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Show WEEKLY REFLEX SEPTEMBER 20, 1979 DAVIS NEWS JOURNAL, Building Permits A report for the month of August to the Layton City Council from the Layton Building and Engineering Department is as follows: BUILDING permits issued for single dwellings, 28, valued at $1,528,287; multiple dwellings, 2, valued at $159,442.00; commercial new, 3, $1,475,603.00; remodeling dwelling, 16, residen$98,438; garages tial, 5, $26,126; fencing, 2, $100; signs, 2, $4,580; others, 24, total, $70,763; 82, $3,363,339. The planning commission took action on the following: Mountain West Savings site plan and building jDermit was approved; Gordon Ave. and Fort Lane drawing will be started as soon as the bids are made; Ernst Home Center was referred to the department heads for review; Bridenstine Car Wash was recommended to the city council to disapprove the zone and let the ordinance stand. ALSO, Glenwood rezone was recommended to city council to set a hearing; Smith Warehouse site plan was approved; Spring Hollow preliminary and final to grant preliminary and recommend to city council to grant final approval; Kent Smith subdivision preliminary was granted; Smedley Mobile Home Park to grant County Commissioner Morris Swapp tells crowd at library board meeting Tuesday they are in the minority in voicing opposition to board action, indicating he has been faced bv such groujis before and won elections later on and will do so again. Looking on were Board Chairman Evan Whitesides and YOURE A MINORITY preliminary approval. member Wayne Thornock. feeling and the state person- nel office felt the matter should be handled within the Continued From Front power, history has shown that a number of otherwise county, he added. per- In a prepared statement, Miss Layton refuted the seven charges made against her in a letter from Mr. Swapp, Mr. fectly good citizens say I just dont want to be involved. Without this power of subpoena there was nothing we could do to get these people involved at this stage. But we have had a number of Arbuckle and Mrs. Shumway dated July 23, 1979. She said, Apparently, a majority of the members of the Davis people who are willing to come forward (in a hearing) and to bear their testimony. In some cases this required great courage and the possible threat of financial loss. In view of this boards ruling, we are not afforded the opportunity to present such tes- County Library Board intend to fire me. The board has never provided me any specific reasons for my discharge. As a consequence, I have not had a fair or adequate opportunity to prepare a reply to those of the who board seek my timony. discharge. HE SAID further, On Aug. 1 wrote a letter to you CHARGES 30, 1979 Excessive costs in processing books when the State (Library Commission) will (Mr. Whitesides). I called your attention to Article XIII of the Davis County Merit System which provides that no regular employee shall be dismissed without adherence to certain procedures which are spelled out and include notification in writing of the reasons for discharge, and an opportunity by the employee to reply and be heard. I further pointed out these regulations provide for discretionary appointment of an impartial referee to hear the evidence and make findings and recommendations, and I urged you to make such process them without cost to the county. Davis School District saves in the vicinity of $100,000 a year by the state processing their.books. To that, she said the Library Board had opted against utilizing state ser- vices on June 7, 1977, made after a study was completed indicatby Mr. Whitesides ing that using the state's cataloging services would be more expensive and would result in a lower quality ser- vice. an appointment. THE SECOND charge was that the library had des- Mr. Colton said he had received a telephone reply troyed the set of books (The Hardy Boys) and refused to process them and return them to the school." from Mr. Whitesides indicating the chairman felt it inadvisable to make such a move since his views were in the She said Principal Keith Brimhall, then serving at Crestview Elementary School in Layton, apparently sent a set of Hardy Boy books for processing. I do not actually minority. But the attorney reissued his request for a hearing. I renew my request that the procedures outlined by ordinance be followed, that a written statement of alleged grounds for her discharge be presented to us, that this board because of its obvious prejudgment of the question be disqualified from hearing this matter, that evidence be presented in support of such charges before an impartial referee and that we be af- forded an opportunity recall seeing these books, but I have received the correspondence concerning them. . to present evidence to rebut such charges. received even more disquieting information as to the obvious bias and prejudice of certain members of this board which obviously make them incapable of sitting in judgment on this matter. I have in my possession a written and signed statement in which the signatories assert that Mr. Arbuckle stated that one of the reasons he was in favor of Miss Laytons discharge was because of her religious orientation, he having asserted that she was an