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Show Cf7TO Page 2 Orem-Geneva Times Wednesday, January 30, 1991 Editorial o conflict of interest seen in SCERA Park Op ntairy N It is human nature for anyone who earns money to want to be able to decide how that money is to be spent. Individuals have a vested interest in making decisions as to the disposition of their income. They have every right to control their expenditures. expendi-tures. Philanthropic institutions and foundations set up elaborate policies and procedures to quantify the nature and kinds of gifts they make, based on criteria they establish. The federal government, not unlike individuals and eleemosynary institutions, also develops elaborate and often complicated rules and regulations for the awarding of loans and grants. In recent years the challenge of acquiring expertise and success in qualifying for and receiving government largess has become a very specialized discipline. FEDERAL GRANTS Larger municipalities, counties and states, now employ administrators who make careers of navigating the choppy waters of the federal bureaucracy, and bringing the federal grants to safe harbor. The fact that federal money has strings on it is neither unusual or surprising. The accountability of hundreds of millions mil-lions of dollars is a crucial ingredient in the nation-wide program pro-gram of federal grants. It is both judicious and reasonable for municipal, county and state governments to meet established guidelines for receiving grants, and then to be carefully monitored in the use of those funds. REGULAR AUDITS It is just good business for Uncle Sam to make regular audits, and even surprise audits, of local government entities receiving federal funding. It keeps responsible administrators and elected officials on the alert to follow specified procedures and maintain the related documentation. Moreover, when questions of impropriety are raised about particular programs, as they do from time to time, errors in procedures can be identified and any flaws can be corrected. t li f 'v F MBK. Mall m m I IttTl I 1l IMOTT i IT NT i W H IT1 By Clyde E. Weeks You see them in the "PERSONALS" "PER-SONALS" column: ads that say, "Adoption-Caucasian couple. Loving California doctor and full-time full-time homemaker, longing to adopt a healthy, white new-born. Legal and confidential. Call collect." -OR- "Childless couple unable to have children, seeking white newborn new-born to share our love and home. Call collect. Paul and Mary. " The demand for babies exceeds ex-ceeds the supply, and it is no different dif-ferent for couples living Under Timpanogos Green who want to adopt. Over the years, countless couples have opened their homes, not only to "white newborn" children, but to children of all races and nationalities. Chuck and Ginger Larsen just brought back two beautiful little girls from Romania, and many others have gone as far as the Philippines to adopt children "WHITE NEWBORN" I suspect that for most couples, adopting the "white newborn" new-born" baby is the ultimate in filling fill-ing that need for a child. And I have the greatest respect for those who open their homes to children of their own race and skin color. How many children have received the warmth and nurturing of such a loving family as an adopted child? But, I feel that an even greater challenge may face those who take into their homes children of different races and colors-even children who may be older, coming from entirely different dif-ferent cultures. Over the years, many people in this community have taken into their homes Indian children under the LDS Church Indian Placement Program. Indian boys and girls of varying ages would come and spend the school year with local families, attending Orem schools and becoming, for all practical purposes, adopted children. INDIAN CULTURE Meshing the Indian culture with the local culture sometimes became more than a family could work out, and so, other arrangements arrange-ments had to be made. In other situations the Indian children returned to their white families, year after year, learning the English language very well and adapting to the ways of our local culture in a remarkable manner. George P. Lee was one of the Navajo boys who came to live with Glen and Joanne Harker of Orem some 30 years go. He was bright and alert and made the most of his opportunity at education educa-tion and a stable family life. Active in the church to which his adoptive parents belonged, George attended Brigham Young M T&i University and received his diploma. He married a lovely Indian In-dian girl and had a family. UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT Pursuing his education, he eventually became the president of an Indian university, and then a member of the First Quorum of Seventy of the LDS Church. Another boy from the same tribe grew up on the Navajo Indian In-dian Reservation in Tuba City, Arizona. He never knew much compassion andlove, and the only memory he had of his mother was sitting on her lap in a jail cell. Abandoned by his alcoholic mother, he was placed in the jail cell with his mother when the authorities had no other place to put him. But Norm and Helen McDonald Mc-Donald had decided to adopt another son. They knew they made the right choice when they saw the 8-year-old Navajo boy, trying to cover a hole in the knee of his Levis. Cornell McDonald fit right in with his new family which eventually even-tually numbered 