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Show Page A12 Thursday, January 4, 1990 Park Record wiEwiPdDnRPir Finding the public good In a dignified ceremony Tuesday night the new mayor and two new council members were sworn into office. Just that quickly and simply the new guard promised to "... discharge the duties of my office with fidelity." It is a solemn oath pledging devotion and faithfulness to serve the public good and we applaud ap-plaud those new city officials and wish them luck, because before they have time to get their nameplates situated in front of them in chambers they will be faced with a myriad of difficult decisions. deci-sions. At the top of the list is picking an additional council member to fill the seat now vacant with former council member Brad Olch becoming mayor. There are four top-notch contenders for the position. We feel any one of the four would serve the city well. However, in the interest of fairness we think there is a clear choice. Since this was an election year and the vacancy was created because of a successful campaign by a council member, it seems that three seats were really up for grabs, not two. That seat then should go to the person who had the next highest number of votes, whether by one vote or 100. That person was Jeff Scott. We've heard all the arguments for and against the other contenders and there is a great deal of good reasoning in terms of what creates good government as to why different people should be named. Kristen Rogers has been a strong council member. Just last week we wrote an editorial singing her praises over the past four years, but she chose not to run again. Gordon Strachan is a first rate attorney who has worked for nearly a dozen years promoting Park City and the ski industry in the Utah Legislature. He did not run for office. The hair splitter here is Ruth Gezelius. She did run and she was only one vote away from Scott. She has served on the Park City Planning Com- V. t ' Ay 1 1 i - V : i. m si,? m 'A i P 7 y M4. AJ. y Tm li Liiii.. mission for a number of years and has made a genuine ge-nuine contribution to the community as well. She did not ask for a re-count when she learned that Brad won the mayoral race and his seat would be vacant. The council must show they are fair and can work together. Selecting Scott would be a first good step. Second, in the interest of good, fair, open government is the matter of keeping the meeting open when the council discusses new council member Bob Richer's proposed subdivision. Right off the bat the public needs to feel public servants ser-vants will be working for the public good. Then there is the matter of the Carl Winters School. What promises have been made to the public regarding saving that building and saving the open space? That city-owned building could be the cornerstone to an entire new phase of redevelopment. Or it could be a park. And let's not forget the issue that Aspen is facing, fac-ing, a recall vote of its mayor and severalcouncil members the fur, anti-fur issue. Those people who think fur should not be sold in Park City plan to present the council with a petition asking for an ordinance to be drafted to that effect. Can you legislate morality? Is it free enterprise to sell whatever you please? Do we have head shops or adult bookstores on Main Street? Did we legislate that? Other councils have started out at this mid-year point with meeting department heads and learning learn-ing how the city works. This council will be forced right away to make the city work. Good luck. HWWA.NOWDWCfc r VoD ATEP-SLIOE- is -mm- STotAP - stcw- V SToMP . olA p . STOMP- STEP-SLIDE- 1 A. mF.c,T0Mp? X 1 I . step-slide ? "x c Carl Winters School is the subject of numerous plans by Leslie Miller The proposal which would sell off Park City's last remaining parcel of open space is flawed and bad for the community. The parcel adjoining the old Carl Winters Middle School, was purchased with tax payer dollars, by the City, from the School District in 1985 for the sole purpose of preserving this five acre parcel as permanent open space for the public. Now Park City residents are being cajoled into believing we should sell this open space in exchange for a so called cultural center. The Carl Winters School has been the subject of numerous plans for rennovation during the past few years. While some of those plans respected the architectural integrity of the building, and would have left the field as open space, the current proposal will dwarf and hide the CWS and consume con-sume the existing open space. The proposal to build a four or five story structure struc-ture there raises serious concerns about the future of historic Park City. The successful New York developer who wants to build this project is deciding for Park City what our future will look like. Despite his claims of being sensitive to the community it seems dubious that he could have an understanding of the nature of Park City when he is currently building a fifty story sky scraper in New York City. His comment that a structure of only five stories is "quaint" or "charming" is a very telling statement. The city should take our future into its own hands rather than trusting it to a big city developer. The city should be held accountable on the promise they made to us when they bought that property. The whole Park City community is entitled to participate in a plan for the rennovation of the CWS into a real cultural center, where the open space will be preserved as it was intended. A park where the general public is welcome is what Park City needs. This could be accomplished in the same manner that the city renovated our library, beautified our city park, and purchased our racquet club. It would become a place of civic pride that reflects the true flavor of historic Park City. It is time for city officials and the council elect to make a decision on behalf of the residents who have invested their lives in this community. Leslie Miller has lived in Park City 16 years, and owns the Silver Sage. As t Sea It is a weekly column published by th Park Record. Submissions are welcome and we ask that columns col-umns adhere to the following guidelines : They should be submitted to the Park Record of ices at 1670 Bonanza Drive or received in the mail (P.O. Box 36SS, P.C., VI 84W) no later than $ p.m, on Monday before publication. They must be signed and include name, address and telephone number of author. No column will be published under an assumed nam. They must not contain libelous material Columns should, if possible, be typed and we reserve the right to edit letters If they are too long for the space available or if they contain statement we consider unnecessarily offensive or obscene. i I Y TTD J. iA (B JljIl T1 What was your New Year's resolution, and have you broken it yet? r s . ' - A ' : s I " . .- r Corylligham waiter My New Year's reolution was to make money in the '90s, so I'm working two jobs. Katrina Sinclair visitor from Australia I only had one resolution to understand my computer more. But I haven't been home to use it. Jaylliggins restaurant host Yes, I made a resolution, to quit nicotine in all its nasty forms. I'm doing great. It's been no problem so far. FayeSlettom retail sales My New Year's resolution was the universal resolution resolu-tion to go on a diet and lose a few pounds. And no, I haven't kept on it. Jack Finkel furrier I didn't make any resolutions. resolu-tions. I didn't have time. I've been busy. Chris Bender ski rep My resolutions were to continue con-tinue growth in my business and to sort of mellow out on drinking. So far I've done great. |