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Show Wed/Thurs/Fri, May 17-19, 2006 The Park Record A-2 Staffers leery of candidate tions starting this year and they are expected to make their local debut during June 27 primaries. Dopp acknowledges that she spoke to two or three people at the cerns about the Diebold machines By JAY HAMBURGER but said she was not campaigning on demonstration who were not City Of the Record staff Monday when she spoke to people. Hall workers, briefly addressing the "I'm open and honest. I made machines and giving them fliers. City Hall officials apparently did She says she attended the demonnot have a problem when Kathy that mistake out of ignorance," Dopp showed up last Monday for a Dopp says, adding that her cam- stration because it offered her an opportunity to pass out fliers. She demonstration of Summit County's paign has not yet launched. She says she dropped off fliers at does not currently plan to attend new touch-screen voting machines. But when she started popping the Legal, Public Affairs, Planning more voting-machine demonstrainto offices of city staffers, Dopp, a and Building departments and the tions but did not rule that out. •Mayor Dana Williams spoke to candidate for Summit County clerk, mayors office and KPCW. However, apparently made people with the she says that the staffers were not Dopp briefly during the demonstrainterested in discussing the voting tion and took one of her fliers. He government leery. said he was among those who spoke Park City Attorney Mark machines with her. "No one took any time to talk to to the city attorney about Dopp. He Harrington reports Dopp went said it is not appropriate for candithrough City Hall giving out a flier me," she says. with information about Diebold Critics like Dopp charge that the dates to approach staffers at their Election Systems, the manufacturer touch-screen voting machines can be offices. of the controversial voting machines. manipulated and that there is not "Lobbying during the workday is She is seen at City Hall frequent- enough evidence afterward to con- not furthering the work of the city," ly, Harrington says, and during the duct a proper audit. The company Williams said. Summit County Clerk Sue demonstration, Dopp "on and off disagrees and claims that its security Follett, whose re-election bid ended continued to give her side of the is adequate. Diebold machines," according to Dopp says that she worries about after she did not receive enough Harrington. the tallies being tinkered with and votes at the April Summit County That was problematic, the city that votes will be counted toward Democratic Party convention, plans attorney says, because City Hall candidates that voters do not pick. to hold the demonstrations through does not allow its staffers to partici- Election operatives, she charges, can the primary. pate in electioneering while they are tamper with votes without being Dopp is awaiting the winner of working. Listening to Dopp's spiel detected. the Democratic nomination. Cindy about the machines is characterized She claims that the media is not LoPiccolo, the senior recorder for as political activity, Harrington says. properly addressing the concerns City Hall, and Kent Jones, the forHe says that some City Hall and that she is appalled with the mer county clerk, are competing for workers complained about Dopp^ media coverage of the touch-screen the party's nod. activities during the demonstration machines. Dopp categorizes quesFollett and Dopp during the and he asked Dopp to, "refrain from tions about her activities at City Hall demonstration were seen in a backgoing into individual workplaces and during the demonstration as "trivial and-forth debate and Follett says (distributing) campaign informa- stuff' compared to the Diebold they were discussing election laws issues, which, she says, are a "serious and she says she was ignoring Dopp's tion." discussions with others. Dopp this week acknowledges attack on American democracy." The Statehouse mandated that "I wasn't listening to her converthat she should not have been pressing staffers at City Hall with her con- the machines be used in Utah elec- sations with the people." Follett said. A productive stroll They complained after clerk hopeful went office to office with Diebold criticisms Bankerforcesprimary with Ure aggressive in their politics," Hartley said. "I don't know if Dave has a broader appeal to the primary Wasatch and Summit counties. "The issues that are important to voter." No senators currently hail from people in Park City are often quite different than the issues that the Summit County. Allen Christensen, folks in the Uintah Basin care a Republican from North Ogden, represents much of eastern Summit about," Hartley said. But as a conservative lawmaker County in Senate District 19. from rural Utah, Ure successfully Christensen's seat is not on the balrepresents many liberals in Park lot in 2006. City, he added. Ure was not available to com"The reality is that he can con- ment for this story. He recently