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Show I Submit a Guest Editorial or Opinion at our office, located at 538 South State in Orem. Deadlines are Monday noon Al submissions are subject to editing for length, and the Orem-Geneva Tires reserves the right to publish or not to publish a submission Commentary o Wednesday, May I Oth 2(KK) Letter carriers' food drive os ivorsGiy m corns: P Editorial Hundreds of Utah letter carriers, car-riers, with the backing of U.S. post offices, are primed to mobilize mo-bilize thin Saturday, May 13, 2000, to collect thousands of pounds of nonperishable food for the less fortunate in the state. The food drive, which began be-gan around the nation 27 years ago, has become an annual tradition, tra-dition, and is worthy of community commu-nity support. Hie Times encourages encour-ages its readers to make a mental men-tal note of the day, to set aside a donation, and to join in this commendable cause. Council approves The Orem City Council voted unanimously May 2 to adopt the hugely "stilt us quo" fiscal year 20(10 1!(M) 1 budget, with ;i few changes proposed by City Manager Man-ager .f hit Reams Three new employee em-ployee positions --- two Public Works technicians lone in water distribution and one in water reclamation! rec-lamation! at $.'17.7'tl each per year, and a public information officer at $."(). ()()() per year, plus $'0,000 in benefits --- were approved ap-proved as well Despite the added employees, Orem's chief financial officer. Administrative Services Director 1 1 Cioodnch. said the city's -tafl-to residents ratio, in the fi.H 1,000 range is "very lean and mean" compared to comparably sied cities Orem has ctr.pha sized the use of technology to help employees be more productive rather than adding lots n staff he said Heanis went over the list of pro posed changes to the tentative budget An extra SlfiO.OOO was earmarked for the Center Street widening project The Miss Orem funding was increased to S4..'5)4. and $10,000 was set aside for the Sister City program with I rumii. ( hina No city lunds are spent lor Orem officials to travel to China, it was emphasized Any such tups are made at the officials' offi-cials' personal expense The 1;0.000 balance on a $200,000 I WW loan from Orem City to the Metropolitan Water District of Orel. i to purchase additional ad-ditional water rights was forgiven for-given The action makes it possible pos-sible t" avert a tax increase to pay increased assessments by private water com panics for water owned hv the district and provided to the city for culinarv use. Capital projects scheduled for the year include the building of Koothill Park i next to the new elementary school i. which Reams said he hoped could he accomplished accom-plished through the work of volunteers, vol-unteers, the building of water mains at 800 EasL'75 South to 200 South. 6(H) East200 North to 400 North, and 400 South 600 West to State Street; the dismantling of an abandoned two million gallon gal-lon water tank; the addition of a new sludge thickener for the water wa-ter reclamation plant; and an up (USPS 411-700) Published Weekly by Utah Valley Publishing Company 801-225-1340 Fax 801-225-1341 538 South State Street, Orem, UT 84058 Pcrte3JPcst2;8PlaCr3i.lIT3 Psstessstar sesd efcssgi & sm setlca tat TftaCrmfcnava Tiro 533 SssrttStiti Strsst0rsm.C7S4ISl Subscription in advance per year $18.00 Out of State Subscription per year $35.00 Per Copy $.50 Whether we bke to acknowledge acknowl-edge the fact or not, there are many, many pressing needs around us needs that can be better met with just a little effort ef-fort from us all. Aa the proclamation proclama-tion signed by Orem Mayor Jerry Washburn in support of the food drive declares: "...there are children, chil-dren, seniors, and working poor who are in need of emergency food supplies." American short story writer Bret Harte (1838-1902) penned the following: "IT, of all sad words of tongue or pen, graded sewer main on Geneva Road from 400 South to ('enter Street. Storm sewer capital projects w-ill include work at 1800 South Sandhill Road, Hidden Hollows, the Kent drain access, and Geneva Road ( 1200 North to 400 North). Because of transf er station rate increases, inflation, and more garbage tonnage from the city, rates for garbage collection are going up from 89.18 to $10.20 for a first can, and $7.33 to $7 39 for a second can. Mayor Jerry Washburn asked Reams and Goodrich what would happen if the city received more support on its recycling program ( loodrich said ho thought the city would lose the second can income Reams said the garbage tonnage could most easily be reduced by encouraging people to compost grass cuttings on their own prop erty There will be minor tee in creases at the Fitness Center, in creases that follow an "elasticit study" done by BY I', which de termmed what level of increases the market would bear without a decrease in patron participation Orem's $7 million city-wide lighting project was discussed again, but no final funding decisions deci-sions were voted upon as part of the budget It is likely that when final cost numbers are available, the budget will be reopened and those expenditures approved The city council has voted in the past to fund the lighting with a combination of bonding and an increase in the franchise tax Demonstration lights are to he installed along the 800 East park way area so that citizens can see the choices on fixture styles. (loodrich recommended that Orem's new Public Safety