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Show THE SAN JUAN RECORD Thursday March 3,1994 -- Page 2 Improper SECRET sessions are harmful to government With in the past year this writer has witnessed improper closed SECRET sessions of government at School Board, BOTH city councils AND at county commission meetings. All levels of our local government don't seem to know OR CARE (!) if they conduct business in the open where citizens can see and hear what is going on. Sometimes, as in the case of last week's Monticello City Council (see story on page one), it is nothing more than an attempt to keep from embarrassing themselves. However, sometimes is is ignorance and at times it is a bald-face- d disregard for the law -afterall, few if any of the 'public' ever attends these "public" meetings so why shouldnt they conduct business as they deem necessary? The only trouble is, this is AMERICA not Amerika, or Armenia or Afghanistan ... we have a few principles of why we have government. This is not an aristocracy which only allows the ruling elite to make decisions ... THE PEOPLE, as a whole, make the decisions here. If the elected officials do not like following the law, they should not swear to uphold it. Utah's Open Meeting Law is in place to prevent SECRET government actions, be they only to save There is a book everyone To Letters face or actual acts of corruption. Blanding AND should read. "The Cadillac Editor The Desert . " The story is of the Monticello need to take note of the OPEN MEETINGS STATUTE. damming of our rivers, the The Record welcomes letters from "Personnel" or "Professional Competency" are its readers on any subject of public financial gain by a handful Letters must be no more of politicians and land denot undefined, open ended categories. They are in interest. than ,'i()0 words in length. The pub the law as limited exceptions for executive lisher reserves the right to edit, velopers. It also discusses the very negative condense or reject any contribusessions NOT OPEN INVITATIONS! effect for the rest of us. tions. Letters must be signed and Although there are no penalties for abuses of include Our forests are cut down an address and telephone the open meetings law, yet(!), this newspaper will number. Thank you. and sent to Japan with percontinue to tell the governing officials when they mission from the Forest are not meeting the needs of the public and are Dear Editor, Service. I In long-ter- m IMd pile, would only everyone and everything. The second letter, from re-expo- se Melvin Frost, makes the most sense. Because wood has been found not only to be a good barrier against radiation but also absorbs radiation, so the planting of tree's is not only the cheapest, most reasonable and sensible answer to this problem. Any doctor in this area, who can not properly a friend and closing their doors improperly to conduct were on1969, Only one percent of our our way to Moab to government in SECRET. This type of action will ride our motorcycles when rivers are still free flowing; only hurt the public and government. we accidentally ran across and if you want to use your diagnosis anyonlands Management Plan overlooks one tiny federal law jntirely - ADA over the In ! proposed Canyonlands looking Jackcountry Management Plan, there is one datant omission. How is the National Park Service going to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act? Surely the NPS realizes ADA is the law of the and. I have not read where they are exempt! SO VHY HAVE THEY FAILED TO EVEN CONSIDER THIS IN THEIR PLAN? They would not want to shut this portion of the lation out, would they? Doesn't EVERYONE leserve the opportunity to see and experience latures wonders? Walt Dabney isn't getting any younger and he vill eventually end up as a Senior Citizen, lopefully he wont be denied permission to visit Vngel Arch when he is TOO OLD to walk there. With the greying of America, it would be a jhame to deny ALL THE SENIOR CITIZENS VND THE DISABLED the ability to see the vonders of Canyonlands. Is the NPS only serving the wealthy, young, ohysically able ... that is a shrinking minority of dite NOT the ones Teddy Roosevelt said the parks ire for ("the future generations" ... all of them). We would urge the planners to take their management plan back to the drawing boards and come up with something the ENTIRE Nation :an live with, not just the elite and able few! San Juan Record welcomes those with jpposing or supporting views to write a etter to the editor and express themselves. This is your forum, let us hear front you. The canoe in most of the ones left medical Canyonlands. We spent an entire week there exploring the park, and saw six other people. That was in May. In 1971, I returned with my son so he could enjoy Canyonlands and found that it was now accessible by paved road. I said to my son, "It looks like the government is going to make a mess out of this like everything else they are involved in." That was in June. We stayed a week and saw four other people. I have no doubt that the environmental impact due to the excess number of people is true, but the govern- ment and their advertising is the basic cause. The U. S. Government, with the help of land developers, has been responsible for more environmental destruction than everyone else combined. Lake Powell is a good ex- ample. By damming the Colorado River at page, they have turned one of the most beautiful canyons in the world into a silt bed filled with everything from hu- man waste to rubber tires. Now, when they lower the level of the lake, the beautiful color the canyon used to have is a disgusting bath tub ring. And the nice canyons you were camping in are a mire of silt, weeds, and bugs .... and they worry about Salt Creek! '74. MorvCttcaU-- a patients can problem always say "Your problem is caused by the radiation in you get out your money ... and, you guessed it .... you give it to the government for this area." Which may be no more of a permit due to the fact that what is left over is crowded a cop out they use on saying because it is the only place to "If you would quit smok- i mg. go. There is no need for evWhen the explosion at eryone in the world to see Canyonlands, but due to the Chernobyl nuclear reactor government advertising, it spread a cloud of radioactive is no longer enjoyable to material around the world, anyone ... especially the lo- in 1986, it contained mainly cal people who enjoyed it in Iodine 131 and Cesium 137. But radionuclides can be small numbers before the found in everyday foods government took over. Robert Johnston from everywhere in the Monticello world. And these were found to be way below the 15,000 parts per million, which is Dear Editor: the established limit. This is in response to the two letters in the Feb. 17 ediContinued on page 9 tion. read with surprise the letter written by Dr. D.N. Christenson. I don't mean any ridicule of his letter, just that it brings back memories from the State of Washington concerning the I Environmental Protection Agency, and its wanton disregard towards properties. They cause more damage than they do good. The EPA is really nothing more than a name allowing employees to make a living from your tax dollars. Let's start with the fact that most of the radiation contamination came about year's ago when the ores were trucked in here in the first place. And now, to disturb this the San Juan Record ISSN 0894-327- A 3 Published weekly at 116 S. Main St., Monticello, Utah. Second class postage paid at Monticello, Utah 84535 (ISSN 0894-3273- ). Postmaster: Send all address changes to P.O. Box 879, Monticello, Utah 84535. GREG DUERDEN Managing Editor and Publisher SUBSCRIPTION RATES San Juan County Outside County - USA APO or FPO address Newsstand Senior Citizen $10.50 $11.50 $1 1 .00 2.00 $12.00 $1 30 |