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Show 1 f pp" " """I Vol. VI, No. 52 Thursday, September 17. 1981 2 sections, 24 pages Mayoral candidates, clockwise from top left: Jack Green, Ted Larremore, Richard Martinez and Monty Gibson. ; - t i , Commissioners agree It's time for a change When a politician says, "It's time for a change," it usually means that he's running for an office occupied by someone else. But, in this case, the call for change is coming from the officials themselves. The Summit County Commission voted Tuesday to accept the recommendations recom-mendations of a charter committee calling for major changes in county government. "The County Commission passed a resolution to accept the outline that the committee presented, and to set Dec. 17 as the hearing date for the public to come and give input," Commissioner Bill Wallin said late Tuesday. "In the meantime, we will hold several informal meetings around the county to try to inform people about what's going on and how it will affect them." In a radical departure from the system now used in all of Utah's 29 counties, the proposal calls for a five-member county commission, with each member elected by a local district within the county. The five commissioners would then vote among themselves to select a chairman. Under the present charter, each of the three commissioners is elected by the voters of the county as a whole. Although the district boundaries are not to be established until after a vote is taken on the charter proposals, one member of the committee predicted that the boundaries would be drawn to give the Park City-Snyderville area two of the five districts. In another major departure, the Resignation, suspension follow probe of police conduct In the wake of an incident last March involving excessive force in the arrest of a Salt Lake City man, Officer Ray Benzon has resigned from the Park City Police Department, and Officer Virgil Sickels has been suspended for 30 days. The incident occurred March 1, beginning with a call for help at a bar fight at Jody's on Main Street. Officers Benzon and Sickels responded, and after breaking up the fight, arrested a suspect, Jack Reese Higgins, for disorderly conduct and public intoxication. intoxica-tion. Higgins was handcuffed and placed in Sickels' patrol car, while Benzon and another officer returned to the club. .-..--.-J - - t 7 " t '' t t J ... I - ... 'V4 . , ' f - X . . -- committee has called for the new commission to appoint a county manager to handle the day-to-day affairs of the county. The new charter also calls for the appointment of several county officials who are now elected to office. Those officials would include the assessor, the clerk, the recorder and the treasurer. Although the majority of the members of the charter committee were convinced that appointing these officials would help insure the hiring of qualified candidates, some individuals were reluctant to recommend appointment, ap-pointment, fearing that public opposition opposi-tion to this plan might jeopardize the whole proposal. However, County Planner Stan Strehel, who acted as an advisor to the charter committee, noted that the charter could still be amended if vehement opposition is expressed during hearings over the next three months. "Philosophically, this is the way we think it ought tc be," Strebel said, paraphrasing the attitude of the committee. "If they (the people) vote it down (during the hearings), we can always pull out the parts that are offensive." "The committee is saying, "Let's go for broke and vote for what we think is right." The vote for an appointed assessor came as a surprise to some observers, since Committee Chairman Glen Brown had argued repeatedly to keep that position elected. But Strebel Sickels' reported later that he feared the officers were in trouble because a large group had gathered near the entrance of the building, so he left the suspect in the car while he went inside. Higgins, whose arms had been handcuffed behind him, apparently stepped through the restraints while unattended and stole the police car. A search by the officers found the vacant car parked on Park Avenue near the Timberhaus, the engine still running. Sickels reclaimed his vehicle and he and Benzon searched separately separate-ly for the suspect. Benzon located Higgins walking up Swede Alley placed him under arrest for auto theft, joy ri.-'ir ' ;;ik) restraining arrest. Sickels 10 file The race is on. As he had announced earlier, City Councilman Richard Martinez held off until the last possible moment before announcing his intentions. And when the announcement came, it was a surprise. Martinez, a member of the City Council for the past 15 years, waited until a few minutes before Monday's 5 p.m. deadline, then filed to run in the Oct. 6 primary against incumbent Jack Green and two other candidates for the office of mayor. Joining Martinez and Green in the race are long-time resident Ted Larremore and local developer Monty Gibson. In the race for the two seats on the Council, a total of six hats are in the ring. Joining the fray against incumbent incum-bent Bob Wells are Bruce Barcal, Bill Coleman, Bruce Decker, Karen "Digger" Degen, and Mickey Smith. The following is a brief look at each of the candidates, beginning with those running for mayor. Monty Gibson, who will turn 39 this month, is a seven-year resident of Park City. When asked why he was running, Gibson replied: "I think that fiscal responsibility has a great deal to do with it." Gibson charges that city budgets are based on revenues that may never materialize. "I believe there is a real need for some well-formulated strategy stra-tegy for the city." And he believes the Council needs some new leadership. "That whole situation that occurred with the city employees indicates that the level of management is very low up there." Jack Green, 65, has taken his share reported that Brown acquiesced when the vote was taken. "I think what we have is the spirit of compromise on the committee," he said. The election process would still be used to select the county attorney and sheriff. Utah law stipulates that the county attorney must be elected. The charter proposal also calls for the creation of a county auditor's position. One member of the charter committee, commit-tee, planner Max Greenhalgh, originally original-ly had advocated an elected county administrator, with a role similar to that of a city mayor. Although this proposal was eventually overruled, Greenhalgh did not sound disappointed. disappoint-ed. "I think the plan we finally came up with was actually better than the plan I would have put forth," he said. "We ended up with something we all feel good about. ..I think that's close to a miracle." The timetable now calls for the county to publicize the charter proposal as much as possible between now and the Dec. 17 hearing. Changes may be made following that hearing in time for a public vote to be held in March 1982. If all goes according to plan, the new charter will be in