building build-ing be used as equity to save money long-term on the costs of iMinds. He said that the savings would be so substantial that, in his professional opinion, the city "would not want to do otherwise." other-wise." Several Orem citizens spoke at the public hearing held before the budget vote was taken. Lyman Durfee said he favors city-wide lighting and hopes the council goes ahead with the project. He The saddest ere, 'It might have been,' More sad are these we daily it is, but it hadn't ought to be." Hunger in America is among those conditions that "hadn't ought to be." Contributing to community causes such as the food drive provides a concrete way for concerned citizens to demonstrate their caring through action and initiative. The food drive is organized by the letter carriers with the coop budgeft, also expressed the hope that the old lighting districts in the city would be updated. Reams said those cases could be evaluated at the end of the ten-year contract periods. Durfee also said he was concerned con-cerned about the $70,000 funding for a public information officer. He questioned whether such a position is a priority when the city needs personnel to enforce violations viola-tions in areas like auxiliary apartments. apart-ments. Reams acknowledged the valid-, ity of Durfee's point and said the city has reorganized staff to ad-,' dress the problem and now has one new full-time position, where Public Safety building open ment into the new building brings a new eraof efficiency and level of service to the public. Gone are the days when detainees, suspects, sus-pects, or prisoners would have to be walked through open parking lots Now an enclosed bay and parking area allows police vehicles ve-hicles to enter and drop off those in custody at an adjoining security secu-rity area away from the public There are four adult holding cells without bars. Juveniles go to a separate area, facilities for fingerprinting fin-gerprinting and picture-taking are all in close proximity. No longer will crime victims have to stand in an open hallway, next to soda pop machines, trying try-ing to relate their stories to police po-lice officers. Secure facilities hold evidence and recovered property. The department now has space for interview and conference rooms, offices for police and fire division administrators, and work space for detectives. For the first time ever, there are shower and locker facilities. Along with the police administration. adminis-tration. Fire Division Commander Com-mander Lynn Rowley, the fire marshals, and fire inspectors are all headquartered at the new U h. n1 j n ' 1( Jf2 J.I 1 I i5'. ' -V j-N X V . iin 1 --m,i i " ' rv Pat Pikus, an Orem dispatcher, is happy to be working in the spacious, modern facilities at the new Orem Public Safety building. eration of not only the local post offices, but also the AFL-CIO, AFL-CIO Community Services, and United Way. As they deliver mail on May 13th, the letter carriers will pick up nonperishable food donations left by postal customers and will take the donations to a central postal station for redistribution to local food banks. The Letter Carriers Food Drive, then, becomes an example of how private, governmental, nonprofit, and union sectors of the adds three employees before there was one-haif a position. posi-tion. He said another internal reorganization would take place and a second part-time position would be added for a total of two positions. "We do have the staff and we will go out and respond (to violations)." viola-tions)." Reams declared. Bob Wright also objected to funding a public information officer of-ficer to produce the city's newsletter news-letter and update its web page and Channel 3 information. He said someone has been doing those tasks for years, and the cost of the position is "not worth it ." Wright also objected to having citv council members "climb on building. Firefighters are still out staffing Orem's three fire stations. sta-tions. Larsen said the firefighters at Station 1. where Rowley's office used to be, are used to seeing him. but administrators will make the effort to continue to connect with their co-workers It is advantageous advanta-geous to have the Public Safety-Department Safety-Department "all in one place." in Larsen's words, where they can easily pass along information and communicate. " The building is much more efficient for us and much nicer for the public." LaVsen said "I really like the design. My charge to the architects was to make the building build-ing compatible iwith the City Center, library, and court buildings), build-ings), but it didn't have to match exactly. I think we did that." Vacated City Center offices are being remodeled for use by other city departments and Firestation 1, built before both males and females served as firefighters, will also be appropriately remodeled. remod-eled. Asked about morale among the city's 80 sworn police officers and 53 full-time firefighters in light community can work together to help solve an immediate problem hunger. Other examples of community mobilization in a worthy cause producing great results include Orem's annual Blitz, during which intensive clean-up and fix-up fix-up work is done to give targeted areas a "face lift And like the Letter Carriers' Food Drive, the Scouting for Food program brings an influx of supplies to charitable organizations attempting to feed the hungry. Blood drives help as the gravy train in procuring travel expenses. He said the citizens