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Show r 1 pi Hyilliy f "i1 ,r j 10 jJ"lJH''iy irgf-- 'TTy '"yiiijf-ii- y "y y- - - i y - y Hi The Public Forum - my)- -- " . y-y The Sail Lake Tribune, Sunday, June lt 15 26, l!)HO Tribune Readers" Opinions patrol in a 500,000 sq tru. .one leaih covering His Kinda Flare about 15,000 sq mi.), he properly finds the ratio 27 Letter to The Tribune are effectn e On May a letter of mine "advocated" state subsidies to McDonald's hamburger restaurants On June 12 The Tribune reported that the Utah Industrial Development Revenue Bond Ai t will lie used for the first time, but not the last, to put up the Golden Arches in Kearns. In effect, the taxpayers of Kearns will be supplying McDonald with venture capital, made attractive to bond buyers by tax breaks and other goodies not ordinarily available. If the eaterie in Kearns does as well as McDonalds outlets all over the country, this may prove a wise investment of public funds. (1 imply that the roads in Kearns must already be superbly paved, curbed, and supplied with signs and sidewalks I also imply that policemen, teachers, and firemen are adequately compensated for their talents and hazards.) But one question is gnawing at me if, as elected officials apparently believe (to judge them by their behavior), the public purse is Kuril n Hulc I Public Forum letters must be submitted exclusively to The Tribune and bear writer's full name, signature and address. Names must be printed on political letters but may be withheld for good reasons on others. Writers are limited to one letter every 10 days. Preference will be given to short, typewritten double spaced) letters permitting use of the writer's true name. All letters are subject to condensation. Mail to the Public Forum, The Salt Lake Tribune, Box 867, Salt Lake City, L tah. Mil 10. i bottomless, why is it that we hear of Kearns financing McDonalds but we do not hear about McDonald's financing Kearns? Perhaps we could save our disintegrating railroads by having Amtrak finance Congress instead of the other way around. New York City could purchase the District of Columbia and grow rich from levying sales taxes on food and property taxes on homeowners (passed on to renters). The possibilities are endless . .if the public purse is bottomless, that is. McDonalds is my kind of place. But don't anyone tell Howard Jarvis. of 70 to in the patrol area and concludes that it is "far more difficult for a Soviet searcher to locate a Trident than a SUM sub. 1 That conclusion assumes that a submarine of h the weight and the the manning, and much power (and farther from Soviet shores) would be just as loeatable in a given area as would be the Trident. Furthermore, he ignores the fact that it would be much more than 70 times as costly for the U.S. to provide defenses of the Trident patrol area as of the SUM patrol area. Thus, the statement assigns to the SUM system the cost of defending and patrolling its operating area, while ignoring any such requirement for the Trident submarine. In fact, there is no basis for an estimate of billion as the least-comeans of reducing the Soviet threat to patrolling SUM submarines to a tolerable level. Nor is there an estimate of how much it would cost the Soviet Union to pose that threat to the SUM submarines, in comparison with the additional cost to defend them. Isnt that what the game is all about ensuring that we can stay ahead by guarding against any fleet-wid- e vulnerability of our submarines, and forcing the Soviet Union to spend far more to attack these vehicles on patrol than it would cost to defend them? If a Trident submarine launches two missiles, it may instantly reveal its location to Soviet surveillance capabilities, and become vulnerable to attack by ICBM or other means. SUM submarines could fire their two missiles at no peril to the remaining strategic offensive force. The real problem, however, is that the d proposed deployment of MX is totally vulnerable from the day it will be deployed, and the Defense Department would do better than to knock an alternative whose vulnerability is only conjectured. 1 one-tent- one-tent- h $10-$1- 5 st ( Rightly Concerned are rightly concerned with the of MX on Utah and Nevada, but many Utahns impact ignore more important questions: We are told that alternative schemes such as offshore submarine deployment are less effective. Why? Any answer to this question is largely speculative. WTiy do we need any offensive missile? Why syscant we rely on defensive tems? The Pentagon would probably reply only offensive systems present true deterrence. Such a policy is grossly questionable. If offensive nuclear weapons are such a deterrent to international meddling w hy didnt they keep the Soviets out of Afghanistan? Or the a in the 60s? communists out of Does fear of nuclear reprisal by the U.S. keep the Soviets in line? The Soviets know as well as we do that we arent about to push the button under any conceivable circumstances. Now is the time to review our overall defense policy, w;hich, although accepted by Washington, seems blatantly absurd to many. Our willingness to accept less in the past may be our undoing in the future. JOHN BURTON Centerville anti-missi- Indo-Chin- Dispute!? SUM Views George Raines article (Tribune, June 