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Show I WEEKLY REFLEX-DA- NEWS JOURNAL, VIS NORTH Cautions Cities DAVIS LEADER, DECEMBER About Withdrawing of the costs and solvency of the Social Security program, Others withdrew because they had access to a retirement system. Are employee concerns about the future of Social Security justified? Mr. Herricks answer was a strong I dont think so. back into the economy. I DONT think there is any probability that Congress will let the program fail. There has been some talk among lawmakers about increasing the tax rates, but that decision is based on the percentage of wage increases in effect throughout the country, Mr. Herrick explained. agency IF YOU want to replace Social Security Mr. Herrick cautioned. that can comare to the benefits. is nothing Exactly 30 years have passed since Congress to cities agreed to pass on Social and towns nationwide. for. of BUT WHAT about the cities who have decided to Youth Achievement Home Proposed For North Davis, Weber By TOM BUSSELBERG - A FARMINGTON juvenile delinquent treatment home is being proposed for north Davis or Weber county. sed non family-ba- THE PROJECT was explained to area mayors in their monthly meeting and includes placing five youth, ages in a house under direction of a married couple professionalwith college trainly trained ing and updating through seminars. Ruth Knight, from the state Division of Community Services, and George and Elaine Wassel, who operate a home in Richmond, Cache County, with the other in the state located in Cedar City, outlined procedures for locating such a facility. fre-qe- nt MICKELSEN . FARMINGTON With little hesitation, the county commission Tuesday signed a resolution authorizing the use of $64 million in industrial revenue g bonds for a resource recovery facility in north Davis County. i garbage-burnin- plant who existing and future solid waste disposal problems asked the commission to authorize the bonds and get the project off the ground. Will Jefferies, executive director of the Wasatch Front Regional Council, the organization most responsible for investigating resource recovery, said the plant, itself, will cost only $40 million. PLANNERS of the resource recovery believe the facility may be the answer to AN ADDITIONAL $24 million is needed to cover reserve funding and interest payments. Deputy County Attorney Jerry Hess told commissioners their signed resolution allows the bonding process to get started. Its merely a first step, he said. THERE IS some concern," the attorney said. that there will be problems if it (resolution) is not completed by the first of the year. Atty. Hess was referring to congressional legislation which, if approved, may entirely wipe out the industrial revenue bonding process. Congress is reconsidering the process due to speculation that some larger businesses may be abusing the program. THE ATTORNEY told Com. Glen Saunders and Ernest Eberhard that he studied the contents of the resolution carefuUy and found no problems. He said the estimated cost of the project is somewhat less than expected and noted that the resolution calls only for an estimate of the cost of the resource recovery plant. COM. EBERHARD told reporters later that Davis County is the only governmental entity in the state thats in the situation we are in. We dont have any more land, he said, for solid waste disposal. the bond resolution, Davis County is protected against certain funding problems. The county is not responsible for repayment of any part of the bonds. Atty. Hess said. IN SIGNING Hath Act Hit Note: James R. Ecdes a former federal career employee has written a book titled, The Hatch Act and the American Bureaucracy, published in July 1981, by Vantage Press, Inc., New York. It is the most complete book written on the Hatch Act. Mr. Ecdes, a graduate of B YU and the University of Washington, is a resident of Kaysville. Editors By JAMES R. ECCLES Many citizens know little or nothing about our political laws. If some political laws imperceptibly affect most citizens then who cares? Does the general public have an interest when the law denies a group of citizens their full political rights? HE IS violating the law, affirmed the attorney for the personnel office. No, I think he is all right in this situation. I want to give the employees the broadest leeway." The personnel chief glanced around the conference table for support from subordinates. LET HIM run; others are. Someone responded to the puzzle. Put him on leave without pay. No, fire him. THIS VERBAL exchange though fictional, condenses the events that actually transpired. Whether or not a Utah state public employee was violating the law by running for mayor in a city election is a question that was not settled in the last November election nor since passage of Utah's little Hatch in 1965. In September 1981, Utah Act," state Job Services career advised by his employee Robert G. Austad, was in the he run could chief that Layton city personnel 6 mayoralty race. He filed for the October primary. in the November run He received enough votes to election against the incumbent mayor. A FEW days before the primary, Austad was warned that he could not run for election in November. He must withdraw orelse take leave without pay and if elected he must continue in that employment status. The attorney for the Employment Security department insisted that if Austad serves as an elected official he will be fired. The day after Austad qualified in the primary election he was placed on leave without pay. He with- drew from the Layton city mayorality race. His job was in jeopardy. to the conclusion that he would have to resign his job He had come unless he withdrew or be fired. BY THE controverys raised, one would think that this was the first time Austad or any other state public employee had filed for elective office; sort of a testing of the state law. Quite the contrary. Robert Austad, a counselor with the Layton Job Services of theUtah department of Employment Security, filed for Layton councilman in the 1975 election. He won a four-yeterm and served a was he advised term. In 1979, by his personnel office that no officer can run for any political office." Austad did not run for four-ye- ar ar on. 1977, Gar Elison, director of the Policy and Planning division for the Social Services department, filed for the mayorality election in Kaysville city. He won and served four years. In 1981, he filed for and, at the time, no one said, "withdraw or be fired. Glen L. Budge, career employee with the division of Rehabilitation of the Utah State Education Office, LN was elected councilman for East Layton city in 1976. He served until East Layton merged with Layton in 1980. Budge filed for Layton councilman in the same 1981 election with Austad. No one, at the time, warned him. OFFICIALS in Woods Cross, West Bountiful and West Point could not be reached for comment on the Social Security issue. There remains some question as to whether or not they will consider withdrawal. South Weber, have not discussed the possibility of withdrawal from the program in their city council meetings. 