told The Park nect with a lot of different people," Hartley said. "He has respect in Record the Senate seat appealed to Park City where the issues are not him because senators serve fourthe same as a dairy farmer would year terms rather than the two-year terms of representatives. He said, have himself." Meanwhile, relatively moderate with fewer senators, a smaller numRepublicans like Ure can poll better. ber of votes are needed for a bill to among the electorate in Utah than pass and that senators hold power to delegates, who are often more right confirm gubernatorial appointments, like judges, the state's wing. "The delegates are more active, Transportation Commission and the they're more aware, they're more state's Board of Regents. * Continued from A-1 Ure irked his constituents in 2000 when he unsuccessfully sponsored a bill for Questar that made it easier for utilities to raise rates and eliminated one of the states' consumer watchdogs. Twice Ure has vied for the powerful speaker of House position. Former Rep. Marty Stephens, a Republican from Weber County, defeated Ure for the top leadership position in 2002. In 2004, House Speaker Greg Curtis, R-Sandy, beat out Ure to lead the legislative body. Ure says voters should send him to the Senate because he is the candidate with the most experience on Capitol Hill. "It'll be interesting to see which part of the state turns out to vote," Hartley said. "If Representative Ure works hard to get his folks to the polls, and we don't have a great turnout out in the (Uintah) Basin, then he could win." 2 Dems to vie in House primary • Continued from A-1 "I didn't know who [Weyher] was when I walked in ... I don't care who he is or what party he represents," Butz said. "We've been trying to catch somebody there and the door just happened to be open." Butz insists he introduced himself to Weyher. "I was also informed that my (campaign) signs in the window didn't meet the county's sign ordinance," Weyher said. But zoning codes in the Snyderville Basin do not regulate political signs. Weyher insists the signs won't be removed. He says he intends to contribute lots of money to efforts to unseat Thomas in the Senate. Thomas was forced into a primary during the state Republican nominating convention Saturday when he defeated his opponent, Ogden Police Chief Jon Greiner, by just one delegate vote. "Jon Greiner has a base of support in Ogden that is pretty strong," said Jeff Hartley, executive director of the Utah Republican Party. "It's two strong leaders who have constituencies that are facing off in a primary that, if the convention is indicative of anything, it's going to be very close." The winner of that Republican primary will take on Democrat Stuart Reid in November. Thomas was not immediately available to comment about Weyher's allegations. Meanwhile, Weyher is one step closer to his goal of adding a liberal woman to the ranks of the Utah Legislature. Christine Johnson, who is from Salt Lake City, almost garnered enough delegate support to avoid a primary race during the Utah Democratic Party nominating convention on Saturday. "She was. only a handful of votes short of taking the nomination at convention," Summit County Democratic Party Secretary Laura Bonbam said. Instead, Johnson will face off June 27 in a Democratic primary against Salt Lake City resident Josh Ewing for the opportunity to replace Democratic Rep. Ross Romero in House District 25. District 25 includes constituents in Salt Lake and the Snyderville Basin. Romero replaced Democrat Scott Daniels in the seat after Daniels chose not to seek another term in 2004. The winner of the Democratic primary could face Republican Kenneth Grover in the race for House District 25 in November. Other Democrats nominated Saturday to seek state offices include: Bonham, who is running for House District 53, and Roland Uresk, who is running for Senate District 26 to replace retiring Republican state Sen. Beverly Evans. Bonham will likely face off against former state Speaker of the House Mel Brown, a Republican, in November. "The Democratic Party here looks at this midterm election as a good opportunity to make some gains and I think we'll be successful at doing that," Bonham said. Paula Dean, with her sons Jackson, age 6, and Carter, age 1, of Kamas, help pick up trash along Park Avenue Saturday during the Pride in your Park day. The city-wide cleanup is part of Park City's annual spring cleaning, clearing the trash left over after the snow melts. GRAYSON WEST/PARK RECORD Park City encourages pedal power • Continued from A-1 office-bound employees to compete with a team or individually for mileage and participation points in a "Bike/Walk Commuter Challenge." Cyclists must submit a log of miles and participants by June 1 to enter in the contest. Winners will be announced at National Trails Day June 3 in Park City Mountain Resort's First Time parking lot. Those who live too far from work to bike can participate in the challenge by walking a minimum of a mile on a lunch break, or by riding their bikes for two