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Show nr1 i a. Letters ftybL ToThe y jffl Editor New Jersey in June? Since the margin between the two sides of the issue was so slight (10 percent), one might come to the conclusion that the difference was accounted for through "nonresidents" "non-residents" votes. My purpose for writing this is not to support one side or the other, but merely to raise the question as to why those of us who are the real citizens and taxpayers of this community, should have our voice in civic matters dtermined by someone who has permanent ties in another community, in another state! A Cedar City "Resident" Editor: I And to the Citizens of Iron County. I I would like to bring to your at- 1 tention a situation that is threatening I the agricultural lands in your county. I Two small communities in the area i (Summit and Kanarraville) are now r I in the process of protesting sub- I divisions, which if approved, will take . I valuable watershed, and productive S I farm land and convert them into yet I another subdivision in the county. 1 One subdivision situated on : I watershed ground above Summit,, E I was not approved by the County' I Planning Commission at the January - I meeting. The vote was three to two. : I Wolfram, Mitchell, Grimshaw voting I against. Dallen Gardner and Wood ' I voting for. : I Since that vote in January there has : 1 been a tremendous amount of I pressure brought to remove Hal I Mitchell, and Dave Grimshaw from I the County Planning Commission. A :' I reason being cited, that they have : I voted against some subdivisions, and I to some greedy individuals that : I cannot be allowed. What about the I voting record of Dallin Gardner and ; I Bryner Wood, and Howard Nelson? I They are "very" pro subdivision. I What bias will the replacement board Li I have? I'll bet it's pro also. :; I Who is it that wants to take off two I members of the board, and what are : I their real reasons? One is a rancher r I from Parowan who wants to sub- I divide his ranch ground.he sold to two ; I lawyers from Las Vegas, who are in : I the process of sueing the Planning : I Commission because of the vote in ; I January. Other people who have been I lobbying the County Commissioenrs', : I (they appoint the Planning Board) I are some local politicians, some of i I whom have a vested interest in the I subdivisions, some subdividers, local : 1 and otherwise, and some Chamber of ; 11 Commerce people from Parowan. Are " these few greedy short sighted people : H to set policy for the use of agriculture H lands in the County? If the majority of j; the people in Iron County allow this to happen then they are to blame for the Z results. i I feel that (1. There are already too many subdivisions that have been '' allowed to proliferate on farming and grazing lands in the county now. (2. s That by allowing a greedy minority of people, both in the county, and outside ': the state, to set development policy z for us is reprehensible. There should be a county wide vote to see if the majority of the people in the county i want these agriculture lands put into subdivisions. Your agricultural lands are J3 disappearing at a rate of over 300 acres an hour in the United States. They are going into housing, industry, airports, etc. Where is the food production to come from in the future to feed your children and grandchildren? From land paved over with hosues and other non agricultural interests? Hardly. Who is to blame for this? The subdivider, and his financial backers, come into an area and pay in- . flationary prices for farming and grazing lands, far above the actual value of the land for agricultural use. They thereby create a situation where anyone who wants to use the land for food production is forced out of the picture because he cannot afford to compete with the amount of money these people are willing to pay fpr the ground, for subdivision purposes. The . subdivider in turn sells this ground, after as few improvements as he can legally get away with, for an exhorbitant price to people who see in . this small acreage a place to get away from heavy populations, and perhaps to be self-sufficient. In most cases this hope proves to be unrealistic. Some of the people buy subdivision acreage to resell later at a hoped for raise in price, for speculation purposes. Some subdividers say that these people want to come to this area and share our "peaceful, rural way of life." Where will our "peaceful, rural way of life" be when more and more of the ground is sold for subdivisions, and more and more people and their ensuing problems are impacted on our area? Gone, sold for profit by the subdivider and his backers. The County Commissioners, Dee Cowan, Grant Seaman, and James Clark are the people responsible for the County Planning