12-1- By MARK D. THE ACTION surprised a number of municipal employees, including City Administrator Kenner Killpack who had earlier presented the council with withdrawal from an employee petition-requestin- g the program. All but one employee had signed the petition. "stick with the system? What are their reasons? Several, including Syracuse, Farmington and Security benefits A $1 HE SAID he and the police chief have mentioned the possibility of withdrawal from Social Security to city officials, but, as yet, no concrete action has been taken. Centerville officials dropped the issue of Social Security withdvawal completely at a recent council meeting when only one of three councilmen spoke out in favor of the idea. AT THIS point, what we really want to do is to put our efforts into a retirement with the state, she said. She said employees feel that state retirement is a better way to go. Many workers, she explained, felt they were paying into Social Security with no guarantee that they were going to get anything out of it. IT WAS in 1951, in the midst of the Korean War and the Harry S. Truman Administration, that federal lawmakers approved legislation enabling communities and their employees to be covered by a federal benefit package. Now, 30 years later, the cities will have to decide if they want to give the system back to the government. The answer, at this point, is up in the air. stay in the program? Mr. Herrick pointed out several advantages. First of all, employees who remain faithful to Social Security will receive more benefits than they pay better. Heights City Recorder Belva Provost said her city looked into alternative retirement and benefit plans very thoroughly before considering dropping out of Social Security. you can- There will be much Fruit OF EACH dollar paid out by employees, 98.7 cents goes toward paying benefits, he said. He said the amount the agency pays for administrative operations is a fantastic cost figure. If employees are looking at something to replace it (Social Security), they had better consider carefully what they can get and how much it (an alternative plan) will cost. BUT WHY should the cities Davis OK: return costs. not do it, MR. BARBER did say, however, that Syracuse pays out $1 ,600 a month, or nearly $20,000 each year for Social Security benefits. Only the police and three maintenance workers, he said, have access to a city retirement plan. Other employees do not. BUT THE employees, he concluded, still feel that if their money is invested in another system their has never spent more than two percent on administrative IF THE CITIES who have applied for withdrawal eventually drop out of the system, Mr. Herrick said the move probably wont have a real significant effect" on the Social Security program. He said as people previously included in the system-retire, their benefits will be less. And, after five years without contributing to the system, many will lose out completely. due to the compehensive nature Social Security program back in order. Hardy added. He, too, admitted that Bountiful has no definite alternative pension plan in mind for employees. He said the city will be looking at the success of benefit plans adopted by Orem and Sandy cities after their withdrawal. HE POINTS out that there is even an inflation factor figured into Social Security checks. And, Social Security benefits are never taxable. But is all the money paid into the system being used for Social Security? Mr. Herrick said he has been with the SSA for over 20 years and said the HE SAID many of those on Social Security are concerned that their benefits will be cut, but that has not happened. Congress has decided to cut the minimum $121 a month benefit by January, 1982. The cut, Mr. Herrick said, will apply only to those people who start on Social Security next year. Workers who are currently receiving the benefit will continue to get their money. FARMINGTON Mayor E.T. Johnson said the city has not discussed the issue and has no plans to discuss it at any future meetings. In Syracuse, City Administrator Phil Barber said no official action has been taken by the council. Continued FOURTH, when a person reaches 65, he or she is covered by Medicare insurance which pays for hospital service, plus doctor and surgical bills. Another advantage, according to Mr. Herrick, is that the coverage is portable. People who move from company to company often lose retirement benefits accumulated over the years. Not so in Social Security, said Herrick, where benefits carry over from place to place. HE SAID It isnt conceivable for Congress to allow a program to fail that, each month, funnels billions of dollars back into the economy. If you look at the benefits being paid out by the government each month, he said, Social Security is SECONDLY, 7 Cities Consider Withdrawing the program, employees have an alternative income source which may be transferred over to their spouse or any children under 16 in the event they die. Third, is the systems disability clause, which also allows the workers wife and children to collect benefits if the employee is injured or unable to work. Continued pumping $12,000,000,053 30, 1981 , THEY INCLUDE careful screening of potential areas with input asked from all conand periodic evalua- cerned tions by courts, schools, parents, social workers and an advisory committee. "The whole program is to change (their) behavior, to learn skills and improve academically, Mr. Wassel