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Show The Newspaper Thursday, October 7, 1982 Page A3 ILB!ttteir ttn ttBiiB HMnitoii Letters Policy The Newspaper welcomes letters let-ters to the editor on any subject. However, we ask that those letters let-ters adhere to the following guidelines: They should be submitted to The Newspaper office at 419 Main Street, or received in the mail (P.O. Box 738), no later than noon Tuesday. They must be signed. They must not contain libelous libel-ous material. We reserve the right to edit letters let-ters if they are too long for the space available, or if they contain statements which we consider unnecessarily offensive or obscene. Quick-response fire crew needed for evenings Editor: The hiring of three full-time firefighters fire-fighters to man the Park Avenue firehouse is a step in the right direction but more must be done to provide residents protection at all times. The new crew works from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and is accomplishing much needed maintenance main-tenance when not responding to fires. The Utah State Fire Marshall reports that in the Park City Fire District most fires and the greatest amount of damage occured in the evening and nighttime nours. Our four most recent fires were during hours the firehouse was not manned. I propose that starting immediately the Fire District man the station with a three-man quick response crew during evening and nighttime hours and on weekends. This can be done by using present volunteers working on a part-time part-time basis in conjunction with the three full-time paid firefighters. I have discussed this idea with the volunteers and have found general support. Our volunteers are a dedicated group of citizens. Full-time staffing can be done with presently available revenues. Additional Ad-ditional full-time firefighters can be hired as Fire District revenues permit. No tax increase is needed nor is it warranted. Sincerely, Vince Desimone Fire Commission Candidate There are alternatives to walking drunk Editor: In reference to the "Better to Walk than to Drive Drunk" letter, I would like to express a few ideas that perhaps Robert Peters has not considered. First of all, I do agree that walking is obviously a much better alternative than driving. However, there are also a couple of other healthier alternatives than walking home drunk. Briefly, one could arrange for a friend or family member to take one home or when the city buses are in operation, take one of those. If one is not in a position to do either of these things, then perhaps one had better examine his or her drinking patterns before going to the bar and decide where "personal responsibility" responsi-bility" enters into the picture. Okay, so the individual does choose to walk home drunk. It is most likely that if the individual is not considered to be a danger to himself or others, he will probably arrive home unhassled. However, if it is determined by a police officer or a citizen that he or she is a danger, then it is most likely he or she will be picked up under the Public Intoxicant law. It has been my experience that police officers do not pick someone up for public intoxication intoxica-tion unless the individual does pose a threat to himself-herself or others. Have you stopped lately to take a look at Main Street on any night of the week and observe how many people are obviously intoxicated, but are not being arrested? Also, with the small number of police staff, most officers are not willing to leave Park City with minimal or sometimes lacking police coverage to transport an intoxicated person 25 miles one way to the Coalville jail. I am not saying that police are not human and do not make mistakes, but do question whether Mr. Peters has the accurate story on the circumstances of the arrest. My experience and knowledge of physiological impairment is that when people are intoxicated, they rarely remember accurately the circumstances. circum-stances. My viewpoint then is that the P.I. law not only protects others, but more often protects the intoxicated person from himself-herself. In conclusion, I want to commend the Park City Police force and Chief Bell for their efforts. I recognize that we, as our laws, are not perfect and I do hope that these ideas provoke some constructive, con-structive, responsible thought in others. Sincerely, Teresa L. Nelson, CSW Prevention Center Director For sheriff, I'm your man Editor: The growth of Summit County brought on by energy development, the recreation industry and people simply yearning for a more relaxed lifestyle life-style will inevitably tax the existing law enforcement agency of the county. The Summit County Sheriff's Office must be modernized and professionalized profession-alized to meet the needs of all the county's residents. Our people have the right to expect their sheriff's office to provide them with the best possible law enforcement available. By some estimates, the population of Summit County will exceed 26,000 people by 1990. That will certainly strain existing