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Show .Vernal Express. Public Forum there's been alot of talk om XV. ABOUT COLD FUSION 4AECK THIS OLD CLUNK OF A FRIDGE y HAS BEEN DOING IT FOR YEARS Letters to the Editor What is your opinion? The Vernal Express welcomes letters from its readers concerning any subject pertinent to the Uintah Basin. There are no restrictions on contents, if not libelous, vindictive vin-dictive and in good taste. The letters need to be a reasonable length, two typewritten double spaced pages. Letters must be submitted exclusively to the Vernal Express and bear the writer's writ-er's full name, signature, phone number and address. Letters for the sole purpose of expressing express-ing thanks to individuals or groups will not be printed in the forum. Letters may be mailed to P.O. Box 1000, Vernal Utah 84078, faxed at 789-8690 or through email at editorvernal.com. The name or names of the persons submitting letters must appear on all published letters. All letters let-ters are subject to condensation. Letters express the opinion of the writer and are not necessarily necessar-ily the opinion of the Vernal Express Editor. A10 Wednesday, June 14, 2006 Naples rights Dear Editor, If you own property or land in Naples City, you have absolutely no rights to do as you please with it. Naples City has decided what is best for everyone. Here approximately 14 years ago my parents purchased a 30 acre parcel of agricultural property with the intention of selling the property when they were ready to retire. My father has since been stricken with a muscular degenerative disease and now is no longer able to take care of his farm he so dearly loves. Recently a large oil field company com-pany (Weatherford) approached my parents about selling their property. This property is perfect per-fect for them since they already border us with their industrial shops. My parents were ecstatic; this is just the offer they had been waiting for. Well, what should have been an easy transfer trans-fer of property has literally become be-come my parent's worst nightmare. night-mare. Somehow through the course of these 14 years, Naples City has rezoned the property to commercial, even though not one single commercial business busi-ness exists within sight of the property. My parents were never notified of the zoning change or the plans to turn their property into a city center. By zoning this basically land-locked piece of property commercial, the city has in essence placed a moratorium moratori-um oh our property. My parents have attended recent zoning and council meetings to try to get the property zoned back to its original industrial zoning Even with the support of the majority of the surrounding landowners, the city still will not let us re-zone. re-zone. They say this is their city center and they want to build a grocery store there, but they are not willing to pay anything for the property. Naples City is basically ba-sically holding my parents hostage hos-tage with their own land. With my parents' declining health they don't have the time to wait on speculation of what might or might not materialize material-ize into a city center. It seems to me that if Naples City wants the land, they should have to pay whatever Weatherford is willing to pay. With increasing medical bills and lack of income from the farm, my parents desperately des-perately need this retirement money now! My parent's pursuit of happiness has turned into the Nightmare on Elm St. Maybe I should say the Nightmare on Naples St. When Naples City was first formed they promised the residents resi-dents and landowners they would not take control of our property. Their exact words, "You control your own destiny." Well, nothing could be further from the truth. A very large portion of the residents in Naples are very dissatisfied dis-satisfied with the direction the city is headed. Here we are in the largest oil and gas boom to hit the area and Naples City has decided to go commercial. We aren't Naples, Italy, we aren't Naples, Florida; we are Naples, Utah. We are oil field trash and ought to be darn proud of it The oil field is the backbone of the whole community. I think Weatherford should have the opportunity to expand its operation op-eration in its present location; it only makes sense! To the city council and mayor, you have all betrayed the trust of the citizens and the community as a whole. If you want a grocery store, my teenage girls would be more than happy to direct you to a more high profile area besides this landlocked property behind Weatherford. I hope you city leaders can all get together and get a good laugh out of cheating an old crippled farmer and lifelong resident out of his retirement Ken Goodrich Candidates Continued from A1 Assessor, if the public so chooses. I have had a lot of people in the community and the County approach me, so I have a lot of support. "Growth is obviously our County's biggest challenge; in the last three years I have been instrumental in implementing imple-menting a new appraisal program for our office. The Information Technology Department Head and I attended the necessary training train-ing and now have the program pro-gram in place. It is not being used to its full potential yet, so my goal is to continue with it until it is on board 100 percent. This program will ensure uniformity on appraisals apprais-als and help the office to have fewer errors. "We need to keep a very close eye on the real estate market We are mandated by the State to stay within 10 percent per-cent of market value; if we are not within that 10 percent, the State Tax Commission would come in and make factor adjustments to the values." The growth challenge is apparent in analysis of the figures. fig-ures. Local new growth from 2005 to 2006 was in excess of $83 million in value. The residential resi-dential lot sales for the first six months of 2005 are compared com-pared to 2006: in 2005 we had 40 residential land lot sales; in 2006 we had 113, nearly three times the number in 2005. The average sale in 2005 was $21,000; in 2006 it was $33,000, representing a 40 percent increase. On