atheist (which Mr. Arbuckle immediately denied). THAT CHARGE is false, but even if it were true, I would submit that discharge-o- f a public employee for holding any particular religious views is a blatant, violation of the First Amendment. I am further informed that a vicious whispering campaign has been launched relating to Miss Laytons personal life. Mr. Whitesides responded that he had pursued several courses of action to provide for a hearing but found in talking with the commission and county attorney that the position of director of libraries is exempt (from merit statutes) and that the -- serves AT SOME point we discovered the books were missing. We searched for them but were unable to locate them. To this day, I do not know what happened to them. At that time, we were processing 30,000 books a year for the library system and various .SINCE I originally made this request (Aug. 21) I have director INCLUDED: at the pleasure of the commission, as is the case with all department heads. schools. Mr. Brimhall told me I should personally pay for the books. The matter was brought to the attention of Superintendent Bemell Wrigley. He did not take any disciplinary action against me, or to my knowledge, was any action recommended. Indeed, Supt. Wrigley instructed me to tell Mr. Brimhall that he should direct any further correspon- dence to Assistant Supt. Lawrence Welling, which 1 did. I had done all that I could by making a thorough search for the books. AT THAT time, Miss Lay-to- n worked part-tim- e as school library processing e center director and as Davis County Library Director. School county half-tim- processing links were severed in the summer of 1977. The third objection related to not allowing the bookmobile to operate within one mile of an established library. Miss Layton said, The board established the one-mil- e policy in 1971 (as reflected in minutes of June 15, 1971). In a letter approved by the board at that meeting, Stanley Smoot, library board chairman said, It is the boards opinion that, generally, bookmobile stops should be no closer than one mile to any permanent library, public or school. MISS LAYTON continued, e The purpose of the limit is to avoid duplication of services and, for that reason, one-mil- COUNTY Personnel Director Earl King voiced similar support the policy. It seemed foolish to the board to have a bookmobile sitting next to a library full of books when remote areas need bookmobile service. I Nevertheless, it is the boards policy, not mine. I merely carry it out. On a charge that the present librarian is cooperative in her attitude toward policies proposed by the county commission as set forth in this series of she replied, complaints This objection is so vague and ambiguous I am unable to respond to it. I can only say that I have always attempted to cooperate with all units of Davis County government and that would include the comun- mission. THE FIFTH objection centered on the contemporary novel, Americana, which has stirred controversy about what books should be included in the library. The objection reads, spending of tax- payers money for books whose value to the community is not optimum. Miss Layton responded, My position has always been to administer the policies of the Davis County Library Board, even at times when I have disagreed with those policies. I have adhered to the boards policies on book selection and complaints about books. I am not aware of any books that the library has purchased that have not been within the guidelines of the boards policies and procedures. TO MY knowledge, no one on the library staff had read Americana before it was purchased. Approximately 35,000-40,00- 0 books are published each year and it is therefore impossible for the library staff to read all books before deciding which ones to buy. The library staff relies on the same standard book review sources used by most around libraries the country. In briefly reviewing the Americana case and board In action she continued, 1978, a user of the library about complained Americana. This triggered a staff review of the book. The boards policy concerning complaints is that when a written complaint is filed, a staff committee of six professional librarians, including myself, will read the book and thoroughly evaluate it in terms of the selection policies. The decision of the committee is conveyed in writing to the person making the complaint. IF THAT person does not agree, he or she has the right to appeal directly to the library board. If such appeal occurs, a committee of three board members is appointed by the chairman to review the book and decide whether it should be retained or removed from the shelves. In of case the the staff Americana, reviewed the book not once but twice and the decision in both instances by a five-on- e vote was that Americana met all the criteria for selection as stated in the policy, and therefore should be on the following: Valley View Road; review of natural waterways; depths of corner lots; Bamcurb and berger Whitesides gutter forms Subdivision; Antelope Drive Action pending guidance. The board reaffirmed its policies of replacing books in demand on the shelves. Only after that action did I return Americana to the shelves. No official appeal was