county services. We cannot afford to wait until we have insurmountable problems before we try to cope. We must modernize now and plan for the future. Today, I announce my candidacy as a write-in candidate for the office of Summit County Sheriff. As sheriff, I'll provide the citizens of Summit County with well-trained, professional deputies depu-ties who will work to maintain your confidence. I am better qualified than either the Democratic or Republican candidate for this important office. I was a member of the Utah Highway Patrol for 15 years and I am certified by the Peace Officer's Standards and Training Train-ing Division of the State of Utah. For the past ten years, I successfully owned and operated my own business here in Summit County. I have lived in Summit Park for 14 years, married, with two children who attend school in Park City. I believe I am your best choice for Summit County Sheriff. Sincerely yours, Douglas Jacobson 125 St. MoritzWay Summit Park, Utah A thank you from ' Just ArnieY Editor: Park City's "Just Arnie's" softball team would like to thank everyone who supported our fundraiser last week. With your support, we have raised enough money to substantially cover our travel expenses for the upcoming Mayor's Softball Tournament in Las Vegas, Nevada on Oct. 22nd through the 24th. .......... . .iktt!e jvjgh; to ihant the following individuals and merchants for their generosity in supporting our frundrais-ing frundrais-ing efforts: The Alamo Alpha Beta The Black Pearl The Claimjumper The Club The Corner Store Davanza's Pizza The Eating Establishment El Papagayo's End Run Janeaux's Jan's Mountain Outfitter The Kindersport Main Street Express Company Mileti's Mountain Savior The Newspaper Park City Resort Joyce Plowman The Red Banjo Ryan's Ernie Scow Stein Eriksen Sport Texas Red's Utah Coal & Lumber Wolfe's Park City Resort Plaza The Shirt Off My Back We are anxiously planning our traveling logistics and we are looking forward to representing Park City women's softball in Las Vegas later this month. Thank you, "Just Arnie's" Keep the clinic open Editor: I have been using the facilities of the Park City Community Clinic since it opened in 1980. Had it not been for the clinic, I would have been unable to afford the health care I needed from a private physician. It greatly upsets me to realize that there is an excellent chance that this clinic will be closed for lack of funding. I have spoken with the staff at the clinic and found that, because of politics, the federal government decided de-cided to give the clinic's money to the state, which will not allow the existing clinic to continue. Apparently, the state is considering giving the money to the local health department headed by Frank Singleton. I have watched the Summit County Health Department deteriorate under the leadership of Singleton since he took control of same. The number of health services which were being offered prior to his arrival have drastically declined and his public image has done nothing but damage the health department. Singleton verbalizes many grandiose plans, most of which rarely are put into action. I think the existing health department depart-ment is incapable of offering the excellent services that the Park City Community Clinic is presently offering. offer-ing. I believe it would be impossible for Singleton to set up a new family planning program that would offer the quality of care that is now being received by patients at the Park City Conn llUtll ty Clinic. P. McCormick Cooperation makes sense Editor: During the Sept. 28 County Commission Commis-sion meeting in Coalville, a proposal by the Park City Fire District was discussed, and preliminary approval given, to work out an agreement between bet-ween both entities to build and share a joint fire stationroad shed for Summit Park. If the details can be worked out, a five-bay station, (two bays for snowplows, three bays for fire trucks) will be built on the fire district's property in Summit Park. The concept of sharing a structure has several advantages besides saving a considerable amount of tax money that would be spent if two separate structures are built: The residents of Summit Park will have a new fire station capable of holding more equipment. The roads in Summit Park will not have to wait for plows to come from Kimball Junction. The driveways and roads leaving the fire station will be plowed first. The County retains its .19 acre lot on the frontage road which may be used to store road salt rather than having to haul it from the Kimball's Kim-ball's shed. Sharing building, heating, and utility expenses is more cost effective. effec-tive. I commend the action being taken by the County and Fire District, and urge them to finalize the agreement so that construction may begin before winter sets in. I would also like to urge the Fire District Commissioners to sit down with the Park City Council and make an attempt once more to resolve their differences. Cooperation and understanding under-standing are paramount to both entities en-tities operating at their maximum