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Show 5 V SP' tWtVEnSSTf OF UTAH iiONS COLL libraries ENERGY RESOURCE CHALLENGE BY JAKE GARN PAGE 3N0V 141977 The Independent Dedicated To The Constitution, Liberty, Morality, and Truth AtAAAnfrfr A-f- A AAAAA A AA A A AAA A A AAA AA AA A AAA A r Vol. 8, No. 44 THE END OF CONSOLIDATION JUDGE RITTER??? By 25C Salt Lake City, Utah 84115 A AAA' A-- A-A-A-- ft-fr November 3, 1977 BIG GOVERNMENT Tom Donohue Today more than ever before efforts to oust Judge Willis Ritter are coming forward in the media and elsewhere. Nearly all of is unbecoming is heard what an honorable federal judge, and may excite public opinion enough that the res-ponsi- ble individual authorities would take action to relieve him of some of his duties. However, the real meat of the whole issue is most likely not to be aired in public lest confidence in the whole legal establishment be shaken to its foundations. We refer to that which influences a judge to decide the way he decides when the law is equivocal or where he chooses, in Ritter's case, to disregard the law altogether. Some lawyers and law firms consistently win cases in Ritter's court and others (comprising the vast majority) have so slight a chance that they never handle federal cases that might be tried before him. Our Attorney General, Bob Hansen, has given an excellent description of this problem in his testimony Continued on page 4 UTAH INDEPENDENT 57 E. Oakland Salt Lake City, Utah 84115 SECOND CLASS POSTAGE PAID AT 10 REASONS TO REJECT A NEW LOCAL GOVERNMENT FOR SALT LAKE VALLEY Each person will have a district representative on the council which makes the laws, passes the budget, controls 1 . zoning and planning and organizes the government. This arrangement will provide representatives on the council. There is no way that any voter can be assured his representative will be skilled in parliamentary action, in law making, or governmental economics. In addition, with 10 other representatives to hide behind, your representative may seldom, if ever, feel compelled to represent your views. On the other hand the votes of three County Commissioners and even five City Commissioners cannot be hidden. 1 1 so-call- ed 2. The present commission form of government in Salt Lake City and Salt Lake County places the functions of lawmaking, budget setting and administration in the hands of the same people. With this arrangement, buck passing, which is so common with the mayor council form of government, is almost totally eliminated. That is, commissioners are always under the gun. 3. The charter provides an orderly method for the people to recall elected officials and emphasizes the constitutional rights of initiative and referendum. However, the charter completely ignores the problem of bureaucracy and provides no means whatsoever for the people to remove incompetent or dishonest appointed personnel who have some political hold over elected officials or have merit or civil service positions. Those who are advocating the consolidation charter opposed the recent recall referendum which directly addressed the problem of unsuitable elected and appointed officials. With our present heavy overload of appointed bureaucrats in all levels of government, a means must be provided for their removal by recall by the people. 10 REASONS TO SUPPORT A NEW LOCAL GOVERNMENT FOR SALT LAKE VALLEY Each person will have a district representative on the council which makes the laws, passes the budget, controls zoning and planning and organizes the government. Council members will be elected from equally populated areas because he or she understands and will represent that area best. No longer will we risk having leaders elected from just one area. 1. 2. The present commission form of government in Salt Lake City and Salt Lake County places the functions of and administration in the lawmaking, budget-settin- g hands of the same people. Our federal and state constitutions clearly recognize the importance of checks and balances among and between the three equal branches of government executive, legislative and judicial. This proposal gives us that protection. 3. The to charter provides an orderly method for the people recall elected officials and emphasizes constitutional rights of initiative and referendum. the Salt Lake City, Utah 4. A unified government provides for better use of tax dollars by cutting out wasteful duplication of administrative overhead. While the quoted assertion appears to be logical, the advocates of consolidation do not explain how it is possible to do this when the proposed charter requires that every person working in the two governments to be consolidated must be allowed to remain as an employee of the unified government. so-call- Y 4 i 5. The new government may be amended by the voice of 5. The new government may be amended by the voice of the people anytime they choose. It is impossible to the people anytime they choose. believe such a naive assertion. The draft copy of the consolidation plan provides that amendments may only be proposed by either of two means as follows: A. By a two-thirvote of the Council. B. By an initiative petition signed by legal voters of Salt Lake City and County equal in number to fifteen percent or more of all votes cast in the City and County for all candidates for governor in the most recent general election at which a governor was elected. t t . .7 ,v Continued on page 6 i ds I - 4 i f I f i ed 4. A unified government provides for better use of tax dollars by cutting out wasteful duplication of administrative overhead. Salt Lake City and County have duplicate administrative structures for garbage collection, street maintenance, parks, police and fire protection to name only a few. Each has its own separate departments for personnel, purchasing and handling federal grants, etc. It is vital that these multiple costs be done away with. t , f |