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Show A-13 www.parkrecord.com WED/THURS/FRI, DFXEMBER 3-5, 2008 Summit County budget cuts need to start at the top F or the last 20 years, Summit County's elected officials have been able to approve lots of new capital projects without raising taxes. Those days, though, may be over. , With fewer new commercial projects under construction, a significant slowdown in real-estate sales and a projected slump in sales-tax revenues, the commission cant rely on new growth to pay for the expanded and enhances services that residents have come to expect. This year, holding the line on property taxes will require cuts in spending. After four preliminary budget sessions, county department heads and the commissioners have managed to trim $6 million from the proposed $52 million county budget. But if the nationwide recession deepens, more cuts may be necessary. So far, the building and planning departments have agreed to staff reductions. Those cuts, though painful, appropriately . reflect the decrease in new projects. However, many previously approved projects are underway and it is important that they receive the same scrutiny other projects have undergone to ensure their safety and compliance with county regulations. And that still requires manpower. At the same time, while new growth may be waning, the number of cars on county roads is still increasing, which means that the demands for road maintenance and snowplowing haven't diminished. Nor have citizens' demands on law enforcement and public safety. Which doesn't leave much to cut - except from the top. In the process of deciding how much to allot for the changeover to the new form of government, citizens were told the switch would be cost neutral. Both the sitting commissioners and the new council members should keep their promise, especially in light of the severe economic downturn. In order to redistribute the three commissioners' salaries among five council members and a new county manager, the new council should take minimal salaries and benefits, similar to those taken by Park City council members, and invest the balance in attracting a professional manager. (The commissioners currently earn $60,000 per year plus benefits while Park City council members receive about $11,000 plus benefits). The county should also hold off on hiring an assistant manager until there is a better understanding of how responsibilities will be divided between the new county manager, the elected department heads and the five county councilors. Finally, while they may be legally entitled to continue drawing salaries for the balance of their four-year terms, outgoing commissioners Bob Richer and Ken Wools tenbulme should gracefully decline that compensation. Richer has already said he will not ask for that money. However, Woolstenhulme, who fought against the new form of government, has said he will take the money and give it to charity. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR '•'..Boutique purchases ;.:• benefited food bank • ., Editor: „; The St. Mary's Women's Group would ,,~ like to thank the Park City community for I. its generous support of our recent Christmas in the Meadow Holiday , • Boutique. Over 1,000 people attended and • .'. supported the event. Proceeds from the „ event went to support the St. Mary's Food .Bank. , Mary Lesear and Pat Kutzbach . St. Mary's Women's Group Park City Give police credit for 'shop with a cop' Editor: , . ,. u ( j m ( ,,, l v , t m . ( ,. Thank'you,' and a correction1: Ttianks so much, Park Record, for thinking of the nonprofits and a way to let them known. I would love to think I am behind "shop with a cop," but it is the Fraternal Order of Police that coordinates this effort. I am in charge of the coat program. We all work together, thanks to everyone who cares to give to each program. "Shop with a cop" can be reached at (435) 615-5500. Shelley Vebber Oakley Shopping locally helps local nonprofits resorts' disappointment and weatherrelated anxiety. While it's true that our "season" may not kick in until later in December, believe us when we say it's good for business - and morale - whenever the resorts open. Here at the Crosby Collection, we were as excited as anybody at the prospect of an early opening. The delay, rather than being "no big deal," was Main Street's disappointment, too. In Park City, we're all affected by what happens on the mountain. And very glad to see things get going now. \> Bing and Vickie Crosby r Crosby Collection >•' Park City * Thanks to Habitat donors and volunteers Editor: *•" - ' • ' • < " ' • '" " Thanks to the Park City community for another great year! As we celebrate the close of the most ambitious year to date for Habitat, Summit & Wasatch Counties, we would like to take a moment to thank our donors, sponsors, and volunteers for making it happen. In early 2008, we put the finishing touches on the Kamas/Summit County home and held the dedication. Next, plans were put in place to build four homes in 2008/2009, including two in Heber City and two in Park City. Heber City update: The subdivide and improvements are complete in Heber and the homes should be finished by the end of December 2008/beginning of January 2009. Park City update: Plans have been submitted and the project will begin this summer. All four lots were donated to Habitat by the municipalities in exchange for clearing, subdividing, and making improvements, such as sewer, water, and power, to the