Commission appointments. They put the people into the job, and whether or not the majority of the people is truly represented is up to you. Call them and tell them how you feel about this degradation of our food producing c lands in the county, and come up with z some names of people who can and ; will do a commendable job of plan- H ning our land use. If we don't have a county planning r board who will protect our ' agricultural lands, then the govern-: ment will come in and do it for you, : whether State or Federal. Who then will be to blame for that? Sincerely, Joan Williams Kanarraville, Ut. Editor: I have been a resident of your community for about one year. I feel a debt of graditude to you for the objective ob-jective coverage of the news you provide. - Despite the fact that I am not a native, may I voice an opinion concerning con-cerning the proposed MX Missile system. If the proposed system is a reality, the delightful and serene life style you enjoy will cease, and shall never ; again prevail. The Missile system installation will ring-down-the-curtain and this epoch of peace and tranquility shall cease forevermore. If the citizens of this most blessed area do in fact love themselves, their children, and their God, it is their sacred duty to resist this military take-over with all resources. If this is, in fact, Zion, as proclaimed by the religious leaders of the LDS Church, we should all become willing to defend to the death any incursion-invasion incursion-invasion which brings the capability of the destruction of your culture and a high probability of absolute destruction by instruments of war. True, the financial benefits which may derive are attractive and seducing, in fact. Will you exchange your way of life for a society which will, unerringly include a substantial percentage of whores, thieves, fast-buck fast-buck operators, and all other species of camp followers. Shall we submit to the high probability of becoming a rural slum? Jay Marsden Church of all Faiths Editor: To the Citizens of Southern Utah: If we're going to have the MX Missile Project built in our vicinity, we need to agree on some ground-rules, ground-rules, , so we can approach the program in a dignified, sane, and orderly manner. 1. General Forrest McCartney should be invited to dinner every night in a different home, so he can truly come to know the people he's been talking to. To avoid competition, the menu and entertainment should always be the same: a plate of drippings off the air-cooler air-cooler on the north wall of the China Garden, followed by a 3-hour session of "monopoly Capital" (any questions he asked about rules of play will be answered by,,. VI can't answer that right now"). 2. Enough of secret Task Forces and Advisory Committees which spring full-blown before the public. It's time to hold a special election and elect our own Task Force, responsible to us. Members should represent a cross-section of the community, and a suggested slate includes Mean Joe Green, Anita Bryant, Rev. Ike, Rose Mary Woods, Jo-Jo the Dog-Faced Boy, Jane r onda, the Boards ot Directors of the Sierra Club and Exxon Corp., and Eldridge Cleaver. 3. The City Council shall vote to spend $43.00 on a Star Trek "language fazer" to translate Defense Dept. statements into the Truth. For instance, in-stance, "we fully intend to abide by all State water laws" becomes "You pitiful fools, you have no idea how many loop-holes there are on your books." Or, "Gravel Pits for MX construction will be in MX valleys" becomes "residents of Liegh Hill willsoon have a fine unobstructed view of Alcatraz Island." 4. We should have elections every Tuesday on some facet of the MX controversy, such as, should the military base be put at Brianhead or in the abandoned Desert Mound mine? Voting age should be lowered to 5, since even the IQ's of kin dergartners should be sufficient to deal with the issues, and they're affected af-fected too. Weekly elections would give everybody the Thrill of Participatory Par-ticipatory Democracy, heretofore so sadiy Tacking. 5. Pass a City Ordinance to allow gambling, so people can place pari-mutual pari-mutual bing-bets at Albertsons on the following mysteries: (a) Will MX really be built? (b) Will Mayor Jack Sawyers put a sign saying "We support MX" on the Cedar Theatre Marquee and show "On the Beach"? (c) Is your nearest ajr-raid shelter in the Zion tunnel or on the bottom of the Jr. High swimming pool? Winners of the bets get their families and possessions moved to a safe place such as Harlem, Krakatoa, or 3-Mile Island. Valerie P. Cohen Editor: I would like to clear my stand on the power issue. During last week's battle on whether to vote for UP&L or Municipal there were a lot of things said that were not true. About five or six months ago, before the city