending, but what about the City? What about the School District? They exist within Grand County and since the County Treasurer collects property taxes and since most of the property taxes are assessed for the benefit of the School District, one might argue that "County financial information" ought to include all property taxes and how they're spent. I'm sure the School District would argue to the contrary. This new requirement to "compile., summarize., and post" Grand County financial information is the law. ' It is just as much a legal requirement as an annual audit, etc. Like other approval of vouchers, certification of tax rates, of new the recall of Council form of and removal government (for example, provisions members is one that I remember) it may be unique, it may be controversial, but it is THE LAW. At one time the original Council trial to draft a simplified report form, but it never got the job done. It's time for the County to start complying with this particular law. A final comment. Notice that in the interest of simplicity I excluded capital projects from City and County budget numbers because unlike the School District, they're not building much this year even though we're still paying for previous projects. Just bear in mind that Grand County residents are carrying around more debt than the taxed payers of any other Utah county. A lot more. Actually, I think this is why the WALU ads are so incomprehensible ani misleading-they'- ve mixed up annual operating expenses with capital spending, debt service, balances carried forward, etc. In any event, a better way for the public to understand this stuff is for local government to provide it in a regular, consistent, and understandable format; so that citizens don't have to try to interpret WALU ads or wade through this column. per-capi- d Solid Waste Special Service District, it now appears that we're going to get a new garbage dump... well, someday. The City Manager, the County Administrator, and the former chair of the District all seem to think that it's for the best and that it will now ...The Council shall provide for County financial information to be compiled and summarized on a quarterly or more frequent basis., and such financial information shall be promptly posted at the County Courthouse. truth-in-taxatio- ago-an- and County over who best runs the dump ..and despite a shaky beginning for the cost-effecti- ed ve PLANNING Sc ZONING (conk) Effective April 26, Moab City terminated the employment of its planner, Rob Katzenson. Terminating public employees is a serious business, one that can have lengthy and difficult consequences. I don't know why Rob was terminated and we may never know the whole story, but the Moab rumor mill has been grinding for n, ta months. I was once told by an acquaintance, a county commissioner from Jackson (Teton County), Wyoming, that speculation in land was the worst thing that could happen to a county. Some peoples fortunes are enhanced for no beneficial purpose, while others find they can no longer afford to live there. Often, those who profit the most don't even reside locally. Good planning for the future is replaced by bad planning for greed. Property taxes go all out of whack (and mostly up). I have no reason to associate Rob with land speculation except that he was Moab's mode. Maybe he was just planner and Moab is in a in the wrong place at the wrong time and is merely a scapegoat for those around him; I honestly don't know and don't want to know. But, it's not enough that those in now in Moab, those in authority have to avoid authority be above reproach-rig- ht even the hint or appearance of wrongdoing, or participation in It's examine time all who have to probably an appropriate private development. authority over growth and development around here: elected officials, hired employees, and members of appointed boards like planning and zoning. I can think of one thing worse than land speculation: scandalous land speculation. terribly-vulnerab- le high-grow- th conflict-of-intere- WASHINGTON, DC, 34 YEARS LATER Yes, it's true; Bart and Ray weren't the only ones who went to DC this spring. After hearing that they actually went back to Capitol Hill to support the HansenHatchBennett wilderness bills, I decided to travel there myself; primarily to offset the purpose cf their visit I did some real lobbying, bumped into Ted Kennedy in the hallway, and actually observed Congressman Hansen in full glory. I can now say that (1) I know Scott Groene and (2) I'm no Scott Greene. A short anecdote: Yes, it has been 34 years since I visited DC. No, crime isn't so bad that you can't go for a morning run along the Mall, even though it was more like a test in acquired jaywalking prowess than a run. But can hundreds of other runners be wrong? So I join them, running first past the cherry blossom-festoonSupreme Court, the Library of Congress, the House office buildings, and the Capitol Itself. Then past the Smithsonian; around the south side of the Washington Monument; and a whole platoon of Marines in shorts running by in the other direction, singing bawdy songs. On I run, down the Reflecting Pool (just as happy as Forrest Gump), round the Lincoln Memorial, and oh, there's the Vietnam Veterans' Memorial. Why not take a quick look while I'm here? The sign says no runners, but doesn't say you can't be dripping sweat, so I walk down the ramp...and my innocent, morning turns dark. I've heard about this before; others have sunshiny, marble-whit- e described it; but I don't know what to say except that three weeks later, while typing be the pollen. I walked back up into the this paragraph, I have tears in my eyes-m- ust I'll long sunlight, ran past the White House and back past the Capitol again-b- ut remember the run for only one reason: the abrupt, dark, mood change of the Vietnam Veterans' Memorial. sub-committ-ee st, THE LAST WORD On rereading, this column seems to have a decidedly negative tone. I guess I just can't speak out on local government without sounding negative. Twenty years ago, Edward Abbey said: Moab, Utah: A mean ugty little town run by little ugly mean people. ed kind) SOLID WASTE (or at least, the fact Grand County, along with most that the news. some Despite good Finally, the federal mandate on solid flats when sand in the rural counties, stuck its head non-ndioacti- ve Maybe we need to ask ourselves if local government is getting any better as Moab grows up. One thing that I've learned is that government doesn't do things very well. It can regulate, it can provide essential services (often less efficiently than private providers), it can initiate or act as a catalyst for new or improved ideas, but it just doesn't do stuff very well. And a foiling we have in Moab is that we can't distinguish between those we elect to represent our ideals and those we hire or appoint to actually do things. We need to distinguish between electing people who will make sure stuff gets done and electing people who will try to do it themselves. Charlie Peterson FAMOUS UAIK-DO- s IN HISTORY: THIS MONTH... CARMEN MIRANDA "... :'i. V b : VIDAL SASSOON-TRAINE- D STYLISTCOLORIST FIVE) i a ' yi t : :i : |