said, noting of the couples S boys all (were) doing poorly in school work. We work closely with the schools in remediating problems." THEY OFTEN have problems with social skills, as well, he said, and may not be able to easily interact with others. p Maintenance and-o- r skills are taught to help the self-hel- THERE HAVE ing in local youngsters become "worthwhile, contributing citizens." Noting theres always concern where we go to say were going to open a house for teenage delinquents there are controls to ensure the best interests are met. Those admitted are tested and arent ones who "just committed murder" or such crimes, it was emphasized. MRS. WASSEL said youngsters involved are often flunking classes or breaking curfew. Generally theyre not being supervised and that could get them in a great deal of trouble. We provide supervision," she emphasized, noting its often more extensive than that given the neighbors kids down the street. Mrs. Knight said the d MR. WASSEL said those involved must be enrolled in greatest need is for 5 year olds in Davis and Weber counties but are looking primarily in north Davis County for a facility. vocational or academic THE PROGRAM is centerd in Boys Town, Neb., where 40 such homes have been constructed in a subdivision. One official from Weber State College with long experi courses and the another in prelaw at USU. The third is in a local management position at a fast foods chain while another was admitted to a drug rehabilitation program. 14-1- IT A VERY selective, program. Often if we look at the parents we can see why the kids are in trouble. We teach them how to function in a family atmosphere and hopefully break the (delinquent) pattern. Those with arson and sexual problems are not included, for instance. family-base- ence in juvenille problems, said, I had a pretty dismal view of corrections. I'm excited theyre doing something to turn children around. Theyre local children it's fantastic." Weber State College will help oversee the program. schools and he said two of the last five boys in the Richmond home have graduated from high school with one enrolled in and biology Heritage New Years A New Years Eve CLEARFIELD party will be held Dec. 31 at the Heritage Senior Citizen's Center. 562 S. 1000 E.. Clearfield, beginning at 2 p.m. those interested senior citizens, according to a spokeswoman for the center. Senior citizens are urged to make reservations for the party as soon as possible by The party will conclude calling 773-706- FOOD AND fun" will be available to by 5 p.m. Need Volunteers The Heritage senior CLEARFIELD citizen's center in Clearfield is looking for volunteers. ACCORDING to a spokeswoman for the center, there are several areas of interest which need some special attention." been other state employees serv- elective offices. In 1973, Keith N. Oram, then director of Social Services District 2A, division of Family Services, was elected mayor of Riverdale, Weber county. He served four years. Gerald V. (Gary) Bush, another Employment Security employee, was elected Clinton mayor in Davis county in 1975, and again in 1977. There have been a few others but no deluge of public employees has washed over the local political arena. Who cares about these bizarre events except the state employee who almost lost his job, and those who administer the law either reluctantly or by a toss of a coin? Is there a problem when a state career or merit system employee becomes a candidate in a campaign for elective office? Why is there a law that restrains public employees from the political process? HISTORY SHALL judge or should it? Prior to 1883, the bawdy Spoils system had seduced American politics. The Spoils system was a political party allure that gave a reward of a bureaucratic job for political support. Should the party be voted from office then a worker so rewarded lost his job. As a technique of public administration Spoils proved inefficient and corrupt. It had one good side effect. The political party romance with patronage strengthened the party organization. non-partis- The center is especially interested in n locating people who will work with as w 'lll as the elderly at the center. chil-die- INTF.RESTED to call Carol, at residents are encouraged 773-706- Theodore Roosevelt who became President in 1901, poured the foundation for the modern federal bureaucracy. Under Roosevelt the first position-classificati- plan was devised for merit employees, and the merit system was extended over 60 percent of the federal jobs. WITH SPOILS rampant in local governments, Roosevelt did not want the public employees tainted. In 1907, he had the civil service rules amended to include the following prohibition: a man in the classified service, while retainhis ing right to vote as he pleases and to express privately his opinions on all political subjects, should not take any active part in political management or in political campaigns. . . "... non-partis- IN 1883, President James R. Garfield was assissin ated by a deranged disappointed office seeker. The deed encouraged passage of the Civil Service Act of 1883. Reform had long been sought. This law created Civil Service Commission, prothe vided competitive examinations for hiring public employees, and tenure of office based on merit of performance. This is the merit system or career service in public employment. three-memb- er THIS BECAME Rule I. It belonged to the Civil Service Commission to enforce the rules on classified or merit employees. From thousands of cases adjudicated under Rule I, the Commission over the years developed rules that specified the political activity public employees could not engage in. IN 1939, Rule I became public law. The Congress passed an act, signed into law, Aug. 2, 1939, entitled, "An act to prevent pernicious political activity." There were several sections; section 9 (a) that came under prolonged and caustic debate, read: No officer or employee of the executive branch of the Federal Government. . . shall take an active part in political management or in political campaigns. All such persons shall retain the right to vote as they may choose and to express their opinions on ail political subjects. THE PRESIDENT, Vice President, and all policymaking officials are exempt. Violation of the law brings dismissal. |