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Show TT TO O a y new ironim Mow Albapiinit lit? Page A2 Thursday, April 23, 1981 Citizens need the whole picture Remember that $5 million bond the city is considering asking the voters to approve in a special election? Well, it's now up to $7 million. If we decide to go whole hog, it could be $7.5 million. Retiring that bond would mean that the city's mill levy would more than double. And that's not including possible increases in the city budget. The budget has yet to be reviewed by the City Council, and it won't be adopted until June. But Mayor Jack Green speculated this week that the mill levy couid rise an additional six to eight mills. That has some people worried, and rightfully so. Because besides the city, there are other entities that are asking for money as well: the fire district, the school district, the sewer district, and the county. How much will the combined projects of those groups cost the local taxpayer? Can we afford all of those improvements? improve-ments? That second question can only be answered by the voters if a bond election is held. But if you want an answer to the first question, don't ask the City Council, because they don't seem to feel it's their responsibility to figure that out for you. In the pure sense, the City Council only has responsibility for overseeing what goes on within the city limits. In the case of the proposed bond election, they have fulfilled their obligation by discussing the four projects in question and receiving public input at a special hearing. But in a more general sense, the City Council has the responsibility of serving the people. It's true that the council's coun-cil's authority stops at the city limits, but the forces affecting affec-ting the citizens it represents do not. Representatives from the sewer, fire and school districts also are lobbying for improvements in their areas. That's fine, since they hopefully are the most informed about what is needed to maintain a decent quality of life and to keep pace with the rapid growth. But each group is doing it with blinders on. They don't seem to be looking from side to side to see what the others are doing. To be fair, it's possible each of these groups is well aware of the proposed expenditures in all other areas. If they are, they're keeping it to themselves. And that can only indicate that they're afraid the whole truth will mean the demise of their plans. The citizens of this community cannot afford tunnel vision in their officials. No one group can become so involved in-volved in its own projects that it loses sight of the big picture. pic-ture. The big picture at this point is very hazy, and it should be the responsibility of the City Council to bring it into focus. The important question is, how much is it going to cost the local taxpayer to live in this city? Not to answer that fully is to allow the citizens to make a decision that they later may regret. If the intent of improvements is to upgrade the quality of life, the mark will have been missed if the residents no longer can afford to live here. It's important for the members of the City Council to remember that they are servants of the people. To do the job well, they must work effectively as a unit, and then work with other units. When they campaigned for the post, they all promised they would do the job: "Effective at communicating among all groups Tina Lewis can make it happen." Sept. 27, 1979 "Helen Alvarez is running for City Council because she wants... honest answers based on facts, honest answers that lead to intelligent solutions." Oct. 25, 1979. "I am convinced that Park City can continue as a terrific place to live and has a great future. To assure that this happens, hap-pens, the people of this town must work together to fulfill a common vision for Park City. I am confident that my background and experience will help me bring people together to work for a better Park City." Tom Shellen-berger, Shellen-berger, Nov. 1, 1979 "Make your vote work for you. Vote Bob Wells." October 1977. We trust that was not just campaign rhetoric. BBM RflAL, IF W) CAN'f RNP YWR UffiSAGk ITLL mmi km m next snurn, 'in by Stanley Karnow War is easier than Economics Hanoi, Vietnam The Vietnamese Communists fought stubbornly for a generation, defeating France and later the United States to unify Vietnam under their control. But now, six years after victory, they are locked in an equally tough struggle. The economy here is a shambles, and unless recent reforms succeed, the future may be even worse. Indeed, official commentaries warn that the system itself eventually could be jeopardized. jeo-pardized. Government newspapers and radio broadcasts focus ceaselessly on the crisis, and high-ranking Vietnamese discuss it with remarkable candor. The other day, comparing past battlefield triumphs to present troubles, a senior leader told me: "Waging war is simple, but directing an economy is complicated." compli-cated." Production is Vietnam's basic problem. prob-lem. The country cannot produce sufficient suf-ficient grain to meet its requirements. Nor can it produce enough export commodities to earn the hard currency it needs to import the equipment, oil and raw materials necessary for modernization. mo-dernization. A team from the Food and Agriculture Agricul-ture Organization, which visited here late last year, estimated that Vietnam faces a rice deficit of more than 4 million tons. The shortage, according to the group, threatens 6 million people with malnutrition. The current grain ration, reduced not long ago to 30 pounds per month, is short on rice and long on wheat, tapioca and similiar substitutes, which the Vietnamese detest. The meat ration of a half-pound per month usually is unavailable. Food can be bought, but at outrageous outra-geous free-market