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Show A-20 Meeting and agendas The Park Record Sat/Sun/Mon/Tues, March 3-6, 2018 More dogs on Main By Tom Clyde TO PUBLISH YOUR PUBLIC NOTICES AND AGENDAS, PLEASE EMAIL CLASSIFIEDS@PARKRECORD.COM Bagging the bag ban AGENDA Summit County Board of Health Meeting March 5, 2018 4:00 – 5:30 PM Summit County Health Department 650 Round Valley Drive Park City, Utah 84060 PUBLIC MEETING 4:00 – 5:30 1. Welcome and Introduction to Board Member, Dr. Ilyssa Golding (4:00 – 4:05) 2. Thanks to Liza Simpson (4:05 – 4:10) 6. UALBOH update (Marc, 4:25 – 4:30) 7. Legislative Update (All, 4:30 – 4:45) 3. Approval of Minutes (4:10 – 4:15) 8. Review of Medical Services Agreement and Possible Approval to Renew ( Carolyn, 4:45 – 4:50) 4. Public Comment (4:15 – 4:20) 9. 5. Directors Report (Rich, 4:20 – 4:25) 10. Adjourn Annual Report Completion (Staff, 4:50 – 5:30) Ex-AG sues Utah to pay for $1.6 million legal bill BRADY MCCOMBS Associated Press SALT LAKE CITY – Utah’s former Attorney General John Swallow, who resigned amid corruption allegations, sued the state for reimbursement of the nearly $1.6 million in legal fees he accumulated during a court battle that ended with a jury acquitting him. Swallow’s lawsuit filed Tuesday cites a Utah law that requires the state to pay legal bills for defending public officials who are acquitted of criminal charges related to their jobs. He chose to sue after not hearing back from state officials about his claim for nine months. “It wasn’t done without a lot of thought,” Swallow said Wednesday. “You don’t take on the state of Utah casually ... I fit squarely within the definition of the statute and I’m entitled to those fees.” The attorney general’s office declined to comment on the lawsuit Wednesday, but state lawyers said last year they disagree with Swallow’s interpretation of the law. In a letter sent last May in response to Swallow’s claim, a state lawyer said the law does not apply because Swallow had resigned before a jury acquitted him in 2017. He also said the attorney general’s office doesn’t have funds to pay the nearly $1.6 million, instructing Swallow to make a claim through the state Board of Examiners to get funds from the general fund. Swallow said Wednesday that he is writing a book about what he described as his “ordeal” and wants to speak to companies and government agencies about how to avoid the same thing happening to them. Swallow, a Republican, was a state legislator from 1997 to 2002 before he made two unsuccessful bids for Congress in 2002 and 2004. At the state attorney general’s office, he became the chief deputy attorney general and directed the civil division, where he oversaw lawsuits against federal health care reform. After pledging to root out fraud and make white-collar crime a priority, he won the 2012 election to become attorney general and succeed the retiring Mark Shurtleff, who held the seat for 12 years. Swallow’s tenure in the top office was short-lived. He resigned in late 2013 after spending nearly 11 months dogged by bribery and corruption allegations that emerged less than a week after he took the oath of office. Swallow adamantly denied breaking any laws and said he stepped down because the scrutiny had become too much for him and his family. The next year, prosecutors filed charges accusing Swallow and Shurtleff of hanging a virtual “for sale” sign on the door to the state’s top law enforcement office by taking campaign donations and gifts like beach vacations in exchange for favorable treatment. Shurtleff’s case was dismissed. After the jury found him not guilty in March 2017 of nine counts that included bribery, obstruction of justice and evidence tampering, Swallow said he was naive and that he “did some things I wish I hadn’t have done” but insisted that the jury’s decision exonerated him. Swallow, 55, said the allegations and news stories about them have inhibited his ability to make money at the same level did before he resigned. He said he had to take money from his retirement and savings and borrow from others to try and pay the legal costs. He said he runs his own small law firm now, but he’s hopeful his new corporate training company called Change Strategies LLC takes off. Swallow said he’s partnering with a woman who has three decades experience giving corporate trainings in hopes of being hired to provide guidance to companies about how to foster a discrimination-free workplace. Their first presentation is slated for this spring in Salt Lake City, he said. Part of that training will focus on how to avoid falling victim to false allegations, the focus of the book he’s writing that he said will likely be self-published. The topic is timely due to how