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Show 4A Wednesday, August IB, 1902 Housing group needs nurturing Despite its tenuous beginnings, the county-wid- e Task Force formed this week in Price is a measure which should be nurtured. fhen Housing long-need- ed Organized under the auspices of the Southeastern Utah Community Action Program, the task force meeting held Monday brought together an array of leaders including city officials, church leaders, civic leaders, a landowner, an industry executive and a regional planner. In an informal brainstorming session, the meeting goers voiced a wide variety of views as to possible causes of Carbon Countys acute housing shortage. They even came up with one or two good approaches to solutions. As yet, the Housing Task Force is nothing more than a loose collection of individuals, all interested in improving housing in the area. Much remains to be done to transform it into a cohesive and viable force for good. For one thing, the group needs a much wider base. Only about half of those invited showed up to the Monday meeting. Conspicuously absent were representatives of Carbon County, cities other than Price, other taxing units, additional coal mining firms, construction firms and banks. The task force clearly has some recruiting to do. Once the group is established, the members need to work on coordinating and enhancing each others efforts. As one state official mentioned Monday, creative solutions can result from a fusion of interests. Industry and government can work together in a partnership to solve housing problems, for example, as can realtors and human services workers. Organizers of the task force should bear in mind that there is already a body in place which was formed for the purpose of problems. That body is the grappeling with county-wid- e Carbon County Council of Governments. Perhaps the Housing Task Force would be more effective if it were adopted as an advisory committee to the Council of Governments. The most important concern is to keep the budding task force from dying before it gets started. Much effort and patience will likely be required before it begins to see results. Unemployment-enou- gh is enough There are times in our country when Americans rise to their collective feet and say Enough is enough ! It happened in the late 1950s and early 60s as the country fought for civil rights for all citizens, and again in the early 70s as we called for an end to that atrocity known as the Vietnam war. And it looks as if the time has come again, if the mood of the layed-of- f miners in Carbon and Emery County is any indication. Along with millions of other Americans, they face a jobless future brought about by an economy that is slowly strangling the great American dream. Unemployment has reached its highest point in this country since the 1940s, and there is no bright spot on the horizon. President Reagans economic policies have failed to revive the comatose business scene, and the resultant slow down has idled hundreds of thousands of miners, steel workers and construction craftsmen. These workers that supply the raw materials and shelter for the countrys businesses and families were the first group hit by the lagging economy, and they continue to suffer the brunt of the slowdown. In our counties, those idled coal miners watched fearfully as their groceries disappear, their unemployment benefits dwindle and the coal stockpiles continue to grow. It has been said that President Reagan cannot be blamed for the current ecomomic situation. His supporters claim he inherited a runaway locomotive. Perhaps, but those millions of Americans who cant find jobs are wondering why that train isnt on schedule, and come November two years from now, they may be looking for a new engineer. International Days was the best ever The long hours of planning and preparation paid off this Carbon the was and International Fair County Days years : ' i ; : ; : ' ; . best ever. Members of the Carbon County Chamber of Commerce deserve three cheers for making the annual celebration one we can all be proud of. They promised something for everyone and thats exactly what we got. A list of the weeks activities proves that there and home arts were motocross races, a horse show, horseshoe a a exhibits, golf tournament, pitching contest, a variety show put on by the LDS Church, team roping and barrel racing competition, a parade followed by fun and games just for the kids, Kangaroo Court, Buster Webbs rodeo, a water soccer tourney, the grand parade, the Sand & Sage Art Show, a chuckwagon breakfast, a concert by Homegrown and loads of commercial, food and games booths. Everyone we saw participating in the wide variety of events seemed to be having a great time. Those who organized the festivities should feel pleased with their accomplishment. Moving the food and game booths to the Price City Park Saturday encouraged more people to attend and turned out to be a much better location than the Fairgrounds would have 4-- been. We encourage those who plan next years activities to consider planning even more games and attractions at the park. X : H was only the third to be held in the make the 1983 Carbon County county. Lets start plans Fair and International Days even better. This years celebration now to h White House elevator broke down, the men with the President had the same thought as millions of Americans... 1982 Copley Newi Service (gSLOtyoni Bnch Sunitj News-JMrr- jack andersonesPear The recession was no secret - to keep Congress from finding out whats in the documents. And heres the reason why: The Weidenbaum papers predicted an economic downturn for the second and third quarters of last year. In February of 1981, a month after Ronald Reagan was inaugurated, his economic advisers knew there was likely to be a recession a few months later. But they didnt tell Congress or the American people. Instead, the administration was saying that prosperity was just around the corner. All that was needed to were working papers ensure good times was for They Weidenbaum, Congress to give the president by Murray prepared who was the the chairman of the everything he asked for in tax and Presidents Council of Economic budget cuts. Advisers. The papers predicted is the Rep. Henry Reuss, what was going to happen to the chairman of the Joint Economic Committee. He wants to know why economy in 1981. Thats right last year. the Reagan administration didnt But Weidenbaum has refused to let the American public in on the turn the briefing papers over to secret of the 1981 recession. And he Congress. Hes trying to claim wants the Weidenbaum papers so The American people can be forgiven if they dont believe a word that comes out of the White House on the state of the economy. The president and his advisers dont even let Congress know