ever made in this case. Americana Therefore, remains in the collection. If had acted in any other way, THE BOARD of Adjustments had two cases presented with one case resolved; there were 453 called inspections and 50 business licenses received. I Davis County CATEGORIES of books such as resource, cultural and religious are neglected and lacking or deficient, was the sixth complaint. In responding Miss Layton said, Over 60 percent of the collection is any of which could be called resource, cultural or religious books. As stated on page three of the Policies of the Davis County Library, the prime responsibility of the library is to meet the needs of individual readers, organiza- Community Action To Meet On 26th The Davis County Davis County. WE, OF course, have only and religious books. However, pursuant to the direction of the board, we have not attempted to duplicate special collections that may be contained in the elementary, high school, college or church libraries in the surrounding area. She said a study based on circulation of a book type compared to holdings showed favorable comparison to other book categories. Indeed, the statistics show the greatest ratio of circulation to holdings exists in the area of adult fic- tion and childrens picture books. If anything, the Davis County Library, at present, has its greatest needs in these areas. The holdings of cultural and religious books appear to be about right, based upon the demand for those books. THE states: FINAL objection There has been no attempt on the part of the librarian to establish a better relationship or to remedy the conduct which we feel is detrimental to the library system in the county. I Miss Layton replied, have always enjoyed a har- monious, honest, straight-forwar- ' selection and election process. council Neighborhood members serve an important function within the community action agency. Members provide information and responses that help determine program goals and direction. YOUR INPUT is vital if CAP is to serve your needs. This is an opportunity for you to express your opinion and to be an effective part of county programs. If you need further information, call the CAP office, ext. 205-20- pointed to the board and subsequently Mr. Arbuckle and Mrs. Shumway. J. Durrante Dinner Set On Sept. 22, the Fraternal of Eagles No. 3355 of Roy will hold their annual Order Jimmy Durante Crippled Childrens benefit dinner at the Eagles building in Roy. A buffet dinner will be served from 5 to p.m. The menu consists of tacos and salads. Cost will be $3 per person. 10 A DANCE with live will begin at 9 p.m. music g Chairman for the activity is Bud Eddards. He has worked on this annual benefit dinner for 26 years, fund-raisin- dmg repeatedly asked all library board members and especially Mr. Swapp, Mrs. Shumway and Mr. Arbuckle to consult with me to see what we can do to improve the library. None of these three board members has responded to my requests. I will continue to make that offer, however. She ended her statement by essentially repeating what she said on Aug. 21: I have committed the major portion of my adult life to public ser- develop library service which reaches every individual in this community and not just a select few. I BELIEVE the public library is the most important institution in a free society. Its where people can learn the joy of reading and about The article m last weeks Clipper headed Centerville Denies Petitions certainly demonstrated the dictatorial and arbitrary attitude of the Centerville City Council and Mayor, if such a revelation were still needed. IT HAS reached a sorry state when a respectable citizen cannot appear before the council and in a gentlemanly way offer the objections and suggestions of a large number of citizens without the council showing any interest in those ideas from those they are supposed to represent. Indeed, instead of heeding the ideas, council members focused on discrediting their importance by ignoring the 50 percent or more of protestors and the many petition signers and attributing the opposition to a handful of agitators. Council members further failed to respond to the greater issues which were raised concerning infringements on the peoples rights and inadequacy of planning, and insisted on moving ahead in their piecemeal, patchwork approach to appeasing the tizenry by making minimal changes in their proposed program. While such changes are appreciated, they confirm our continued assertions that the project was inadequately planned from the beginning. ci- THESE ELECTED (and, largely appointed) city officials have had the great advantage of giving press releases and interviews definitely slanted to their own point of view. Examples of this are abundant in the three articles in last weeks the Clipper, including headline referred to above. So far as we know, no vote was taken to deny the petitions. In fact, the only petition really limited by deadline was the referendum petition which had to be filed within thirty days after the action to which it related. While the petitions for direct legislation may be too late to get on the November ballot, they specifically request that, in such case, they be put on the ballot in the next available election. The city attorney