prices. A pound of pork, for example, costs the equivalent of an average worker's' salary for a month. Simple manufactured articles like needles and shoelaces are rare, and luxuries are out of sight. The local department store features television sets. At his present wage, my Foreign Ministry guide would have to save for 15 years to buy one. without eating during that time. The causes if the problem are complex. War disrupted the society. and bad weather has damaged crops. Except for Soviet assistance, which is not generous, Vietnam has received little foreign help since China cut off aid in 1978, and the United States stopped supporting the south when Saigon fell to the Communists three years earlier. Viewed in historical perspective, the inexorable Malthusfan equation has taken its toll as well. Vietnam's population popula-tion has more than tripled since 1930, but its output of rice has barely doubled. Contrary to conventional speculation, the Vietnamese occupation of Cambodia Cambo-dia is inexpensive. Moscow supplies the weapons, and the troops are young Vietnamese conscripts who otherwise would be unemployed. Since the war, however, the economic setbacks have been due mainly to dictrinaire Communist policies that discouraged rather than inspired the Vietnamese, a dynamic and hardworking hard-working people. In 1976, obeying textbook Marxist tenets, the regime launched a five-year plan designed to build steel mills, chemical plants and other heavy industries in-dustries while counting on collectivized farms to provide food. The plan ended in failure last year. Industrial production declined for lack of machinery, spare parts and raw materials. And agricultural output stagnated because peasants, especially in the south, resisted collectivization. After much internal debate, Communist Com-munist Party pragmatists took over two years ago with a liberal program aimed at boosting production by authorizing a considerable measure of private enterprise. As long as they fulfill quotas, peasants pea-sants now may grow their own crops and raise livestock to sell on free markets. Small traders and craftsmen are allowed to operate on their own. Government factories have switched to paying employees on a piecework basis in order to spur output. So the emphasis has shifted to material ma-terial incentives as the key, and Communist Com-munist theoreticians now endorse the profit motive. It will take time before the changes show results. Already, (hough, entrepreneurs entre-preneurs are emerging. Free markets are burgeoning along rural roads as peasants peddle their surpluses. But the food scarcity persists. Apart from pockets of unrest, particularly parti-cularly in the south, there is no evidence of serious political opposition to the regime. Yet many Vietnamese, apparently disappointed that peace has not brought prosperity, seem dispirited and cynical. The loss of confidence is reflected in their constant hustling to get by. Their principal preoccupation, I sense, is survival. The wheeling and dealing is most prevalent in the south, where decades of American influence have left their imprint. But "Nhan Dan," the Communist Com-munist Party journal, recently observed ob-served with alarm that the "reactionary" "reaction-ary" trend also is invading the north, which has been under Communist rule since 1954. The journal not only blamed the situation on "natural disasters and our poor economic management," it pointed to widespread corruption and disaffection. Some officials are "confused" "con-fused" by the economic difficulties, it said, while others "have become degenerate de-generate and deviant, taking advan-. tage of their positions to misappropriate misappro-priate state property, take bribes (and) oppress the masses." The danger, as another official publication pub-lication put it, is that "bad elements" can "incite the masses to sow division among us and attack our leadership in order to weaken the organization of our party and state." Thus the Communists here are confronted con-fronted with a classic dilemma which, though different in many ways, is not unlike the challenge facing their comrades com-rades in Eastern Europe. They realize that they must promote flexibility to stimulate the economy. But they also know that a pragmatic approach could erode the ideological structure on which their power is founded. My guess is that they will zigzag, tightening the reins if their authority is menaced and loosening up again if production drops as a consequence.' Waging war was easier. Released by The Register and Tribune Syndicate 1981 The city is considering holding a special election to issue $7 million m bonds to construct a field house and a multi-purpose arena, to renovate the Miners hospital, hospi-tal, and to improve City Park. How important are these projects to you? Would you prefer the money be spent in a different way? John Crandall . . . t.: First of all, they should not lump all of the projects together in one bond election. The question should be asked, are the existing facilities in Park City so crowded that we need to build more, or are the new buildings merely snowpieixa ; If j K ' V - Paula Gibson These issues, with the exception of the renovation of the Miners Hospital, are not that important to me. I think the money should be used to update the already existing Memorial Building. Jennifer Harrington I think they are important. But I am not a resident of Park City, so therefore it would not be my tax dollars being spent. : f fk JakeBarnett The bond issue should separate these projects. These projects lack importance to me because I feel they will never be finished, like a majority of the Park City projects. I would prefer the money be spent on the projects that have been started and never completed, such as vastly needed road improvements and sidewalks, side-walks, and