| OCR Text |
Show 4A 4 Meed Pace One thing that must be taken into account is the countys outstanding growth, Pace, who has been derk since 1962. REED PACE By Nan Chalat The fact that Reed Pace has held the office of Summit County Gerk for the past eighteen years without inter ruption, could signify that no one else wants to do the job or that the task is so awesome that there are no other qualified candidates for the position. In those 18 years, foe assessed value of Summit County has grown from S12 milium to SI IS million and it falls upon the derk to keep careful account of each of those dollars. Id say that the job almost requires a CPA and. an attorney, says Pace. "I wouldnt even attempt to run for the office now without that kind of background. Rumor has it that Reed Pace is one of the most powerful men in Summit County. If being informed the county is a measure of power, then foe rumors are true. But it is a power that Pace wields quietly in the background by quoting carefully studied facts and figures. If any one person has been able to keep a finger on the countys astounding growth, it has been Reed Pice. about Pace was approached to run for county treasurer in 1954. He remembers campaigning in Park City in foe days when Park was staunchly Democratic while foe rest of foe county was almost unanimously Republican. He served two terms as treasurer, before deciding to run for foe office of county clerk. Emerson Staples had been clerk for 16 years and decided that year (1962) not to run ... It is really everything that no one else wants to do. At that time, there were 6,000 property owners and now there are 18,000. Before entering county politics, Pace served time in foe military. He was born in Hoyts ville in 1918, attended the three room grammar school and then in Europe during World War n. He planned to return to his dads dairy farm after foe war but he found that times had changed for foe small farmer in rural America. It would be tough to raise a family on the basis of that income. He married Vera Gleason, whose father ran foe Utah Coal Company in Park City in 1946. Among foe changes that Pace has noted in foe county 'are the varying periods of rivalry and cooperation tween various sectors of his domain. "Once foe county was comprised of only one Stake. It brought everyone he obsertogether more, ved. There are now two Stakes, Kamas and Coalville, accentuating the rivalry be- . tween North and South Summit. But that rivalry is small compared to the ongoing conflict between Park City and the rest of the county. The situation im- proved greatly when we combined foe road crews. You know it used to be, he laughs, that if one commis- sioner had a problem in his area, no one else wanted to hear about it. It was up to him to take care of it himself. Now there is more interaction between the three sectors. One of the most difficult hurdles that foe county has faced, in Pace's opinion, has been foe fate of the hospital in the county. Weve made great strides there, now we must get the people to use it. Reed further describes the challenge of holding down taxes and making sure that the taxpayer can see where his dollar is being spent. Summit Countys mill levy has been held down to 9 percent as compared to 16 percent in Wasatch County. The major part of that expense continues to be road maintenance, said Pace. In addition to foe growth of income from tourism in , Summit County, Pace credits comments keep minutes and notes for the county commissioners; to s set foe calendar; take and oversee jury Selection for both foe District and Circuit Court (Circuit Court, the arrival of American Quasar with really pulling this area through the recession of .the early seventies. This year, Quasar will pay $400,000 in taxes which, according to Pace, is about equal to foe school tax. The only expense that they impose upon the county is maintenance of a better grade of roads where they are working. It is foe clerks duty to min-ute- - which handles civil suits involving up to $5,000, was instituted in July, 1978); issue all marriage licenses and passports, serve as election officer for the county, and as auditor of all foe elected officials. .. Continued on Page 5 !mnONBuiLDERS Salt Lake City (Capitol Hill) Duplex, I Park City Lowell Avenue A Frame, iPark City Woodside Avenue Duplex Lot, I Park City (Prospector Square) I I Commercial Lot. Approximate Equity $275,000. ALL OR PART FOR TRADE ( I For Park City Home or Condo Ken Mears I 649-844- 6 or l I 1 . 484-455- 2 . |
