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Show Former Moab City Manager Retires After Long Career Ellis Foote, Moab city administrator 1954-58, retired June 30 in Willcox, Az., after 21 years in city management, and wrote a recap of this career entitled "A Tale of Four Cities." His story of Moab is as follows: Moab, Utah, in the fall of 1954 was suddenly aware of sewage boiling up in the streets where since time began the only odor around was that of puddling ' cows or maybe a disturbed and peripatetic skunk. The manager of the local telephone company (Jack Corbin) who was also mayor of the town, started getting more and more gripe phone calls running about even as to the telephone service and the City's sewer service, or lack of them. It was a case of both boom and bust in Moab in 1954, because with the finding of enormous quantities of uranium uran-ium in the area the town was really booming, but the town's exchequer was busted. In these circumstances, the city clerk did the only smart thing left for a smart city clerk to do he up and quit and went to work for a uranium company, along with about every other man-Jack and woman-Jill in town. The sewer problem grew better simply because now the town's water supply was exhausted and without water you just cannot continue to have sewer problems; also, the old WPA-style bathroom facilities facil-ities were still around, thank heaven, provided you could find them among the weeds. So this eased the situation in more ways than one. About this time I came on the scene as the City's clerk and first administrator. There were, besides myself, one high school girl and two or three old sexagenarians around not yet swept up by the uranium fever; oh yes, and one old fellow named Edgar who faithfully picked up papers and debris from the main street each early morning, besides a spanking new police department depart-ment comprising four young fellows resplendent in new uniforms and wonder i n g where their paychecks were coming from. Starting from here we began to move on the problems. First, we imposed a 1-cent sales tax, first town in the State of Utah to do so. We then applied for and obtained a series of substantial Federal grants and loans to build andor rcbuuild the w ater and sewer systems. And we made a few other needed changes. And finally when it was safe to do so we got rid of both the weeds and the outhouses. In fact, in four years time, to make a short story shorter, folks in Moab commented they could begin to smell the summer roses again. Mr. Foote's next position was in Hayden, Az., where he was town manager 1958-65. Hayden, previously a Kennecott Copper Corp. town run by the company, was incorporated in 1956. In part, Mr. Foote says of Hayden: I was hired as their first town manager and stayed 7 years. In those seven years we accomplished many things-paved things-paved streets, sidewalks, and a modern water distribution system, etc. But the biggest accomplishment of all was that the people of Hayden learned to accept not only the so-called amenities and privileges of self-government, but the duties dut-ies and burdens as well. Next position, 1965-69, was in Needles, Ca., of which he says: Needles, the much maligned as to comfort factors and temperature! It is actually a delightful place to live-three months of air-condi t i o n e d comfort and nine months of perfect climate. Plus the cold blue Colorado River running at your doorstep-some places on this earth have a bit of heaven all around and people who live there don't mind if the world thinks the place is impossible. Willcox, Az., was the fourth of the four cities, 1969- . 75. Of accomplishments in Willcox he says: Again a water system - the fourth in my four cities; a Comprehensive Plan the fourth in my four cities; a Visitor Center-first for any small City in the State of Arizona, and many other accomplishments. But none in the field of industry and major housing. We reached a point several years ago where the Council needed to stand strong in support of programs for industry and public housing. But they did not. They did what they were elected to do instead and stood strong in support of Willcox, its people and its traditional lifestyle. That lifestyle did not (and does not) apparently include the idea of public housing, massive mas-sive HUD-style, nor of row on row of industry. Closing out 21 years in the City administration field, I have these perceptions of the"nation's most dangerous" profession City management - and of public service in general: 1. When I started, the average tenure of any City Manager in towns and cities across the land was between two and three years. I believe it is now between five and six. I am not sure that this is a good thing. 2. The purpose of public servants ought to be to serve. I see increasing tendencies of people in my profession ai among public service orgu zations to "make it easier: ourselves"; to "grab for all i can get while the getting good"; and to attempt to 1 masters rather than senai of the people. 3. An old police chief 1 h in Moab once said tome: "Yi know, it used to be that t City Commissioners at Pro Utah, went into office poor u after many years of servic retired poor. I have alwa respected these people." ! have I. Fred; so have I. Anc don't really believe it's form of government th counts so much, but it's tl quality and character of peep in government which make tl difference. |