efficiency. ef-ficiency. Thank you, Jim White Fire Commission Candidate Get your facts straight first Editor: We can't help but reply to Mr. Peters "letter to the Editor" entitled "Better to walk than to drive" in last Thursdays Thurs-days "Newspaper." Mr. Peters, you made some very basic errors in logic, as well as displayed a lack of knowledge of Utah law. First Mr Peters, why didn't you name the individual? You can't be faulted for naming him because adult arrest reports are a matter of public record. If you had named him, we could look up the report and explain the circumstances to you why this "local" was arrested. Go to the source, Mr. Peters. Come to the police department depart-ment for an explanation of the incident in-cident if you're that interested, before using the media to ridicule the organization. If you're not satisfied with the explanation, then you can rail on us in the paper. Second, I agree that trying to walk home instead of drive is admirable, but let's get to the basic issue: what can be found admirable in an intoxicated in-toxicated person in public. Now we realize we cannot take every intoxicated in-toxicated person to jail. If we could, we would be taking 34 of the Friday and Saturday night Main Street patrons to Coalville. That's why we must be selective in who we take. We use state law criteria in who we take : Are they intoxicated? Are they a danger to themselves or others? Thirdly, you stated this "local" was stopped, "proven drunk," and whisked off to Coalville. Mr. Peters, you as well as anyone should know that you cannot prove a person drunk on the street. That can only be done in a court of law. We can arrest a person only if we have 'probable cause to believe a person has committed, is committing, or is about to commit a crime. Proving them guilty comes later in court. This "local" was not "proven drunk" on the street. He was observed displaying characteristics common to an intoxicated in-toxicated person, that's all. Fourthly Mr. Peters, you seem to imply that since a person admitted he was intoxicated, that everything is alright, and it's o.k, to be drunk, if you just admit it. Let's imagine the scene: The 7-11 store in town, a local runs in, grabs two six packs of beer, and runs out without paying. A PCPD officer sees the oifense, apprehends the suspect, and then this "local" says ... "Oops, you caught me! I'm sorry I did it, I admit it, and I want to return the beer." Admitting something doesn't change the fact it happened. Whether theft or intoxication, they're both the same classification of crime with the same penalty group. Where do we differentiate dif-ferentiate between the two, Mr. Peters? Fifth, lets imagine another scene. A drunk walking down the street slips off the curb and falls headlong into the street. A car coming from behind him swerves radically to the left to miss him and collides head-on with another vehicle in the oncoming lane. A three-year-old girl in the front seat is vaulted through the windshield and killed. I've seen that happen, so don't try to make a general statement that when the drunk makes a mistake, the injury will likely be to himself. Sixth, we do not establish policies vS7 Co that encourage locals to drive drunk. The only policies that we can adhere to are those set down in the Utah criminal code, not some whims of our own imagination. This isn't a game out here. There is criteria we have to follow to determine whether a person is guilty of an offense, and we must react upon those guidelines. So don't make it sound like we're establishing policies. The state of Utah did that for us. The solution? If you're too intoxicated in-toxicated to maintain physical control letterheads logos graphic design layout typesetting printing flyers brochures business cards mailers advertising . . . o Call The Newspaper649-9014, 419 Main St., Park City - aiv '4 - , ' - ' '4 ' ' (' " 41 V. rlf 4--- ' , - ' . . - - M , I ' iff v ' V CuW': Willi m tpte mvm Eagar & Co. Announces Management Change Effective Oct. 1. Dick Lueck became Park City Office Manager for Eagar & Co., replacing Chris Eagar who is taking a temporary leave from the real estate business. Dick, formerly with Western Electric for 26 years, entered the real estate profession 18 months ago. For 8 years, Dick was the Utah, Idaho, and Montana General Manager for Western Electric. He and his wife, Gene, reside in Park Meadows. Dick is a member of the Park City Rotary Club, Chamber of Commerce and the Supporting Cast for Park City Performances. He is currently on the Masters in Management Advisory Council for Westminster College and active in the Stanford Alumni Association. ,y A T H A j ! T ION IS Mfftl t '..'ATI of yourself, don't drive. And if you can't walk home safely, arrange before you get too intoxicated to have a friend pick you up at a certain time to take you home. We aren't concerned for people that go out and have a few drinks and maybe get a little crazy on Main Street. But we arc concerned about the welfare and safety of all the citizens. R.L. Clayton Police Officer PCPD -04 f |