OCR Text |
Show Community Comments... Drug and alcohol problems and programs are something of a hot potato nationwide, and the same has been true in Grand County. A program directed at addressing these problems locally has been an on-again and off-again situation over the past few years, depending on who was pushing for or against it. For some time now the local drug and alcohol board has been trying to function without any staff backup, and it's no wonder many of the members of that board became discouraged, faced with mountains of frightening statistics, and their own knowledge of problems caused locally by drug and alcohol abuse and ignorance. It was announced last week that the committee wished to disband, in hopes that a new board could be organized to look at the problems through fresh eyes. The county commission agreed to this, and is currently seeking seven enthusiastic people who would be willing to serve on the newly -organized board. Also, plans have been in the mill for several months to provide a local alcohol resource staff person, and although funding for this slot is not yet entirely firmed up, it looks promising that Grand County will have someone in this job in the near future. This person could provide a lot of help to the new drug and alcohol board. With what appears to be a generally supportive community atmosphere currently, this board and the resource person have some real opportunities to do something constructive about local drug and alcohol problem8---by person-to-person contacts, by educational edu-cational campaigns, by offering alternatives, by whatever means they can think up. aft-Speaking aft-Speaking of resource people, another project in the mill has been locating a SE Utah Association of Governments planner in Grand County, a move which many local elected officials feel would go far to alleviating the Price-Moab travel problems experienced both by officials and staffers. There is no question that having someone living in Grand County would lessen travel. Such a move would also result in this person's developing a more in-depth understanding of Grand County's unique problems, which is something to be greatly desired. It is distressing, however, to hear that some local officials are already quibbling about the role an AOG planner would fill, once one is stationed here. Every local official to whom this planner will answer, seems to have a different idea of what constitutes "priority" for his time on the job. And unless heads are gotten together in an attempt to identify real priorities for him, it is a good likelihood that his work will be an impossible task, due to his human inability to serve too many masters at the same time. aft In refusing to act on Gov. Scott Matheson's request that they appropriate funds to purchase the massive Ajax Press building on South Temple in Salt Lake City, the Utah Legislature proved once again that special sessions don't provide the proper atmoshpere for consideration of complex issues. Swayed by testimony of a Utah Liquor Commissioner that the building wasn't adequate for the needs of his department, the majority party in the House killed the measure. Totally ignored was the report of the Utah Building Board recommending that the building was a good deal at the price offered, and the fact that dozens of state agencies other than the Liquor Commission are housed in expensive rental property all over town. |