12), MX Preferred," quotes Split Basing or Not defense official Seymour L. Zeiberg as being "particularly hard on the Shallow Underwater Mobile missile, SUM." Since with my colleague, Sidney D. Drell, I am a principal advocate of SUM, I wish to reply. Your readers should note that Dr. Zeiberg's criticisms of SUM no longer challenge our accuraassertions that we will have ICBM-lik- e cy from the MX based at sea ; that we will be able to communicate reliably to the submarines; that the missile will be controllable and responsive. His charge, the advocates of SUM don't bother to include this extra $10 to $15 billion which adds to making SUM a fairly expensive and complex system," indicates that the system is so expensive only because $10 to $15 billion have been added for warfare naval forces to defend the SUM patrol zones. Zeibergs arithmetic is impeccable, but his logic is faulty. In assuming that Trident submarines have one million sq. mi. patrol area each, while CO to 40 SUM submarines Season land-base- RICHARD L. GARWIN, Ph D. Yorktown Heights, N.Y. Mu?l Have Gun . THOS. WINGATE 0Kn It has come to our attention there is a renewed push to violate the Second Amend- ment right to keep and bear arms. Surely free men must have guns. It is no secret criminals will always have guns. What could be the reason then for stripping an honest citizen of his means of protecting himself, his family and his property? The only reason could be to deprive him of his freedom. Where countries have fallen to communism without even a struggle it is because their arms have first been registered and then knowing their whereabouts these arms have then been gathered by leaving the citizens defenseless. We should all be aware of these things and not let such controls come to us to rob us of our constitutional rights and protection. LUCILE C. FISH Toquerville g Why No Phoenix? David S. Hroder Reagan Akin to Carter in Approach The Washington Post WASHINGTON During his interview with reporters and editors of The Washington Post, earlier this month, Ronald Reagan something startling. He was talking about his prospective opponent, Jimmy Carter, and he observed that in 1976, Carter "ran as an outsider . . . (and) as one who would come in w ith no ties to the establishment in Washington. "If you go back and review it," Reagan said, "I could have campaigned on the things he said with pleasure. that Carter Remembering promised in that campaign to balance the budget, clean up the tax code, cut bureaucratic waste and simplify the structure of government among other and a serious grasp the levers of power underestimation, which Reagan seems to share, of the inertial forces of resistance to presidential initiative that are embedded deeply in the bureaucracy. Congress and the interest groups. Reagan told us those groups did not intimidate him, because he had seen their like in Sacramento, a city he assured us before was "a microcosm" of the national capital, as California is a microcosm of the nation. It was as if a movie reel had been rewound : Four years earlier, in a similar setting. Carter had made the same argument about Atlanta and Washington, D.C. Analogy Holds When this point was put to Reagan, he replied that the analogy held in his case, but not in Carters. Why? California is a large, diverse state, he said, with an economy larger than all but six nations in the world. Its governmental structure parallels that of the national government, with a strong executive facing a strong and legislative branch and dealing with a professional bureaucracy and an independent judiciary. Foreign visitors, he reminded us, frequently made Sacramento the second stop on their national tours right after Washington, D C. All true, but most of it could be said as well of Carters Atlanta. Georgia has a rich, diverse' political culture and economy, and Atlanta is a cosmopolitan city. Its politicians are skillful, well-staffe- d My wife and I, for the second year, are spending much of the summer in Logan, to escape some of the summer heat of Sun City, Ariz. 1 understand people in the university here estimated there were around 700 of us last summer, and over 800 this year. All of us thoroughly enjoy our stay in Logan, with the warm fnendliness of the people, the cool nights, the many activities and trips in the region. We take The Tribune, and do thoroughly enjoy it. Its a good paper, with political i lentification that warms my heart. But there is one very small matter that none of us who read The Tribune, don't understand. In your weather roundup, you record temperatures in practically every state in the Southwest. Except Arizona! I wondered if there is some kind of a neighborhood feud going on between Utah and Arizona. I really would like to be able to read about the hot w eather we are missing in the Phoenix area. Many of us will much appreciate it if you can remedy this one very small shortcoming in an otherwise fine newspaper. McKINNIE L. PHELPS, M.D. Logan Jut a said rather it is perhaps not all that surprising things that Reagan should embrace the discarded rhetoric of his Democratic foe. But the comments underlined one important fact: Reagan, like Carter before him, is a former governor whose experience in the ways of Washington is very limited. If Carter has as Reagan