effect in time for the November 1982 elections. "It's all got to go like clockwork," Strebel observed, "or it's all going to go down the tubes." then apparently approached the handcuffed hand-cuffed prisoner to confront him about stealing his car. In his report, Sickels said he grabbed for Higgins' lapels, but instead pushed him, and the suspect fell, hitting his head on the foundation of a nearby building. An ambulance was called and Higgins was taken to the Park City Health Clinic, where he received 10 stitches for a head wound. He then was transported to the Summit County Jail. While in jail, Higgins complained to prison attendants that he had been struck with a nightstick by Officer Sickels. The incident was reported to Police to A12 $i city elections of buffetting during the past four years. But he's coming back for more. "Despite the problems and frustrations, frustra-tions, it has been a rewarding experience to see Park City progress from a depressed town to a growing and enterprising city that is the envy of the state," Green said Tuesday. "The fact that many friends urged me to run for reelection was reassuring and had a great deal to do with my decision." Green spent 30 years as Park City postmaster before retiring in 1978. He also has a long record of public service, including 20 years on the Park City Board of Education, six years on the Planning Commission and two years on the City Council. Green also served as a member of the development committee which helped bring skiing to Park City in the early 1960's. Richard Martinez, 46, is a Park City native who was first appointed to the City Council in 1966 to complete the unexpired term of an expired incumbent. incum-bent. He was elected in 1969, then reelected in 1973 and again in 1977. Martinez has been involved in mining for most of the past 28 years, and also is the owner of the Carbide Lamp Restaurant. He said he hadn't given much thought to running for mayor until recently. "But I've had quite a few people call me and ask me about it." Martinez recognizes that some of those calls may have come from people angry with the citys handling of the public works strike. And he agrees that it could have been handled better. "It could have been corrected a lot sooner than it was." 4 S $ i 1 K . V S ij J 4 ;' i 4 The winds were howling at Sunn's Western film set last week. See story on page A10. Neverless, he speaks generously about the incumbent. "He's a fine man and has done a good job." Ted Larremore, 58, is another long-time resident who believes it is time for a change. "I think the citizens of Park City should have a choice," he said. "The people in office have had the chance to do what they could. "I've been here 34 years, and the only vested interest I have in this town is my home and the citizens who live here, work here and want to raise a family." PC resident dies in motorcycle crash Park City resident David R. Vich-weg Vich-weg was killed Saturday after he apparently ap-parently lost control of the motorcycle he was driving and crashed on Marsac Avenue. Park City Police Officer Cliff Koker and three witnesses indicated the man was driving south on Marsac Avenue about 7 p.m. at what appeared to be a high rate of speed. About 75 feet north of Ontario Avenue, he apparently failed to negotiate a curve and crossed the road left of the center line and drove onto soft dirt. Witnesses said the bike appeared to skid up onto railroad ties retaining an embankment, then shot out onto the road, ejecting Vieh-weg. Vieh-weg. The 21-year-old man was wearing 1 -&jfr Larremore is among the critics of the city's handling of the employees' strike. "They are loyal citizens," he said. "I think they got a raw deal and they're still getting it." Although he has witnessed many changes in the past two decades, he stressed that he is not opposed to growth if services can be provided. "I'm in favor of growing as you're able to grow." Larremore currently works as a baker in Salt Lake City. Elections to A4 only light clothing and did not have on a helmet, Koker said, and he apparently apparen-tly suffered extensive head injuries. He was transported to the Holy Cross Hospital in Salt Lake City after being attended at the scene by Dr. Robert Winn of the Park City Health Center. He died about two hours after the accident. ac-cident. David was born May 18, 1960 in Salt Lake City to John and Gladys Symank Viehweg. He is survived by his parents; par-ents; brothers Mark and Paul of Salt Lake, and John of Sapporo, Japan; and grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Ted Schrader of Austin, Texas. He was buried in the Park City Cemetery Tuesday, after which a memorial service ser-vice was held at the Christ Lutheran Church in Murray. Rulings could delay tax notices If you've got a headache, don't read any more of this story, 'cause it's bound to make it worse. To reverse the chronology for a second, the bottom line is this: you won't be seeing your prc3rty tax notices for a while. Whether or not that ruins your day, you might be interested in knowing the reason why. This is where the headaches start getting worse. County Clerk Reed Pace revealed during a radio interview Tuesday morning that the Utah State Tax Commission had rejected all the mill levies proposed by government entities en-tities in the county, contending that some of the budgets had been increased in-creased by more than the percentage allowed by Utah law. As Pace reads the law, local government govern-ment entities are limited to a six percent per-cent increase in their budgets during the year of a revaluation, if that revaluation results in an increase of more than 10 percent in the total value of property in the county. Pace notes that there has been no revaluation of private property this year, and no increase in the value of that property. As a matter of fact, he argues, the assessed value of private property has actually dropped by about $10 million last year, reflecting the impact of House Bill 164. (For an explanation of this legislation, see mill levy story on page A6. ) On the other hand, the assessed value of property owned by railroads, utilities and oil companies within the county has soared, according to Pace, by more than $40 million, due largely to increased oil production east of Coalville. This property is assessed annually by the state, Pace explained, and the increase in the value of this "state-assessed property" has boosted the overall valuation in the county by about 15 percent over a year ago. How's the headache? In spite of the increase, Pace argues that the 6 percent rules does not apply in Summit County because there has been no revaluation this year. This is the point at which the county and the State Tax Commission part company. Pace said he was informed that the 6 percent rule did apply because, in fact, there was a revaluation this year: the revaluation of state-assessed property . Pace said he doesn't buy that argument. He contends that the whopping whop-ping increase in the value of state- Notices to A12 |