informed the council they could call a special election, and there is no deadline for adding signatures to the initiative petition, unless it is 150 days prior to the next general election. The council has not yet informed us as to the required number of signatures for referendum or initiative petitions, nor have they informed us as to the disposition of any of the petitions. IN ONE article, Councilman Norman Wright is quoted as making the statement: Most of the residents are in favor of the project, granted a few are not. But we cant make everybody hap- py.. ..Well do all that we can d relationship with the board as a whole, and individually, up until January when Mr. Swapp was ap- I HAVE THE AGENDA includes of new council officers. All interested residents of the north end of the county are urged to attend to participate in the election a limited budget to meet such needs. Given that budget, we have purchased substantial numbers of resource, cultural resource, Com- munity Action Neighborhood Council meeting is scheduled to meet in the basement of .the Clearfield Library, 562 South 1000 East, Wednesday, Sept. 26 at 7 p.m. tions or institutions within THE library WHEN became aware Commissioner Swapp had failed to return "Americana and had paid for it instead, the library received a number of copies from various citizens. Rather than put those copies on the shelves I went to the board for I Or- 1979. same. both reviews were not the to Highway 89; Handicap dinance. would have been in violation of board policy. A reaffirmation of book selection policies was made in a vote by the board April 17, vice in this county, and I believe I have made a significant contribution to the quality of life here. I have worked assiduously to re- She tained in the collection. noted that the six involved in right-of-wa- Centerville Residents "Just Wont Give Up the world beyond." In order to be free in a free society, one must have access to informa- tion and that access is through the public library. I believe this community as a and whole supports subscribes to the philosophy and I base that assumption on the current use of the libraries and the growth of the library system and its services during my time as director. I am not a perfect person have served in my 20 years with the library. These objections of the three new board members are trumped up charges. They are merely excuses for arbitrary, capricious action by the board. I respectfully request the board reconsider its decision. It can do nothing but harm to the but I believe I this county well members of the board, library system, and Davis County as a whole. to save the trees, etc., to preserve as much heritage as possible, but we cant go back to the primitive days. 1 think the problem lies with a few residents who just wont give up. He neatly disposed of the opposing signatures by sug- gesting there are far fewer opposed than the signatures indicate, and that the opposi- tion amounts only to a handful of dissidents. The article did not note that the original protests are being recounted by opponents, and both the council and the article ignored the information presented at the meeting that there are many more opposed than the signatures indicate. ONLY A relatively small portion of the community was contacted with the petitions, and the overwhelming majority of those contacted signed. Most who did not sign gave such reasons as you dont cant fight city hall, I want to get involved, dont like trouble," We have a request going to the council and are afraid to antagonize them, or, What theyre doing next to my property is OK with me, and I dont care about the rest of the town or about any other issues; very, very few support the project fully as it has been laid out by the council. 1 Councilman Wright dis- missed the effect of some petitions signers by saying they were from outside the dis- trict, and Mayor Golden Allen denied lifelong-resideNora Miles the opportunity to speak because she was, he said, from "outside the district. Yet the council's own notice regarding the district says that the entire city is in the district. Further, much of the opposition is directed at the councils undemocratic methods and inadequate planning, not just at the to specific changes they seek make. ONE OF the recent news articles told of two residents, the only two property owners on their side of the street on an entire block, who approached the council for permission to have a private contractor install the curb and gutter at much less cost than the city estimates. Again, quoting, from the news article, I dont doubt that you could have it done for less, said one councilman, but if we let you withdraw from the district, others may want to do the same thing. Weve In other words, gotcha, and were not going to let you go, whether its best for you or not. Shortly after the council overrode the objections of many citizens and voted to proceed with the project (July 31), one of the appointed councilmen, in defense of his vote in favor of the district, didnt have much said, choice; there wasnt much I else I could have done. What did he mean by this? Is he so beholden to the men who him for his councilman job that he was afraid to vote his true convichand-picke- d tions? THIS IS frighteningly