10. He did well in school, as well as in sports. An excellent ex-cellent student, he received a four-year, four-year, general scholarship to BYU. STARTED DRINKING But when Cornell was 19, he started drinking. That led to an unhappy life which kept him on the move from one place to another, looking for happiness and fulfillment fulfill-ment There is much we don't know about alcoholism, but one thing is certain: no one ever became an alcoholic al-coholic who never took that first drink. Cornell Mcdonald lived on the edge of life for 18 years, fighting the battle of the bottle. Finally, he became involved in an alcohol-related robbery in California. He escaped from jail, but two years later, he was caught and sent to San Quentin Prison. HOME TO OREM After completing his sentence, Cornell returned to the family in Orem where his parents stood by and offered love and support. He even got a job in a printing shop. But alcohol and the years of living on the run had taken their toll. Last December, Cornell succumbed suc-cumbed to the temptation for "one. more sip." He went out into the night and hitchhiked to Salt Lake City. Many more sips later, he found himself in a homeless camp, lying with other alcoholics on a wooden pallet. But, it seemed he was lying on a pallet another man claimed was his. Later, police found Cornell McDonald's frozen body with his head battered and his blood scattered scat-tered over a 100-foot area. Charged with the crime is a Texas Such a review was recently conducted by the U.S. Department Depart-ment of Housing and Urban Development in response to a complaint submitted to that agency, which included alleged violations of the Community Development Block Grant conflict of interest provisions in the City of Orem. This review included an assessment of the City's policies and procedures for complying comply-ing with the conflict of interest requirement and a review of policy implementation. SCERA PARK PURCHASE Although the review was general in purpose, it focused on the proceedings relating to the acquisition of the SCERA Park by the City of Orem in 1990 for $1.1 million. Following this review, the HUD office reported: "Our review covered minutes of public hearings involving discussions and decisions concerning the project, legal relationships relation-ships of city elected officials have dual roles as board members of SCERA and the City's legal policies and procedures for preventing conflict of interest violations. "From our review, we were not able to determine any instance, in-stance, surrounding the City's decision to purchase the park, that resembled any conflict of interest. After carefully weighing the involvement of all parties involved in this decision in relationship to the nonprofit status and public purpose of SCERA, we have concluded that no violation of the conflict of interest rule has occurred. This determination is based on the proceedings of public hearings regarding the purchase, the City's legal procedures requiring full disclosure and clearance for acts that threaten conflict of interest provisions, and conscious con-scious action by the City to remove the appropriate parties from the decision-making process when such personal gains are suspected. "Our review found no other basis for noncompliance with this requirement in the City's CDBG program Generally, the City has good management systems in place to prevent such occurrences." Should eminent domain One controversial feature of the Urban Redevelopment ACT (RDA) is the provision which enables the municipal government to exercise the right of Eminent Domain. This allows the condemnation of private property to facilitate the development of shopping centers and other commercial enterprises. Private property, therefore, is subject to condemnation con-demnation to benefit commercial interests. Opponents of Eminent Domain consider this an unwarranted invasion of property rights. GARY GUNN "No. In certain circumstances cir-cumstances it might be beneficial. I would want to know the specific situation. situa-tion. It would have been an unfortunate thing for this community, for example, ex-ample, if the University Mall had to be built somewhere some-where else." Erison parolee whose preliminary earing is scheduled this week. Helen McDonald says, "My son was born in a hogan and he died in a hovel. But he was a beautiful and gentle man." TWO LIVES Two Indian boys and two lives: One has grown and gone his way, coping with the world and meeting its difficult challenges-still challenges-still looking for his peace. The other life has ended, too soon-before soon-before he could overcome his life's greatest challenge. But finally, and at last, Cornell Cor-nell McDonald has found his peace, lying Under Timpanogos Green. i f "' ' ' . Si. : .. WHB '''''' DENNIS PICKETT "Obviously, there are arguments on both sides. But, no, Eminent Domain should not be used to take property for commercial developments. For hospitals, hospi-tals, perhaps, but not for commercial use. JOANN THORPE 'Yes. but only so long as they are willing to pay what the owner wants for his property." Yes, we want letters Yes, the Orem-Geneva Times welcomes letters to the editor. To be published, the letters must conform to a few guidelines. They do not have to be typewritten but must be readable. Orem-Geneva Times does not take responsibility respon-sibility for errors because the copy was not legible. Letters should not exceed more than two typewritten