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Show Citizen Support Improves Politics hall meetings. We can’t help but think that the 300 or so citizens that turned out for this meet- ing helped give these legislators theimpression that the citizens of Wasatch County are informed and do care about the business of government. Even though some citizens rightfully believe that their transportation concerns were not adequately addressed in this meeting, legislators at least got the message that they better start thinking | about them. Before thus meeting there was almost no chance that UDOT would have made fixing the River Road and US 40 inter-. section a priority. Now that the legislators know how important this project is to this community, there is at least some chance that the a can overcome the “great sucking sound” of the I-15 recon-struction. project to give our own little project some much deserved attention. In the past, many politicians have been indifferent to the concerns of citizens since the only feedback they got came after they made a decision. But recently the citizens of Wasatch County have made the effort to stand up and speak on issues before decide them. Over the been at meetings _ capacity. their elected officials : last several months there have least two county commission that were almost packed to There was also: a. school tax | _RE- ELECT. Jerry W. Smith emeer = Dependable Experienced I stand on my record. I would like to continue ‘to serve the citizens of Heber City. interest enormous in the issue. There have also been many well-written letters to the editor about issues that effect all of us in the county. | It is already clear that the increasedamount of citizen input has had a direct effect upon city and county governments in Wasatch County. Once indif- According to my analysis of Wasatch - County’s insurance policy it appears that the residents of Wasatch County might end up paying for the legal fees and from their citizen masters. For those noknieins who have always been honest in their government dealings, more citizen input helps them _work better since they now have a better idea of what their constituents desire. Issues like the proposed bypass . road around Heber, school reform, and_ financial concerns with projects in the _ Jordanelle Basin will continue to. bene- | fit from citizen input. To see sO many Citizens take an active role. in government politics is very heartening considering the general sense of apathy in the rest of the country. It just goes to show. that if citizens are given the real story behind their QOV-. ernment’s actions, they can give intelli- gent feedback about the issues that concern them. When members of the press © and politicians treat citizens as mere 6th graders, what else can politicians expect but citizens who aren’t interested their government's affairs? % 525 S. Main Street Heber City, UT 84032 (435) 654-2531 in ages. Compensatory damages are aan ed based upon the cost of making the plaintiff whole or in other words, repairing the damage. Punitive damages, on | damages, if any, that are awarded to the the 80 residents of Canyon Meadows who recently filed a lawsuit against the coun- defendant to teach a lesson. If a defen- ty. ; The total damages be extremely high been intransigent promise with the other hand, are levied dant doesn’t show.*some the defendant claims Among -other things, their lawsuit alleges that the county has devastated their property values by imposing an ferent ‘government bureaucracies — are illegal moratorium that stops all develnow very responsive to citizen concerns. opment upon their land. The plaintiffs These same government agencies are in this suit believe this illegal moratorialso making greater efforts to make sure um was imposed upon them only after they are in compliance with the law. | they expressed their displeasure with the county’s selective enforcement of its There is also a general nervousness own ordinances upon the original develamong some politicians about the increased oversight they are getting | ‘oper of Canyon Meadows. ~The Wasatch County Courier speak louder | the Send Sicicas lees to the editor to: | Opinions in words. of citizen to in this lawsuit could since the county has ~ or unwilling to comresidents of Canyon against a remorse, or if that there was nothing wrong with her or her actions, © juries are more likely to award large punitive damages. Since it appears that the county’s insur- . ~ance provider does not cover damages — - caused by most of the charges filed against the county’s officers, if there is a large settlement against the county, the ‘taxpayers will most likely foot the bill. One of the ways the county can pay for the damages is to pay over time like | they would with a bond. | Provo City recently cole’: a lawsuit over a personal injury claim in this man- ner. At the bottom of every yearly tax notice is a line item for a portion of the by the county. This intransigence, or — damages that were paid out to settle the | arrogance as some may call it, is usually lawsuit. The citizens of Wasatch County the primary driver for large punitive may soon find themselves with a similar awards. line item on their tax bill. 3 Meadows who only want to be left alone There are two- components to a jury award in a court case; there are compensatory . Sema and punitive dam- The total damages claimed by the PlainARROGANCE continued on page 1 0. Let’s Have A Se Opinion by Keith Baker, Contributing Writer - The opinions expressed by our contributing columnists do not necessarily reflect the it blind. The Republicans know they can screw Utah because they know Republican candidates will win here no. opinions of the Wasatch County Courier. matter how badly the Republican conThe BLM (Bureau of Land. Manage- | _ trolled Congress treats the state, so it’s ment) owns 23,000,000 acres in Utah, in the Republicans advantage to spend about 40% of all the land in the state. money anywhere but in Utah. Spend In 1998, the BLM gave Utah federal money somewhere where it helps $42,273,000 in direct transfer payments. buy votes, not where the vote is fixed. BLM gave this money to the state in lieu of real estate taxes that might have been collected had the land been privately owned. BLM also spent $47,002,000 investing in maintenance, Democrats can neglect Utah because they know it is pointless to do any favors for a state full of knee jerk Republican voters. If the Democrats do upkeep, and improvefhents on its Utah anything to help Utah, they will be paid land. back with defeat at the polls, so their Per acre, Utah got $1.84 in cash from the BLM and another $2.05 worth | _ best strategy is also to screw Utah and : of infrastructure, a total of oe 89 per spend money elsewhere. acre. That's the way the politics is played. If Oregon sok in $14.63 for each acre of you don’t like-: it, start voting BLM land. If Utah was paid at Oregon’s Democratic or take it up with the LDS rate, the state would receive an addi- » Church leadership, who once before tional $246,000, 000 from every year, enough the BLM to make the state budget fat with cash. That’s enough to completely pay for the I-15 project in six years. | What’s the difference between | land in Utah and Oregon? Not much, but there is a big difference between Utah and Oregon. politics. Oregon is a two party state with an even split between Republicans and Democtats in its US. House of Representatives delegation. Utah is a one party state. Don’t say Utah was robbed. just what party state Utah got it deserves for being a one in a two party country. - Nationally, it is in the interests of both political parties to ignore Utah and rob . legislative town ‘amount due pital at these auditorium Courier Staff 2 citizens an Opinion by Sam Allen, in ghiasapiy i. Slain Meas than school board’s normal meeting room to ge pnec shear number of citizens that attended the recent town hall meeting in Midway impressed many of the state legislators . who came to visit Wasatch County. Normally, there are more legislators that had to be moved from the OO Wasatch County got some real attention from the Utah State government. The reenes RRB a long time Weiner Th solved Utah’s one-party problem. When Utah joined the union, virtually every Utah voter was a Democrat because the few supporters the Mormons had in Congress War were Republican John C. during the Mormon The first — Democrats. candidate for president, Fremont, ran on a Platform condemning “Mormonism and slavery” -as the “twin relics of barbarianism.” | _ That’s what the National Republican Party thinks of Utah. The LDS Church repudiated it’s rejection of Blacks, but ask Sen. Hatch when the Republicans. repudiated their official position that Mormons are barbarians. . | PARTY continued on page 10 é time ¥ first e the Puts Citizens at Risk» sah enn amccicnats For Arrogan Ae Heth Ld WALL | I ETT LUCE Ee WASATCH COUNTY COURIER September 28, 1 999 |