reminiscent of two other octhe attempt made casions by F.D. Roosevelt to pack the U.S. Supreme Court in the 30s for political purposes, and the currently red-nDavis County Library fiasco in which two new members of the board were appointed to replace two former members, reportedly for the sole pur-- i pose of gang voting the dismissal of the library director. Mayor Allen is reported to have said that the j after the coming election, when the terms for all three of their appointees expire, and when the votes of the people just might install three new council members who would then constitute a voting majority more sensitive to the desires of the people? SO, ONCE again, it is impressed on us that our elected city officials are more determined than ever to claim their legal right to force this project on the ci- tizenry through relying on the totally-unfa- state statute ir that gives them the authority d of the when only people affected refrain from protesting. The council is being unrealistic in claiming that of the people in the one-thir- one-ha- lf district are in favor, just because only half protested. They refuse to recognize that some properties are owned by people living out of state who couldn't be contacted, others were out of town during the short period of time available for getting the protest peti- tions around, and that others took the attitude that Theyll do it eventually, so why fight-- Surely this was it again? mandate! no-:- ' . ' : : : - WE SIGN this letter, among other reasons, to let Norman Wright know that we are proud to be among those he" says just wont give up." It' is never a disgrace to be' among the few when fighting: on the side of right. ' ' : Councilman " when he ' says that the opposition amounts to just a few residents. The signatures' listed below are just a few, but we could easily fill a' column with names of dis- gusted citizens if space per-- : However, Wright is in error t - mitted. Lucile C. Reading Fent A. Hughes ; Richard L. Williams ,, Nora B. Miles Raymond A. Gwynn Kenneth H. Sorensen Wes Tingey, Frances C. Fomeli us Charles R. France ' " Seymour D. Rigby Byron F. Barnes improvement project is on a tight time schedule which requires the calling of bids and being ready for construction some time in November. After more than 125 years, why the driving obsession to start the project in the middle of this coming winter? Could it be that our city officials are afraid of postponing it until League Proposes Names For Library Director The League of Women Voters of south Davis County has always had an interest in the qualifications of elected officials and members of county boards. Therefore, we wish to submit the names of three individuals we know are qualified for membership on the Davis County Library Board. WE ARE certain you will give each candidate careful consideration before you make your final selection.. Their names and a brief resume are listed below: Mrs. G. Paul (Marjorie) Seeger, 2778 North Highway 89, Layton, Utah, phone Mrs. Seeger is a graduate in library science from Denver University, a past member and president of the Ogden Library Board and the mother of eight children. She is past Layton High School PTA president and member of of the Ogden Junior League. She has been a resident of Davis County for 16 years. Mrs. Don (Marjorie) Proc825-436- 2129 South 650 East, Mrs. Bountiful, Proctor attended North Central College majoring in psychology. She is the mother of two children and an avid reader and supporter of the Davis County Library. She was active in Vietnamese resettlement refugee program in Utah and the wife ot the Bountiful Community.--Churc- She been a Bountiful seven years. MRS. BRUCE (Nelda) Bishop, 748 East 2150 South, Bountiful, Mrs. 292-788- Bishop holds a BA degree in history from the University of Utah and a minor in English, She has completed 30 hours towards a masters program in English literature, taught English at Skyline High School for four ; ? 2 z 7 ; Z : our jZ of interest in the community we would like to be advised of your final selection. We would also like to be informed as to the criteria used in the selec- tion process. ; 2 ; 5 Nancy Cooper, Pres. jj League of Women Voters South Davis County,;: DIXON P. REISBECK KCA To Meet secretary. The regular monthly meeting of KCA will be held Tuesday, Sept. 25 at 7:30 p.m. at the city hall. All members are urged to attend, np ' years; taught dividuals. Because 295-384- The Kaysville Civic Association officers held an executive meeting Tuesday evening at the home of John Brown to outline the years program and set goals to improve Kaysville and assist all the clubs and organizations. OFFICERS attending were Tom Allen, president; John Brown, president elect; Ron Pearson, past president; Robert Anderson, adult chairman; and Joan Giles, " English at the University of ; Utah for two years. She is the ; mother of six children and the, wife of a Bountiful physician. I ; She is active in the Primary u Z and cub scouts. She is a na--- -' tive Utah resident and hasr Z been a Bountiful resident fof ' 2 ' four years. Thank you for reviewing the : qualifications of these in- - tor, Sept. 25th h has't i resident for ' ; minister. 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