citi-zens of Orem are "taxed to the limit" and stated his opposition to future tax increases. City-wide lighting and the storm sewer program pro-gram should be "pay-as-you go", he isscrted. On the travel issue. Durfee countered that as an employer, the best money he spent was in sending his employees out to learn. Councilman Mike Thompson said the trips taken by councilmembers are not junkets or vacations, and while some seminars may not be very informative, infor-mative, the ones provided to com Continued from front of the opening of the new facility, Larsen said, "The employees are excited. We are going through the moving pains and the organizational organiza-tional glitches. We're excited to have the growing space. But we Mother like thrown her hat into the ring. So Stephen took maters into his own hands He left work about 4:30 that afternoon, went to his parents' home, picked his mother up and took her to the Provo City offices where she registered with about 10 minutes to spare before the 5 p.m. deadline. "It really didn't take much encouragement," en-couragement," Barbara said with a chuckle. "I really felt it was the right thing, 1 just needed the extra ex-tra shove and he gave it to me." Oi.ce she officially became a candidate, can-didate, she plunged wholeheartedly whole-heartedly into campaigning and becoming familiar with the issues that faced her district and her city. She went from door to door, until she had visited with the people in every house in a district that stretches from Timpanogos Elementary El-ementary to the mouth of Provo Canyon. Her personal touch, as well as her knowledge of the issues, is-sues, made her a clear choice come election night and she was comfortably com-fortably ahead throughout the evening. That was not the case for her son, as Stephen sweated through one of the closest races ever in Orem. As the evening wore on, mother and son kept in touch via cell phone, comparing notes as they waited for all the precincts to report. re-port. "It was funny," Stephen said. "Even though my race was really close and she was winning pretty well every precinct, Orem finished first, so I was able to run down to Provo and be there when she was officially declared a winner it was a special moment." The moment that his mother remembers best that night came a3 her son entered the foyer of the Provo City Hall, where the candidates candi-dates were awaiting the returns. "When he walked in, everybody there started applauding," she recalled. re-called. "Then he was there to give me a hug when I won. It was quite and experience." sure that reserves of that life-giving product are available when needed. It is fortuitous timing that places the Letter Carriers' Food Drive right before Mother's Day. What better way to honor mothers moth-ers than by offering a bit of seiy vice? Mark your calendar, tie a string around your finge"r7Trr do whatever else is necessary to remember re-member to set out some nonperishable nonper-ishable food for the letter carriers carri-ers to collect this Saturday, May 13th! munity leaders are. Councilman Les Campbell said that during the campaign, Development Devel-opment Services Director Stan Sainsbury told him that one of the most important things councilmembers do is to make planning decisions. Campbell decided de-cided to gp to a planning conference confer-ence in New York and was "very jealous" of any money spent. He did not buy meals and was not on vacation. As an "ultra-ultra conservative", con-servative", he said, he gets "miffed" when people call the 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. training sessions "vacations". do have to change some procedures. proce-dures. They were built around the facilities that we were in. Our C ontinued on page 5 son Continued from front It wasn't the first special moment mo-ment this mother and son experienced. experi-enced. With her husband, Eric, working hard to support the family, fam-ily, Barbara took it upon herself to make sure the children (two boys and two girls) each had quality one-on-one time with their mother. That meant a variety of activities, including backpacking, hiking, going to debates, concerts and ball games and generally making mak-ing sure she was available for her children. With those children now grown and scattered around in various places, she finds that the duo-city council experience has had the unexpected bonus of giving giv-ing her a chance to see Stephan more often. "Since February, the two city councils have been having a joint meeting once a month to discuss the common problems that face the two Cities," Barbara said. "It was actually Orem's idea and it has been a good thing for both cities. cit-ies. It's also nice because Stephen and I get to see each other more often." When the two get together outside out-side of the joint city meetings, their discussions involve many typical mother-son conversations. Only occasionally to they get into political chats and when they do, they stick to topics that won't bring up any conflicts. "We don't discus the items that are controversial between the two cities," Stephen said. "We'll talk sometimes about some of the issues, is-sues, as long as they are well known, public issues. But overall we don't talk much about that " "We never discuss any private or controversial information," Barbara Bar-bara added. "In fact we don't talk about the city governments very much. Basically, we're just a mother and son who happen to have the same job at the same time." 'POOR C( f |