finish the existing City Park. ' ft' " ' '"v I $f Is ") ' ; -I Michael O'Kelly I think the city should finish the projects they have already started. TWTIHt rmAni by Jack Anderson Space shuttle contractor overspent taxpayer money Washington The United States' first space shuttle flight, featuring the rocketship "Columbia," was a spectacular spec-tacular success. It is unfortunate that it . cost billions more than it should have. We have been reporting for months that the contractor, Rockwell International, Inter-national, has been loose with the taxpayer's tax-payer's money. Some of the overspending overspend-ing was unforeseeable and can be excused. Unexpected costs are inevitable inevit-able in a pioneer space effort. But Rockwell has a cost-plus contract. con-tract. And some Rockwell officials have had the attitude that the government will pay all the cost overruns, so why worry? For example, the company sent two employees to Europe to review a James Bond movie and charged the trip to the taxpayers. Moving the shuttle from Lockheed's California facilities to the launch site in Florida cost the public $2.5 million, just for per diem and travel expenses. Even secretarial help was hauled across the country. One Rockwell executive, while he was in Florida, ran up expenses of $7,200 a month not counting his salary. These charges were petty compared to some of the contracts that were awarded. A Rockwell vice president, for instance, funneled $1.5 million to a public relations firm to publicize the space shuttle for three months. The firm just happened to employ the vice president's son. When the spaceship was moved across the country, many of the fragile, heat-resistant tiles fell off. Rockwell hired a crew to work around the clock to make the repairs. The workers had to replace about 80 percent of the tiles. Some of the tiles shook loose again on take-off. The tiles were essential to the safe return of the Columbia; without them, the spaceship would burn up in the friction of the atmosphere. Fortunately, For-tunately, not enough tiles were lost to endanger the craft. A Rockwell spokesman denied any wrongdoing. But our sources say a grand jury is investigating the company's com-pany's alleged improprieties and some indictments are expected in a few weeks. Assassination tpdate Another confusing con-fusing piece has been thrown into the puzzle of the recent assassination attempt at-tempt on President Reagan. It involves a charge that security was lax during the president's recent visit to Canada. The charge appeared in a publication called "Executive Intelligence Review." Re-view." The publication is associated with Lyndon LaRouche, a political activist who was a Democratic candidate candi-date in the presidential primaries last year. The reference to lax security in the "Executive Intelligence Review" caught the eye of White House officials. They turned it over to the Secret Service to check out. The controversial passage charges that although the Royal Canadian Mounted Police "had received death threats to Reagan prior to his visit, they allowed demonstrators to come as close as 50 feet from the president at an open-air speech." The report claims further that "on-the-scene security personnel acknowledged acknow-ledged that an assassination would have been easy." We should emphasize that no conclusions conclu-sions have been reached by White House officials. No accusations have been made against either LaRouche or "Executive Intelligence Review." In fact, as far as we know, none are even contemplated. But Reagan administration officials are curious about allegations of lax security that were printed just a matter of days before an attempt was made to kill the president in downtown Washington. Washing-ton. Meanwhile, a fascinating study has been written of assassins and others involved in violent crimes. It contradicts contra-dicts the traditional view that psychiatric psych-iatric treatment and confinement in an institution are the best ways to treat people who are prone to violence. In fact, a growing number of experts believe that some treatments given in institutions may actually increase an individual's violent tendencies. Not only that, but research at a Canadian penitentiary identified Valium the drug John Hinckley was taking as likely to increase violence, even though it is presceibed as a tranquilizer. What happens, apparently, is that violence-prone individuals are not actually cured by psychiatric treatment. treat-ment. Instead, they may simply learn to cover up their violent tendencies. One thing cannot be disputed: The last four persons who attempted to assassinate an American president had all been psychiatric patients. The treatment treat-ment obviously had not cured them. In the case of President Reagan's assailant, assail-ant, it may have made him more dangerous. Headlines and Footnotes The old Bureau of Reclamation was renamed the U.S. Water and Power Resources Service by the Carter administration and Interior Secretary James Watt is now changing it back. It will cost about $40,000 to replace the brass plaques at dams and visitors' centers across the nation... Although the Navy is plagued by cost overruns, the admirals are abolishing the office of the assistant secretary for fiscal management. The brass apparently believe the way to dispense with wasteful spenders is to get rid of those who notice the waste... The Buffalo office of the Internal Revenue Service recently spent $75 to hire an African dance troupe to entertain enter-tain employees. It was justified as employee training. 1981 United Feature Syndicate, Inc. The Newspaper Subscription Kales, Stiuyvur in Sum mil County. $12 a year outside Summit Countv Published l Ink, Inc. I SPS :57K-7:SO ,,l'l,lish,T ...JanUilking ' '"';. 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