properties. This marks the first time in our history that land has been donated to us! In our quest to create much-needed affordable housing in Summit and Wasatch counties, Habitat uses a "hand up" versus a "hand out" philosophy. Our homeowners work side by side with volunteers and invest hundreds of hours of "sweat equity" into their homes and the homes of others. This enables participants to become vested in our program and successful Habitat homeowners. Thanks so much to our donors, sponsors, and volunteers for your support in 2008! For more information on Habitat, please call (435) 658-1400 or visit www.habitatutah.org. ; Editor: On behalf of the Summit Land Conservancy I would like to say a big thank you to Clark and Christie Johnson and Tommy Knocker's for giving us the opportunity to have a silent auction at their 32nd annual customer appreciation party. Clark even designed a pendant inspired by a trail on Prospect Ridge that is permanently protected by one of our conservation easements. This pendant commemorates the open spaces that are so important to our economy and our lifestyle. Thanks to the many businesses that offered wonderful auction items, we were able to raise funds to continue our mission to protect as much of the remaining open spaces in Summit County as possible. As we all know, this is going to be a tough holiday season for many local businesses and nonprofit organizations. By shopping locally, we not only find great gifts for our friends and family, we also support the community that keeps people Julie Bern hard employed and in turn gives back to the Executive director, Habitat, Summit & many local nonprofits. Gift memberships Wasatch Counties to your favorite nonprofits are another way to give twice this holiday season. Many organizations have gift items to. go with membership too.< Together we can and do make Park ' City a wonderful place to live. know where the real men are Cheryl Fox Executive director Summit Land Conservancy What happens at resorts affects us all Editor: As merchants on Main Street, we were surprised to read the headline for the recent (11/22/08) front-page story regarding the delay in opening for the resorts: "Merchants say no big deal." We think the implication of that headline is misleading, especially since we did not see any Main Street retailers or restaurateurs quoted to that effect in the article. We believe that we represent the sentiment of other businesspeople on Main Street who did NOT take casually the Editor: What a delight to hear on NPR news this a.m. (Nov. 29) that the British Rugby Football League players made a public announcement, "Get over it, some men are gay!" Now I'll go to a game or two with my friend Carol this summer. J now know where the REAL MEN are. Kudos! Maureen McAllister Park City 'Music Man' com§s highly recommencJed Editor: I know that these are tough times for many of us in Utah and in the country at large. But I believe that the simple things in life often provide the greatest joy - and the small-town, high class, professional feel of the Egyptian Theatre's production of "The Music Man" just might be the ticket to some simple joy for many local and visiting families during this holiday season. The production value and the energy of the cast propel the audience into a simpler time reminiscent of many of our holiday aspirations and memories, and I would highly recommend anyone interested in good, quality, family fun to let "The Music Man" provide. Your city can be proud to have the Egyptian providing such professional entertainment for your citizens and for those who visit your lovely town. Below is a letter that I sent to Terrence Goodman, the artistic director of The Egyptian Theatre and the director of the "The Music Man." Dear Mr. Goodman, My wife and I attended the opening night of "The Music Man " in celebration of our wedding anniversary, and we had such a wonderful time I had to send you this persona! "Thank You/;" This was our first time to your theatre for a live performance, ha ving seen many Sundance Festival films there in the past, so we were very excited, to say the least. I grew up with local theater so 1 was very excited to come to the Egyptian Theatre for the first time for one of my favorite productions. I was absolutely thrilled at the production value, the charm, and the truly professional presentation of a true classic. In our minds, you really outdid yourself with your attention to detail and quality - sets, costumes, music, singing, choreography - it was all great. And the addition of the marching band at the end was a real treat. Please pass on to your cast and production company oursincerest congratulations and thanks for a job very well done. We are now planning our next evening at the Egyptian Theatre, and we look forward to including our children as well in the fun. We wish you and your "family" a wonderful, successful holiday run with "The Music Man" and a wonderful holiday season as well. Davin and Jennifer Saderholm Salt Lake City OMG: language skills are, like, in trouble Editor: I fear the loss of our language and proper communication skills. I'm known as the weird dad because 1 constantly correct the grammar of visiting kids. I hear teachers, radio hosts, news anchors and business people bungling our language. Supposed college graduates ostensibly believe that the pronoun "your" is the concatenation of a noun and a verb. And lest we forget the abundant use of the nonword "irregardless." Finally, there is this gem