pages double spaced. Shorter letters have the most chance of being published. Shorter letters also have a better chance of being read. . Decisions on publication rest solely with Orem-Geneva Times editors. Letters will not be published pub-lished if they may be considered slanderous, exceed space limits, are defamatory or too "off the wall" to be considered worth publishing. Letters are best if they are responsive to current issues, truly reflect an opinion, or may enlarge upon common knowledge or relate a relevant experience. All letters must be signed and the author takes full responsibility respon-sibility for the content of the letter CITIZEN PARTICIPATION Citizen participation is an important ingredient in the allocation al-location of CDBG funds. The HUD report said: "From our review, we found that the City has a detailed citizen participation participa-tion plan for low and moderate-income persons from neighborhoods neighbor-hoods affected by CDBG assistance to participate in an advisory ad-visory capacity for decisions regarding the use of CDBG funds. "The City uses various forms of public media (i.e., local newspaper, public service television and CDBG orientation packets) to provide citizens with timely access to information regarding the CDBG program, relative to proposed use of funds, program amendments and program performance. City records are documented to support citizen involvement in all phases of CDBG planning and implementation. "Our review indicates that the City is in compliance with this program requirement." DULY-ELECTED COUNCIL There may well be legitimate differences in the community about whether or not Orem City should have purchased the SCERA park. But the fact is: the duly-elected members of the Orem City Council voted to do so, and the purchase has been finalized. Questions of impropriety have been resolved and the case is closed. Hopefully, construction can get underway soon on the cultural cul-tural addition to the SCERA Theatre. The Cultural Arts Center, Cen-ter, still in the design stages, will have about 15,000 square-feet of art galleries, instructional classes and studios, and a museum display area. ENDOWMENT FUND Creation of the SCERA endowment fund will help finance a program for low and middle-income children to take music, drama and dance lessons at the center. Contributions are needed to get these worthy programs underway. usurp property rights? TERRI ROBERTS 'No. They shouldn't be able to condemn private property. Hopefully, this is still a free country. I wouldn't want my property proper-ty to be confiscated in that fashion." Letters to the Why rush to hold Dear Editor, Senator C.E. "Chuck" Peterson Peter-son has entered legislation for the State to fund the building of a Physical Education Building on the Utah Valley Community College Col-lege campus at a cost of $10 million. mil-lion. Coincidentally, a county committee, com-mittee, (which included Mr. Peterson and most of the Utah County Olympic Committee) are also asking the County Commissioners Commis-sioners to call a Special Bond Election in March for an additional addition-al $7.7 million to expand the facility to include a Special Events Convention Center. Why the big rush to hold a Special Bond Election in March? Why not set the Bond Election for the November ballot? This would give the people a chance to become be-come fully informed on both sides of the issue. Maybe they do not Student seeks Information Dear Editor, I am a fourth grade student at Ruch Elementary which is located lo-cated outside of Jacksonville in Southern Oregon. My class is writingreports on different states in the U.S. I have chosen Utah as my state to study. I am interested in receiving any information about your state. If there are readers who would be kind enough to send interesting and unqiue information regarding regard-ing your city and state, I would be gratefull. Please send anyy available in-, formation or moments to: An-nalisa An-nalisa Johnson, co Ruch Elementary, Elemen-tary, 156 Upoer Aooleeate. Jack MEL CLARK "I would think people should have the right to keep their own property. They should try to work it out by negotiation. Property Pro-perty should not be taken without the owner's consent, con-sent, and they should be fairly compensated." Editor bond election? want the people to become fully informed. The Legislature has not yet approved funding for the Sports Arena, only for the architectural plans. This funding approval and money possible will not be available avail-able until July 1992. We will not know until July this year if Utah will receive the Winter Olympic bid for 1998. We are in the middle of a War, and do not know how long it will last, or the hardships we may have to endure. Orem City has also been talking talk-ing about holding a Special Bond Election in March to build a Super Sports Complex on Fourth South west of the freeway. I contend that this is not the time to Bond and increase the property tax burden on the citizens of this county. Bob Wright sonville, Oregon 97530. Sincerely, Annalisa M. Johnson Public Hearing on CDBG funding The final statement of Eroposed uses of Community development Block Grant funding fund-ing projects for the next fiscal year will be outlined at a Public Hearing on February 12, 1991 in the City Council Chambers. The hearing is set to begin at 6:30 p.m. For further information regarding the hearing and CDBG funding, call Konrad Hildebrandt at the City Center. |