election, I indicated that I thought it would be better to go with the municipal system than to stay with CPNaitonal, thereby cutting out the middle man in the system. When UP&L entered into the purchase of the system and indicated what they could do for us with the expertise in management, cutting out the middle man, dropping the rate and averaging us into their system throughout the state. They represented a permanent power source and committed to upgrade the existing facilities. This looked like a much better way for us to go, rather than for Cedar City to get into the power business. There are so many unknown factors when you enter into the Power business when you don't have a firm supplier and the expertise to handle a complicated business such as power still not knowing whether you can sell it cheaper than UP&L. From the figures I have seen it will probably be more, depending on a few factors. Several weeks before voting on the power issue following an interview with the new council members another member of the news media came out with a headline indicating that the new councilmen were wavering on the power issue since the .' election. It also indicated we were leaning toward UP&L, which I myself was, and so indicated. The morning of the election the municipal backers came out with a flyer knowing that we wouldn't have time to contest the information stating that the mayor and all of the city councilmen were in favor of municipal power. That statement was misleading to the people of Cedar City and there were other misleading statements that were made before the ' . election that were untrue. I think it is only fair to tell the people the truth about this issue and the position that I held at the time of the election. I believe that the public was terribly misled during this issue. The official statement of the city council, including statements from both sides of the issue were originally distributed to residents and published. Even the approved statements giving each side an opportuntiy to express their concepts and intents relative to the power issue were distributed with additional information in-formation not approved by the council. I feel that residents of Cedar Ciyt, who elected me to the office of City Council, should know my feelings on this issue. Jack Carter Member Cedar City Council Editor: February 12the day of the Cedar City Power "opinion Poll"-was for the most part, a wasted day. Since this was not an election, but merely an opinion of each citizen, a fair conclusion might just as easily have been arrived at by utilizing a member from each side of the Power issue to go from house to house. This would have saved a lot of time and expense for both sides as well as your tax dollars. Not only were a lot of tax dollars wasted for a mere "opinion" of supposedly the "residents" of Cedar City, but those same dollars were wasted on the "non-residents" of Cedar City in order to sway that same "opinion poll." Why were the September Sept-ember to June "non-residents" of the college registered in order to give their opinion of such a permanent and important issue as this community's power source? Why should an "in-transit" "in-transit" student be registered as a "permanent" resident of Cedar City and Iron County, then plead "student" status when called upon for such responsibilities as jury duty, all tor the sake of swaying an issue (or Election, if you must)? These students are from all over the country, with a few being from Cedar City. They either live in college housing (the power bill being paid by the college), or live off campus (the power bill being paid by Mom and Dad). Their only concern is if the power is on for hot showers, food, TV, curling irons, etc. How could an eighteen year old from New Jersey living in Juniper Hall at SUSC be concerned with the power source for Cedar City when he'll be going back to A TRIBUTE TO GEORGE MILTON SEVY Our departed Comrade, will be sadly missed by all, but well remembered for the faithfullness, courage, and devotion he has instilled in us, for our fellow comrades, our God, our Country, and our families. A job well done, Milt. We shall all be deeply appreciative, and very grateful for your many good deeds always. A good soldier never ceases, but lives in the hearts and spirits of his fellows soldiers forever.. VFW Post 35J0 Ladies Auxiliary Editor: ' ' . The Cedar City Chamber of Com- "j merce Board of Directors would like ; to recognize Mr. M. L. Smith, j Southern Utah State College I Forensics Coach, and his students for ' a superior effort at the recently completed Abe Lincoln Forensic j tournament. ' , ; Also, we congratulate the Southern' 1 Utah-State College Forensic team for their many competitive tournament victories. : Paul Whetman, Pres. i Cedar City Chamber of Commerce "" |