what theyre up to. Right now, for example, the congressional Joint Economic Committee is trying to obtain some unpublished White House working papers that were prepared in February of 1981. And the White House is stonewalling. Whats so hot about these documents that are nearly a old? Not much, really. WASHINGTON executive privilege year-and-a-h- s., he can show just how much the White House kept Congress and the public from knowing. In fact, we are told Reuss is so steamed up that he has been talking to members of the Senate Banking Committee. He wants to hold up the nomination of Weidenbaums successor, Martin Feldstein, until the White House turns over its dirty little secret. Meanwhile, President Reagan may have to put personal pressure on the nations bankers if he hopes to bring down the astronomical interest rates that are stifling the economy. He quietly succeeded on the Washington front in prodding the Federal Reserve Board to loosen its grip on the money supply. He expected that interest rates would drop and that savings on the cost of borrowing would be passed on to businessmen. Unfortunately, the strategem has failed. The banks, pleading fe) castle country S hard times, maintained their interest charges at about the same rates, thus providing themselves with hefty profits. They were able to borrow more cheaply on their own while at the same time charging more to their customers. Every politico is aware that high interest rates loom as a major factor in this years congressional could cost the polls in at Republicans dearly elections Managing Editor One of the things I enjoy most about my job is the opportunity to attend city council meetings and the chance to get to know our local politicians. Unfortunately, it is also that part of my job which presents me with the greatest challenge. The Price City Council meets on the second and fourth Wednesdays of each month thats their official meeting open to the public, that is. They have other meetings, too, but these sessions are rarely open to the public. Its these closed meetings that make my job tough. I take my responsibilities as a journalist seriously. Accurate reporting on what our city council is up to is one of my most important functions. It becomes frustrating when Im not able to do the kind of job I would like simply because the city council does not conduct all of its business openly. Im not always able to tell you the whole story because I dont know the whole story. Too much business was conducted behind closed doors. During the past several months it has been if not impossible for me to difficult provide complete details on a number of important issues. In their Wednesday night meetings, council members have voted on matters of concern to all of us but there has been little if any discussion prior to those votes. For example, the council has approved and then rejected an annexation proposal, with only a quick vote. There has been no discussion the mayor calls for a vote, a vote is taken and they move on to the next item on the agenda. If I didn't corner a council member or two after the meeting to ask them havent. The intent of the open meeting or Sunshine law is to guarantee the flow of information between the people and their government. Since the city council exists to aid in the conduct of the peoples business, it is imperative that council members discuss public issues in meetings open to the public. As it is now, the council is making a lot of important decisions but those decisions are being made behind closed doors. This places the public and the Sun Advocate in an extremely difficult situation. We dont know what the basis of council decisions are. It becomes hard to make an informed judgment on whether the decisions are good or bad. Shortly after I started covering the Price beat last year, I discovered that the council was meeting on Wednesday mornings prior to the public meeting that night. At these meetings the council would review those items to be decided on at the public meeting, often discussing controversial issues at length. When I approached Mayor H. Mark Hanson about these g meetings and hinted that they were a violation of the Sunshine law, he shrugged it off as if I really didnt know what I was talking about. He said that as long as the council wasnt voting, they could meet to review and discuss City early-mornin- I ; : Our sources tell us that if the banking industry doesnt volun- - initiate tarily ; ; interest-cuttin- g ; moves, the president will resort to some direct for the good of the party. The White House and GOP public ' arm-twisti- ng already realize time is running short Reaganomics to produce significant upturn from pulse-take- rs that for any the recession before November. Even a modest recovery wont salvage them from some key defeats. IP why they voted the way they did, I would have had little to report in a news story. Apparently, our city council has little regard for the Utah Open and Public Meetings law enacted by the Legislature in 1953 and amended in 1977. I know they are aware of the law because I have discussed it with them in hopes they would face up to their responsibilities under the law. As yet, they and November. Behind closed doors. By DAVID LONG j IT3 . . any item that appeared on that nights agenda. But the open meetings law states that city councils cannot meet to discuss or act upon a matter of public concern except in a meeting open to the public. It does provide for closed or executive sessions in certain kinds of cases. Meetings at which personnel problems or real estate transactions are discussed are examples. When Art Lee Martines was elected mayor last November, I talked to him about these same concerns. He promised me that he would have an open-dopolicy and that all meetings would be conducted openly. He even g invited me to their sessions. I have attended a few of these morning meetings and it has been beneficial. But I or early-mornin- doubt if many members of the public even know about the meetings or have had an invitation extended to them. The open meetings law requires not only that meetings be open to the public, but also that the public be notified of both regular and special meetings far enough in advance that they can attendlf they wish. To deliberately discuss public matters in meetings where the public hasnt been invited is an outright violation of the law. If our city council continues to show this open disregard for the law, the Sun Advocate will contact County Attorney Keith Chiara whose responsibility it is to see that this law is obeyed. It is time our city officials made themselves more accountable to the public. If our present elected officials continue to hide behind closed doors, perhaps the city keys should be turned over to more responsible council members at our next election. : : |