homes, average sales increased from $107,000 in 2004 to $144,000 in 2005 to $175,000 in 2006. "We have to reflect this increase in values or the State will come in and adjust the values." Rolene Rasmussen Rolene Rasmussen currently current-ly serves as an Appraiser in the Assessor's Office, as she has for 11 years under the last three County Assessors. Rolene was born in Cleveland, Utah in Emery County, the youngest of 11 children. Raised on a farm, she was "taught to work hard, be grateful for what you have, and keep a good sense of humor. I moved to Vernal 26 years ago, and I am married to Gale Rasmussen. I have never been blessed with children, but with 10 brothers and sisters, sis-ters, I have a semi-truckload of nieces and nephews and their children." Rasmussen stated, "I am seeking election as County Assessor because the taxpayers tax-payers can benefit from the 15 years they have already invested in me. June 27th is the opportunity to put those years of service to work, as you vote for the Assessor. I started in the front office as a Data Collector, working work-ing with the Assessor and Appraisers and helping at the front counter. I worked on the Farmland Assessment (Greenbelt Properties). During the first year or so, the Assessor assigned me Office Manager responsibilities. responsibili-ties. After two years in the Office, I began training as an Appraiser. I have been a certified cer-tified appraiser for 11 years. With my a work experience, it just seems logical to step into the Assessor vacancy." Rolene Rasmussen's campaign cam-paign theme is "I am the right candidate for your County Assessor." Rolene was working in the Assessor's Office when Gayla Casper was hired as an Appraiser, Gayla had several sev-eral years of experience and training as an Appraiser. She worked a few years longer, lon-ger, gaining knowledge and experience from two County Assessors before entering her candidacy. "I have worked for 15 years in the Office with three Assessors and I am the most qualified qual-ified to do the job," Rasmussen said. Asked about the major problems prob-lems facing Uintah County, she said, "The same issues keep recycling. recy-cling. These are some of the same issues we faced in the early 1980s, just on a much grander scale. How does the Assessor prepare for ups and downs? After helping help-ing prepare 11 annual assessment rolls and reappraising the County for 11 years, I have the experience to analyze the market, anticipate the cycles and adjust the values, before inequity and problems are created for the taxpayers." "It is vitally important with our current exploding growth," Rolene continued, "to have an Assessor that can do what the job demands. After 15 years in the office, I know what the job is, and I have the training, experience experi-ence and skills to do the best job the taxpayers deserve and expect. I'm not just a candidate seeking election, I am also a taxpayer, and I care how our tax dollars are spent. I've been here through the good times and the not-so-good times. I will still be here to help pay the results of whatever our economy brings." Robert Kay Robert Kay seeks re-election as Uintah County Surveyor. He is a licensed land surveyor in four states. He has been the responsible responsi-ble charge of actual survey work for over 33 years and a licensed surveyor for more than 26 years. Born and raised in Vernal by his parents Lawrence and Joy Kay, also life-long residents, Robert Kay stated, "Four years ago I ran for the position because of the movement underway to create cre-ate a full time County Surveyor. I went to the County and showed them the costs and said I could do a better job for a fraction of the cost. We have. I'm running again this year because I want to finish what we've started. We haven't wasted one cent of the taxpayers taxpay-ers money. Actually, I would like to work this out of a job. With today's technology, we don't need to do things over and over again". An example of accomplishment in the last four years is the work at the cemeteries which were in bad shape, with graves on other people's plots. "We re-plotted and re-filed for record every grave. We set several control points so everybody can measure into a plot. There isn't a need for the County Surveyor for the cemeteries cemeter-ies any longer. I am working with the tax payer in mind and not my own interests." Robert Kay believes in the need for using common sense. "Another example is Ashley Valley Control Coordinates. Randy Simmons, County Recorder, needed NAD 83 Coordinates so his software would run properly. When we did that, we shot every corner in the Valley with GPS and set several sev-eral control points, strategically placed through the valley, placed out of harm's way. With this control con-trol network, someone can set up on any section corner or control point You haven't seen many surveyors out in the middle of the road lately because there are control con-trol points they can access to in every corner in the network, from the Armory, cemeteries, scenic view and others throughout the Valley. We did the job Simmons wanted, but it will work for everyone every-one forever." The plots were filed and sent to every survey company in the Valley. Survey has always been a very important part of this Valley. The County Survey was set up originally to protect everybody's property rights. "Now," said Kay, "make the dollars count Tax payer money doesn't need to be thrown away." Robert has heard from some that want to restore the monument monu-ment corners but he says he's not going to seek that out "They don't need to be in the middle of the roads." "The laws governing County Surveyors always start out that 'County Surveyor or his Designee' should go out and monument all corners." Kay interprets that to mean any licensed professional that can recognize the section corners. Kay reminds citizens, "By this vote, you will hire your surveyor. sur-veyor. What I have always done is to interpret laws that any professional can survey, not just the County Surveyor. For example, the oil industry pays for what they need, not the tax payer, and that's as it should be. We will set