from the Department of Unnecessary Participles: "comprised of." Comprise means include so "comprised o f is as meaningless as "included of." It's embarrassing. In the early 1900s, one of the questions required for eighth-grade graduation was to name and cjefine all eight parts of speech. A hundred years later, most of us would fail this question. Most don't know that "good" is an adjective as in "the shirt is a good fit" while "well" is an adverb as in "the shirt fits well" not "fits good." Moreover, does anyone remember the difference between transitive and intransitive verbs? Hint: you lay bricks but you lie (not lay) down for a nap. Why the deterioration? I'm not sure but I recently met a company specializing in the design of human and computer interfaces. Among their findings is that our kids have incredible time management skills learned from lightning-fast electronic messaging. Unfortunately, this newfound skill has come at the expense of quality and depth of thought and proper grammar and syntax. Any teenager's recollection of an event will likely be replete with "like" and monosyllabic grunts. Let's right the ship. Start by telling your kids that the team "played well" or "you had a good game." If we don't. Park City will surely land on Newsweek's other list: Schools That Don't Teach Kids to Speak and Write More Gooder. LETTERS POLICY Kendall Simmons ,|The Park Record welcomes letters to the edi- Park City £"tor on any subject. We ask that the letters ^adhere to the following guidelines: They must Second avalanche lecture set for Dec. 23 Editor: White Pine Touring would like to thank all those that came out to the first of two avalanche-awareness lectures at the Jim Santy Auditorium. The lecture was held as a fundraising event for the Utah Avalanche Forecast Center. With the gracious donations of those who attended we wereable-to raise over $1,300 for the forecasfcenter! A big thanks also goes to all of those sponsors who donated to the opportunity drawing. These donations from our local resorts, restaurants, and business owners made this event a great success. Without their generosity these two events would not be possible. If you were unable to attend the first lecture, please come out on December 23, 2008, for the second lecture. The lecture will be held at the Jim Santy Auditorium at 6 p.m. once again, and there will be more great prizes from our generous sponsors. The lecture will be free to all who would like to attend. We will once again be asking for a $10 suggested donation to the Friends of the Utah Avalanche Forecast Center. Your donation gets you two opportunities to win one of many great prizes. Once again, thank you to all of our sponsors, and all those who came out. With your continued support we can enjoy the beautiful Wasatch backcountry safely for years to come. If you would like more information, please feel free to contact White Pine Touring at (435) 649-8710. Scott House Programs director, White Pine Touring Park City Feast or famine for music programs Editor: The Park City Jazz Foundation's new program that seeks to "strengthen music outreach programs" for band students in the district is an admirable one. Too bad it and the PC Education Foundation couldn't include another constituency in their efforts, those children who would like to take band but are not permitted access to the program. I was shocked when we moved here to find out that my son, who has been looking forward to 5th grade band for years, would not be able to participate in Parley's band, for no reason that has ever been satisfactorily explained to me. We were offered before-school classes at Trailside, but for a family with several children to get to school and a child who is already struggling with a much earlier start time than he was accustomed to, this was not an acceptable solution. He wants to play badly enough that we are paying for private trombone lessons, but he is missing out on the essential learning that goes into playing with an ensemble and the support of learning alongside his peers. I have witnessed how tremendously beneficial participating in band programs has been for his siblings, and am saddened that he will not get that chance at this critical stage of his development. Surely there must be a way to provide equal access for all, and that this should be a higher priority than offering free private lessons for select students. . Catherine Greenwald Park City Include the home (street) address and tele-, \ ; .phone number of the author. No letter will be ^published under an assumed name. Letters £>must not contain libelous material. Letters >>v; jvShould be no longer than about 300 words / : . (about 600 words for guest editorials) and should, if possible, be typed. We reserve the . right to edit letters if they are too long of if .•• they contain statements that are unnecessarily offensive or obscene. Writers are limited to . one letter every seven days. Letters thanking "event sponsors can list no more than 10 individuals and/or businesses. : V:'V:/y .,•• P$&- SEND YOUR LETTER T O : ' " ' ^ ... .EPITOR@PAPKRECORD.COM;| The Park Record Staff PUBLISHER Andy Bemhard Editor Nan Chalat-Noaker Staff writers Jay Hamburger Pat Parkinson Joe Lair Adia Waldburger Greg Marshall Andrew Kirk Contributing writers Tom Clyde Teri Orr Jay Meehan Joan Jacobson Larry Warren Steve Phillips Editor's assistant Alisha Self Copy editor David Hampshire Special sections editor A.M. 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