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Show I ‘WASATCH COUNTY COURIER AG County Shows a truly remarkable event. It went off relatively painlessly and showed the world Olympic host a and the International Committee world screwing up class that we could event ay the details. Of course we already knew that, hell Swiss Days attracts more visitors in one day than the Olympics will bring in it’s entire ten day run, but the “Big Boys “ needed to make sure we could perform up to their standards. By all accounts we did. Word down from brass came the “Most High” that the were very pleased with the event, some calling it-the best World Cup ever. And it was an extraordinary event. Even though at times there seemed to be more volunteers than entertainment seemed to thrill those County Olympic Coordinating Office spectators, everyone, paid staff, athof all ages, from the kids makeup and most of all to the scores of volunletes, volunteers and the spectators © _artists, balloon animals, jugglers, a teers who made this event a smashing had smiles on. Conversation was fast, quick draw “gun slinger” and truly -success. You all deserve a heart-felt loose, multilingual and happy. The amazing horse and roping tricks. The - thanks for a job well done. We locals true feeling of amateur athletics mountain man/cowboy exhibits with never had any doubt, now everyone seemed to come out at this event, in accompanying livestock and livery knows. We can do this, no sweat. stark contrast to the unseemly “dash were a great touch, giving visitors a for cash” underbelly, now a legacy of. taste of our heritage and history. The the I.0.C. “Olympic Family.” This various musical groups were high crowd put the oe first. How refreshquality entertainment, including our | ing. | own “Famous Larry Elliot”. Everyone And a big thanks goes out to the. seemed to have a great time. We never scores of volunteers, most from Wasatch County, but a surprising ber from around the country world. These folks manned their in snow storms with freezing answering spectator and media numand posts feet, ques- saw a frown on a face (except those trying in vain to find thier credentials, but that’s another story.) We still have questions about SLOC; the bribery, the questionable decisions of where the funds are spent and how Wasatch County is being tions, explaining the site, track layout, rules and most importantly, where to treated as a poor relative, but those find a place to warm up. The entertainment was great and the sponsors deserve a huge pat on the back. The controversies will have to wait for another day. For this week our hat’s off to The World Cup Organizers, our Satins Cup was his.’ Nit veatah ots tte, sche thea L World , ‘We Can Do 17, 2001 hc aeaie _ ast week’s JANUARY O RESIDENT ne’s right to vote is one that can’t be dismissed This year’s presidential lightly. election illustrates just how important it is allowed the Kopel onvtke ballot. Now, the people of Wasatch County Heber City. The population of Heber compared to the remainder of the county has stayed relatively constant _have a new form of government that is for the past 10 years. Any attempt tomake five equal districts without mixing county and city voting districts is impossible. the statute. They are specifically pro- plan gave these reasons among others hibited from changing the plan before or after the election. The sponsors can- for its adoption: extra protection against centralization of power, and unconstitutional and difficult to remedy. The County Commission cannot amend not change the plan once it goes to the voters. The only avenue that might correct the problem is the court. But, how can anybody come up with The Utah State Attorney Generals - that each vote is counted and that it _ | Office allowed the seven-member council plan to be placed on the ballot be counted equally. in spite of constitutional problems creles also important that the results aE an election produce equal representa- tion. We in Wasatch County, like most other places, don’t usually get to vote on legislation that so effects our lives. -We elect others, our legislators, to represent us. Each legislator of a city, county, or state, when elected by district, should represent substantially equal populations. If the representative districts are not equal then we are either under-represented or over-represented. The County that are City is recent election in Wasatch produced five council districts unequal in population. Heber under-represented by 1,100 people, Midway is under-represented | by 350, and the remainder of the coun- ty is over-represented by 1,450. Granted that the inequality was unin- tentional, it is still unacceptable. Proposal sponsors, in their desire to keep city and county districts separate, may have seriously ignored county achieved until after the 2010 census demographics. The unequal districts are nota result of recent growth in ated by these unequal districts. Their office used a flawed formula to figure the plan’s compliance with this is called the ideal population. The _ ideal ernment, everyone receives equal rep- resentation, whether they like it or not; : The recent election in Wasatch County of each other. Where does one draw the lines? to those in the south and east county The new 2000 census figures will be out _ This is the same percentage of representation allowed for slaves before | | a. produced five | : council districts in April. .These fig-— ures will list a popula- that are unequal tion for Heber City, Midway, Charleston, Wallsburg, and the e. population. county. The There remainder of the are no other break- stituents is then subtracted from the one with the largest population. The these divisions. difference between the two population totals is then divided by the ideal pop- ulation. | - In Wasatch County under the newly If one wants to divide Hebers population in half, where is the line to be drawn? There are ways to do this, but they are involved and require cooper- adopted plan, there is a 51 percent’ variance from the ideal population. long before the census is actually The law allows fora 10 percent deviation. The Attorney Generals Office of this formula, and ation with the U.S. Census conducted. The districts can Bureau proba- bly be ameliorated, but true compliance with the law probably cannot be manager form, those in Heber City are counted as 3/5. of a person compared districts. the Civil War. Is this what is meant by extra protection? We need equal protection, not extra protection. Amendment XIV Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the | state wherein Send your letter or commentary to the editor at: Wasatch County Courier PO Box 1030, Midway, UT ae (435) 654-2531 or email: art@wasatchcountycourier.com fax they reside. No state - shall make or enforce any law which > shall abridge the privileges or immuni- ties of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due © process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal Js : tion of the laws. Opinions speak louder in words. . area. Under the three-commissioner form of govunder the new seven- member council districts? downs. There is no way to know where the population is distributed wit unaware protection against acquiring power by voters in a geographical requires that they be within 275 residents constitutional _ population of Wasatch County would be 2,750 for each ie trict. The district with the fewest con- was — law. redistricting law. | Redistricting law requires that the total population be divided by the number of districts; results come out in 2011, and only then, if provisions are made by about the year 2005. The sponsors of the seven-member | Pi i JERRY DUKE HEBER A Ateaa 5 ip Bn ro ame A IE 2D Equal Districts Means Fair Elections © |