miles during the day. Reporting a team's numbers is strictly "on your honor," Potter says. Potter has already been told of teams organizing in advance - Cole Sport, she says, is already "fired up." Cole Sport store manager Scott Dudevoir says, as one of the founding members of the Alternative Transportation Committee, he feels compelled to get as many people to participate as possible. "I think ultimately, we can help shape awareness and transportation around the community...1 definitely think people could walk and bike more," he said. Park City Chamber/Bureau Director of Member Services Kristin Carpenter said the Chamber/Bureau staff would also compete in the challenge. "We approached the foundation to sponsor the event, because we're in support of the objective of biking or walking to work - it's good for the environment," she said. "We definitely plan to have a team [that will be biking to work]." The Chamber/Bureau has also joined Mountain Trails and the Snyderville Basin Special Recreation District to promote the event, inviting cycling com- muters to a morning pit stop at the Yarrow Hotel parking lot. Cyclists who stop by from 7:30 to 9: 30 a.m. will be able to pick up complimentary coffee, bagels and bicycle belis. Organizers at the Yarrow will also distribute the Mountain Trails Foundation's new Cyclist's Map, detailing all 340 miles of trails in the area available for 2006. This year, the Foundation added six new miles to the map, including a few in Round Valley, near S.R. 248, a road at the Utah Olympic Park and a finished East S.R. 224 Connector Trail. Mountain Trails, in conjunction with several citywide and countywide organizations will additionally celebrate the grand opening of the connector trail with a "Silver Spoke Gala" on Saturday. According to Potter, since the route parallels S.R. 224 and crosses wetlands, several bridges were built. "It took a few years," she said, and was a "very expensive" project. The theme of Saturday's event is a take off on "connecting the United States with a golden spike,'1 she notes, and will feature a 9 a.m. bike ride or walk from Dan's Food parking lot or Basin Recreation Field House to the Willow Creek Park. Festivities will include a bike rodeo, bike safety checks from local bike shops and free youth helmets from the Summit County Health Department. Potter says that if one person rides a bike to work on Friday, she will view the event as a success, but she suspects the event to build in years to come. Her greatest hope would be for Park City's hills "to be alive with bicycle bells." For more information on bike month, visit www.bikemonth.org. For more information on Mountain Trails events, visit www.mountaintrails.org. Huntsman supports border plan SALT LAKE CITY (AP) Gov. Jon Huntsman said Monday he supports President Bush's decision to send as many as 6,000 National Guard troops to the Mexican border in an effort to stop a tide of illegal immigrants entering the country. "This is sound public policy," Huntsman said. Bush's announcement comes little more than a week before Mexican President Vicente Fox is scheduled to meet with Huntsman and other state leaders on a trip that will include visits to Seattle and Sacramento, Calif. The Utah Minuteman Project is planning protests at the governor's mansion and at the state Capitol, where Fox is scheduled to address a special session of the Legislature. Utah Minuteman Project founder Alex Segura said he sup- ports Bush's plan, but thinks it will accomplish little. "It's just another shell game to make it look like he's doing something because the political heat in his kitchen is getting so hot he's getting burned by everything he touches," Segura said. Bush's speech comes as the U.S. Senate begins work on legislation to strengthen border security, authorize new guest worker programs and give an eventual chance at citizenship to most of the estimated 12 million people already living illegally in the United States. Huntsman said he believes most Utah residents would support Bush's plan. "In most all of the conversations I've had on the issue, our citizens almost to a person agree that this is a problem crying out for a solution. In order to ade- quately address the problem, you've got to start with the border," he said. The Western Governors' Association, of which Utah is a member, adopted a resolution in February in opposition to offering blanket amnesty to all undocumented workers. The association supports steps to reduce the delays in legal immigration and to tighten security at the U.S.Mexico border. Those topics will headline Huntsman's talk with Fox on immigration. "What is important about this, is he will better understand the sentiment and the urgency that many Americans attach to the issue. You can't fully understand that being outside of the area," he said. Fox's visit will be the first by a Mexican president to Utah. The Blind Dog Restaurant & Sushi Bar Will Reopen This Thursday At 5PM! To make reservations please call 655-0800 www.blinddoggrill.com 1781 Sidewinder Drive Park City, Utah \t |