the monument corners cor-ners back if demanded by the Commission, but they are not requesting that." John Slaugh John Slaugh is the candidate for County Surveyor running against incumbent Robert Kay. Born and raised in Glines, John says the farm is where he learned to work. He has been married to his wife Charlotte for 36 years; they have 8 children and 11 grandchildren. He moved from Glines to Davis in the 1980s and then to Lapoint where they have lived since 1997. "I was on the Uintah County Planning Commission for six years, chairman for 1 12 years," John related. "I worked with fine people there, and got to know those in Planning and Inspections and Tri-County Health Departments, and the County Commissioners, all good people." Slaugh began surveying in 1970 under Nelson Marshall who was the previous County Surveyor for 38 years. Marshall was one of the original origi-nal founders who owned Uintah Engineering & Land Survey. Slaugh was Vice President and Co-owner for six years beginning begin-ning in 1988 through August of 1994. "At that time, I left UELS and started a contracting contract-ing business, contracting with Tri-State Land Survey and others. oth-ers. In 2004, Kolby Kay and I started Timberline Land Survey Company with myself as President and Kolby as Vice President." Slaugh obtained his Land Surveyor License in 2005. "I have worked in the survey industry since 1970, always under someone else's license," John explained. "Maybe I should have licensed years ago, but a person gets busy with work, raising a family and following fol-lowing through with volunteer commitments, and I just didn't take the time it would require in the earlier years." John Slaugh recognizes the main problem for the Basin and the Surveyor's Office as "the potential for growth. What will it be like a few years from now? There is a great demand for energy and we are in a location where a lot of that energy is bar- 8E3SSS&ti szjVr -rfr A taxing proposition By Bill O'Reilly One of the goals of the far left in America is "income redistribution." redistri-bution." That is taking money from the wealthy and giving it to the less well off in the form of entitlements or sometimes direct payments like welfare and food stamps. The problem with that philosophy is that there are relatively few wealthy Americans, less than 10 million of us make more than $100,000 a year, while about 30 million citizens live below the poverty line. Thus, the tax burden on the wealthy has to be enormous in order to effectively "redistribute" income. And one of the primary pri-mary ways the government seeks to do that is through the estate tax. When rich Americans die, the feds move in and seize more than half the deceased person's assets over $2 million. One problem: that seizure of private property may be by definition defi-nition "unreasonable." Thus, unconstitutional. You see, in order to possess anything, you have to acquire it. Mostly, we buy our assets with dollars that have already been taxed. So before we purchase stocks, bonds, houses, cars or anything any-thing else of value, we should have, by law, already rendered to Caesar.. . ,.: -; But this is not enough for the far left. They want half our stuff after we die. They want to seize private property. This, I believe, is what Karl Marx had in mind. Right, Fidel Castro? One of the chief proponents of income redistribution is the New York Times, which frames the estate tax issue this way: "There is no moral justification for cutting estate taxes. Much of the wealth taxed after death has never been taxed because profits ... are not taxed until the asset is sold." By that way of thinking, you really don't own anything. You are partners with the government in everything you buy (with after tax dollars) that is worth more than 2 million bucks. Partners unless what you buy declines in value, then you are on your own. Your Uncle Sam will not reimburse your loss. The goal of the far left is to create a monstrous central government govern-ment that will "nurture" the have-nots in America. Therefore, disproportionate taxation for the prosperous has to become permanent. New York State, for example, has the highest taxation taxa-tion in the nation because of out-of-control spending. And guess what? Nobody in Albany, N.Y., is watching the money. A new report says there may be as much as $4 billion in Medicaid fraud EVERY YEAR. But who cares? The tax money is endless. Did you know that education spending in the USA is now the highest for any country in the history of civilization? And, according to reporting in Newsweek Magazine, American 15-year-olds rank 15th worldwide in reading assessment. Surprised? You shouldn't be. Effective teaching and discipline, not money, are the keys to learning. But money is what the far left wants the government to have -- your money. This "tax cuts for rich" ruse is blatantly dishonest. Let's be upfront about the tax issue. The progressives want social engineering and economic "equality." Conservatives believe that private property is sacrosanct and, while taxes are necessary, the government should use the money wisely and responsibly to create cre-ate opportunities not to ensure lifestyles. The estate tax debate going on right now in Congress is just a small skirmish in the raging American culture war. But it is an illuminating one. Veteran TV news anchor Bill O'Reilly is host of the Fox News show "The O'Reilly Factor" and author of the book "Who's Looking Out For You?" To find out more about Bill O'Reilly, and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, cartoon-ists, visit the Creators Syndicate web page at www.creators.com. This column originates on the Web site www.billoreilly.com. COPYRIGHT 2006 BmOReiUy.com. vested. People are moving in to Vernal and there is going to be steady growth for some time to come. How do we increase our infrastructure to handle the numbers of people coming in? For example, the business centers and recreation centers will need to grow along with the population." Slaugh realizes real-izes that this undertaking is being explored by qualified people; he worked on it with the Planning Commission. |