easily and quickly allegations can spread on social media, he said. “It seems like for every instance of harassment, on the other side of that is a false allegation,” Swallow said. “I’m really excited about taking my experience in false allegations, prosecuted as an innocent man, and helping others deal with the realities of today.” Child labor case tied to polygamy back in court BRADY MCCOMBS Associated Press SALT LAKE CITY – A company with ties to a polygamous sect on the Utah-Arizona border changed its name and defied an order to stop using child labor in construction jobs, U.S. Department of Labor attorneys alleged Monday. The allegations, filed last September, are the latest wrinkle in a child labor case that dates to 2007. Federal prosecutors want the company found in contempt. Testimony at Monday’s evidentiary hearing included allegations that the company that changed its name actually had the same headquarters and employed an executive who worked at both places. Workers for the new company often used the old company name when interviewed at job sites, according to the testimony of government inspectors and a contractor. Jeff Matura, an attorney for the new company called Par 2 Contractors, argued that the two companies are separate legal entities with distinct owners. The original company, called Paragon Contractors, also disputes the finding. “There’s nothing in the law that says you can’t have two family businesses where people help each other out,” Matura said after the hearing. “There’s nothing in the law that says you can’t have one business that eventually shuts down and another business comes that has employees who worked there ... To succeed they (the government) has to show that Par 2 is Paragon. It is one and the same. We think they are going hard time showing that.” Paragon was previously ordered to pay $200,000 for back wages to children who picked pecans for long hours in the cold during a 2012 harvest. In that 2016 order, the judge also ordered Paragon to report every work site location, as well as the identity and ages of all of their employees. Brian Jessop, the company’s owner, was also tasked with reporting any change of employment. The company called the sanctions overreaching and unfair. It has appealed that finding to the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver, arguing the children were glad to get a break from schoolwork to gather nuts for the needy. At the first day of the evidentiary hearing in Salt Lake City on the new allegations, labor attorneys sought to lay out evidence to show Par 2 was the successor to Paragon. Dennis Porter, one of the owners of contracting company that hired the two companies for about eight jobs from 20132016, testified that Par 2 and Paragon had the same phone number, address and contact person. Jeff Wilson, an inspector with the Arizona Division of Occupational Safety and Health, said during his check of a Par 2 job site in August 2015 in Chandler, Arizona, that workers referred to their company as Paragon. U.S. Department of Labor investigator Jacob Goehl testified that a Par 2 foreman at a work site on a Marriott hotel in Flagstaff, Arizona, he visited in November 2016 was “cagey” and refused to say how much he was being paid. The investigator said he later found out in reviewing employee records that there were two 17-year-old workers who used power nail guns while working on a roof as framers. On cross-examination, Goehl conceded employees told him none of the workers were underage. Another Labor Department official said Par 2 of altered records that were subpoenaed to remove the name of Paragon executive Brian Jessop from Par 2 documents. “They did all that to evade the court orders,” said Karen Bobela, Labor Department attorney. “You can’t evade contempt by changing your business name.” During cross examination, Matura and fellow attorney Melissa England pressed witnesses about how exactly they came to the conclusion that the two companies were the same. He noted that the citation against Par 2 by the Arizona inspector never mentioned Paragon. The state legislature is in session. They meet for a very short time each year, compressing all their mischief into a frenzied paper shuffle. The real entertainment comes when individual legislators attempt to cure societal ills based on one conversation with one constituent in the church parking lot. We all know that if it happened once, it must be happening all the time. Laws must be changed to end the abuse. A bill that should be very popular with Summit County residents would make red lights optional. Under H.B. 416, it would be legal to run a red light when there are no other vehicles around. We’ve all been there — you arrive at a stop light late at