maintains failed as President then what is there in Reagans understanding of the office that makes him more likely to succeed? Never Tried to Reagan, Carter failed because According he never tried. "I just havent seen any indication that he ever tried to do the things that he promised he would do in the campaign, Reagan told us. But that explanation is too simple, by a long sight. Carter has worked his head off, putting in longer hours at his White House desk than Reagan ever was known to do in his eight years as governor. Carters problem is not laggard effort, but a lack of understanding of how to Rip-O- ff Concerning your story June 23, USD A Disqualifies S.L. Mart: Why? The entire food If a stamp program is another federal rip-of- f. food stamp user purchases a packet of seeds, the store cashier must give this needy person cash for change. The food stamper may use that change to purchase soap, beer, oven cleaner or any other ineligible items. Why not disqualify the USDA and the federal idiots ? who administer this American JIM SANDERSON rip-off- The Way It Was Here are the area briefs of The Salt Lake Tribune from 100, 50 and 25 years ago: June 29, I860 Some men are bom great, some achieve greatness, and make beer. Some men get nominated for president and receive abuse without stint. Some remain at home and attend to their business, and the world rises up and calls them blessed. We are reminded of this by a pretentious and portentious looking document which came through the post office last evening directed to Kahn Bros. Upon opening the envelope Mr. Kahn found only a slip of paper dated at Milford, June 27, and going on to say that Mr. H. Wagener was, in the estimation of the undersigned, one of God's great men. It appeared that all those who had signed the proclamation, some 40, were drunk. The conclusion was irresisitible that some of Wagener's kegs, consigned to Frisco, had grounded at Milford and had been confiscated. June 29, 1930 The first grand jury in Utah since 1924, w hen an investigation into the crash of the Payson Exchange and Savings bank, for which J. C. Ellsworth, cashier, was indicted, will assemble in the Fourth district court in this city Monday morning. Investigation of alleged misapplication of funds by officers of the Provo Realty company, the Provo Consolidated Real Estate company and the Heal Imestment company will be conducted by the jury. It is alleged that officers of the three realty companies, all of which heve the same officers, have missaplied between $23,000 to $25,000 of the companies funds. June 29, 1955 of the Senate Commerce-Committe- e A member said Tuesday sentiment in the group is very strong for a bill that would exempt natural gas producers from federal regulation and indicated the bill probably will be voted out of committee Wednesday. The senator who refused to be quoted, said he personally had hoped that any bill could be bottled up in the committee. He said he would prefer to leave the gas situation where it has been since a year ago when the Supreme Court ruled that the Federal Power Commission has jurisdiction over gatherings of gas within states as well as over interstate pipelines. we will charge an annual fee for our credit card holders. This can be arranged in easy monthly installments." too. But, as Carters aides would now concede, his approach to the Washington power struggle was, in many respects, provincial. Is there any reason to think Reagans would be informed by greater sophistication? Case to the People In one respect, yes. Reagan remarked to us that if a President is blocked from an important objective by the power structure in Washington, he can, as Franklin Delano Roosevelt did, take his case to the people. Carter, four years ago, talked in such meetings of his readiness to go over the heads of Congress," as he said he had done with the Georgia legislature. But when he came to town. House Speaker Tip ONeill persuaded him that was a risky tactic, even to talk about, and it is not one that Carter has used with any regularity or success. Reagan might be different, if only because he is as gifted a rhetorician and public speaker as Carter is limited in those skills. But when it comes to the techniques for for wrestling with governmental infighting Congress and the bureaucracy what Reagan told us raised a great many questions about his and even some approach to the presidency doubts. What worked for him in Sacramento might or might not work in Washington. (Copyright) Mike Ho) ko Saga of Carlos House Makes a Case for Demolishing Bureaucrats s Chicago The house was finally done, and Carlos Rodriguez felt proud of what he had accomplished. He had a right to feel pride. When he had begun his work, the house was an abandoned, gutted eyesore ready to be knocked down. It stood wearily at 260 W. 106th St. and belonged to the U.S. Housing and Urban Development Department. It occupants had walked away from K, and it had reverted to the government. But to Rodriguez, 34, it was a challenge. Hes a carpenter, and a good one. And one of the ways he makes his living in the slumping building trade is to buy abandoned old houses, restore and sell them. y frame, was one of This building, a the worst dumps Rodriguez had ever taken on Purchases the Buildings He bought it from HUD for $1,061 about 16 month ago. Tlien he went to work. First, the outside. He put on a new roof, front and back porches, cement stops, window panes, downspouts, gutters, aluminum siding and paint. Tbcu he went uu.uk A new furnace and Sun-Time- CHICAGO two-stor- ti v water heater, five new doors, wiring, more than 100 sheets of drywall, new bathroom and' kitchen fixtures and cabinets. He replaced ceramic floors and walls. He paneled the kitchen, carpeted the living room, dining room, staircases and all four bedrooms, and painted every room. The project stretched out to a year because he had other carpentry jobs to do. But during the last four months, he was there almost every day. Housing in Demand People from the neighborhood sometimes stopped by and congratulated him on what he had done. Good housing is in demand in that part of town. Finally, it was finished, and he looked for a buyer. He was eager to make a fast sale, two-fla because he had found a burned-ou- t few blocks away and needed cash to buy it and start his next project. So he put it up at a bargain price $28,000. That was cheap because he had put about $22,000 into the building. About half of that was his own labor, and the rest was to buy materials and pay subcontractors. He found a buyer. But the woman said she wanted the paint changed in one room before she moved in. That was no big deal, so Rodriguez drove out to the house to repaint the room. at U'beu he gut there, the house was gone He found only a vacant lot. Neighbors came out and told him that a wrecking crew had come out and knocked the place down two days earlier. He was stunned and confused. All that money and effort gone, wasted. His friends actually feared he might have a heart attack or stroke. He went to City Hall to try to find out what had happened. People behind counters and desks shuffled him around. Go there, go here, go there again, go here again. The citys Demolition Department couldn't find a demolition permit. But there were some court records. It seems that the city had filed suit last year to destroy the building because it was unsafe. But although Rodriguez owned the building, the city sued HUD. The city didn't bother to check records in the recorder of deeds office, which would have showed them that Rodriguez was the new owner. Didn't Bother to Check And the records showed that HUD agreed to let the building be demolished. Apparently HUD didn't bother to cheek its own records to see if it still owned the building. So what it boils down to is this The city sued : rong owner, and the wrong owner said, OK, knock it down. And a demolition contractor had gone there and thought nothing about demolishing a house that had obviously just been restored and linked like new the w Rodriguez went to the HUD office and asked how this could have happened. He pointed out that HUD inspector had been at the building several times while he was working on it. The people at HUD told him it was the city's fault go away. He went back to City Hall, and the people there told him it was HUDs fault. ball. He began feeling like a Ping-PonHires a Lawyer .So he hired a lawyer. The lawyer, Todd Musburger, figured he would have no trouble getting a $29,000 claim settled by HUD without the mistakes were so obvious. a law suit Mu.sberger filed the claim, along with a stack of documents showing that Rodriguez had bought the building, receipts showing how much money he had put into it, an affidavit showing how much he could have sold it for, and ev idence of the foulup. Then he waited for HUD to send the money. Instead, HUT) sent an incredible letter, brushing him off. The letter said that HUD had no record of a contract to demolish the building; the city had no record of a contract to demolish the building; nobody could find a demolition permit issued by the city; nobody knew which demolition contractor knocked down the building. In other words, the city had sued HUD to have the building demolished; HUD said, sure. But now the city and HUD say they don't even know who knocked the building down. A strong wind, maybe g Furthermore, HUD said that it had never agreed to let the building be demolished. That means that HUD is accusing the city of forging court documents. Finally, HUD said that if Rodriguez wasnt satisfied, he would have to sue. That's the only way HUD would pay. Musberger contacted the citys legal department. He was told to send in his evidence. He did, and he's since heard nothing. So now Rodriguez has to sue the federal government for his money. It will be two or three years before he if he ever dives. receives justice It will be another lawsuit in an overburdened legal system. And every lawsuit costs taxpayers money. Would Have Been Satisfied He would have been satisfied to get back what he put into the building, plus the modest proift he would have made, and his lawyer's fees. But now he has to sue for three times that amount if he expects to got anything. And all the man wanted to do was fix up an old building, give somebody a decent place to live, and show a modest profit for his initiative. Instead, lvecau.se of bureaucratic stupidity, he is being forced to haul the U.S. government into court. I wonder if there is any way to gel a demolition permit to demolish some damned bureaucrats. (Copyrighti i tfl iyU |