night and stop and wait for the light to turn green. And wait, and wait. There isn’t another car in sight. This bill would treat it as a stop sign and if it’s clear, drive through the light. What could possibly go wrong? There are two stop lights in Kamas. They are important for traffic management on the 4th of July and Labor Day. Otherwise, they are unnecessary. Kamas residents blow through them late at night (which is about 9:00 in Kamas). On the east side of the county, the red lights on S.R. 224 have always been advisory. I’ve watched 20 or 30 cars drive through after the light has turned red. In fact, this new law may be more of a burden to Summit County drivers than a benefit. It actually requires a full stop at the red light before you determine it’s safe to go through it. A full stop. Like that’s going to happen. In other red light legislation, a bill allowing bicycles to roll through red lights is likely to pass. The logic there is that if the cyclist gets hit by a car, only the cyclist is hurt, where if two cars collide, the innocent occu- pants of the car with the green light could be injured. So the official policy of the state legislature is that cyclists are expendable. But as a cyclist who rolls through red lights more often than I should, the change will keep me from being branded a scofflaw or criminal. A bill to create toll roads seems likely to pass. This is aimed mostly at Big and Little Cottonwood Canyons, but not limited to them. The idea is that a toll will reduce traffic in the canyons by increasing random skier parking in the neighbor- The fact that they can poke Park City in the process just sweetens the deal for them.” hoods at the bottom of the canyon within walking distance of the bus stop. The legislators know this will be unpopular, so they are deferring the decisions on which roads become toll roads, and what the tolls will be, to the bureaucrats at UDOT. That way, the legislators preserve plausible deniability. This isn’t limited to the Cottonwood Canyons. It’s easy to imagine Park City jumping on this and imposing a toll on S.R. 248 to reduce traffic there. That’ll teach those people who live in Heber and commute to Park City for work. To beat the toll, people could park at the Richardson Flat parking lot and wait for the bus — that doesn’t actually go to the parking lot. If they think the control gates on China Bridge get broken often, just wait to see what happens to a toll booth on S.R. 248. They are increasing car regis- tration fees by $28 to fund transportation projects. By increasing the registration fee, they can say they didn’t increase taxes. It’s one of those hidden, addon charges that we all love with the airlines. The flight cost you $500, but technically, the ticket was only $75. The legislature is likely to ban plastic bag bans. Park City is the only municipality in the state to ban plastic grocery bags. While I always thought our bag ban is the environmental equivalent of setting aside the cherry on top of your double-size hot fudge sundae because you are watching your weight, the local community wanted it. Our legislature doesn’t like any of that green stuff, so they want to bag the ban on bags. The fact that they can poke Park City in the process just sweetens the deal for them. The most troubling bill is H.B. 136, sponsored by Rep. Mike Noel of Kanab. This would require any governmental entity, including local governments and advisory committees, to get advance legislative blessing of their opinion before commenting on any proposed federal land designation. So if the Park City planning commission was interested in a possible change in the federal management of some scrap of BLM land within the city limits, they would need to get the blessing of the Legislature before commenting to BLM. In other words, the local government needs to get its opinions approved, or corrected, by the Legislature. It probably won’t pass, but the fact that it ever saw the light of day is alarming. Tom Clyde practiced law in Park City for many years. He lives on a working ranch in Woodland and has been writing this column since 1986. Writers on the range By Maddy Butcher A Western town says ‘no’ to guns in schools A generation ago, had the school board in my small town scheduled a vote to potentially arm school staff and administrators, no one would have batted an eye. Back then, students in Mancos, Colorado, hung rifles in trucks for hunting before and after school. Guns were in the building; as recently as 1998, boys and girls took hunter safety classes in the middle school. When he was a teacher, nowschool Superintendent Brian Hanson says he bought a gun from a student’s parent during math class. But last month, the community showed up fraught and in force at the usually mundane meeting of the school board to say “No” to guns in schools. The school board voted 4-1 not to move forward on arming staff. Mancos, population 1,460, has seen an influx of new homebuyers in recent decades. And guns and gentrification, it seems, do not mix. The town motto is “Where the West Still Lives,” so is Mancos still “Western”? Will Western towns become culturally neutered if they refuse to accept guns in schools? Arming school staff is a “stunningly rapid development,” said one Colorado public-policy attorney, noting that the rural Colorado school districts of Dove Creek, Fleming, Hanover and Aguilar have all allowed armed staff over the last few years. So, too, have schools in other Western states. In Utah, teachers are free to arm themselves. Here, the debate was spurred by recent school tragedies, especially the one in Aztec, New Mexico, just 63 miles away, where two students died. A day before and a day after the vote, there were more school shootings. The Mancos vote, in fact, was less lopsided than it appeared. Three board members said they were “on the fence,” but ultimately agreed with the anti-gun crowd. In Aguilar, population 473, Superintendent Stacy Houser carries a handgun. A secretary, a principal and a teacher there do, too. “It’s been very well received in our community,” said Houser. “Students say to me, ‘I feel so much safer.’” Research and policy experts, however, say arming staff is rife with risk. The National Education Association found that more than two-thirds of the teachers who responded to a survey reject the idea. “It’s a bad idea that won’t go away,” read one NEA headline. “More guns, more death,” said a woman at the Mancos school board meeting. She’s right. Most Western states are more heavily armed and more violent than, say, New England states. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Alaska has the highest death rate for gun violence. Colorado, Nevada, Arizona, Wyoming, Mon- Colorado, Nevada, Arizona, Wyoming, Montana and New Mexico are all in the top 20. Folks in Massachusetts and Connecticut are about five times less likely to die from a gun-related death, according to the CDC.” tana and New Mexico are all in the top 20. Folks in Massachusetts and Connecticut are about five times less likely to die from a gun-related death, according to the CDC. Unlike the densely populated and generally wealthier towns on either coast, small Western towns have gun-friendly traditions and cultures. That cultural factor — combined with a lack of funding for school resource officers and a potentially longer response time from law enforcement officers in large rural counties — has swayed municipal decisions and made arming school staff more palatable to some. But Mancos has become increasingly diverse; it is a bedroom community to Durango, the nearby, left-leaning moun- tain town of 18,000. “Our culture has changed. Not everybody’s comfortable with a gun, and that’s OK,” said Mancos school board president Blake Mitchell, who grew up in Mancos. Some here still live agricultural lives. They raise cattle. They farm. Gun ownership for them is natural and necessary. But increasingly, there are new residents who like the idea of rural living as long as they can bring along decidedly less traditional Western, less rural attitudes: • You don’t shoot a sick or injured animal to put it out of its misery. You have it euthanized. • You don’t fill your freezer with the deer you shot last fall. You fill it with meat from the farmers market (if you eat meat at all). • Squirrel guns may be OK. High-powered rifles and handguns are not. The influx of new folks is why specialty shops succeed. It’s why we have a state-sanctioned Creative District that elevates community artists. It’s also why ranchers’ cattle drives and water-rights conversations are increasingly frustrating. “(Newcomers) think they want to live around cows, until they actually live around cows,” said one rancher. The school board’s decision was influenced by newcomers’ attitudes, but it was swayed, too, by the promise of improved security with a forthcoming $25 million project to upgrade school facilities. In the near future, administrators will be able to lock down every door of every building with the push of a button or swipe of a smartphone. So, is Mancos “Where the West Still Lives”? Guns and gentrification are as Western as open space and agriculture. All are elements of our culture and points of our conversations as we evolve and redefine ourselves as who we are. The answer, therefore, is decidedly, “Yes.” Maddy Butcher is a contributor to Writers on the Range, the opinion service of High Country News (hcn.org). She writes about the West in Mancos, Colorado. |