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Show SOUTHERN UTAH NEWS Community CITY GOVERNMENT AND ITS PROPER OPERATION City government should be run like a corporate business. A Mayor and five member council type of city government is considered the norm. It has been adopted by most Utah Cities. These six elected persons, plus the city recorder and secretary have been proven to be adequate manpower to handle the tasks. The theory being, the city is a corporate business, like any other business, those people who are at the head of the business are put there by the share holders to run the business in a prudent and responsible manner. All property owners in the city are share holders and by the taxes on their properties help support the city financially. A Mayors duties are many, but to mention a few: He is the City Manager. He brings things to the council for their consideration and decision. He is like the chairman of the board. He conducts the council meetings. He has the power to bring council members to their scheduled meetings, even by order of the police. He doesnt have a vote, except in the case of a tie on the part of the council. He is to take the lead in all matters. These people, above mentioned, are adequate for cities under 30,000 population, if each member of the council will function in their position. Sometimes we see cases where these elected people want to hire someone else to do their duties and be there only to draw their pay and sit at council meetings showing themselves to be important in the community. Presently, this is what we have here in Kanab. We are a very small community. Every dollar is important to our success. Our Council and Mayor have followed the example of our previous city officials and have hired a man to act in their stead. This hired man is paid almost $40,000.00a year. He handles each of the various departments of the city meeting he according to his desires and then at the six oclock tells each of the council and mayor what he has done in the previous two weeks and also the money he has spent from their departments and then tells them to sign the vouchers (checks). Then at the normal advertised City council meeting, where the public are present, there is a motion made to pay the vouchers; nothing is said about what the money was spent for, and from what budget, and how much the budget was in the beginning, and how much is left in the budget I remind die reader that this is a corporation and the people attending the Council meetings are property owners and very much involved. They are there because they want the best use of want to know whats going on. The their money, nothing hidden from them. If too much money is being spent that area should be looked at and corrected. The writer and others feel we do not need a $40,000.00 a year extra City Manager. Thats the Mayors job. The Mayor was elected to be the city manager and each of the council was elected to handle a department of the City and each elected person is to be responsible back to the people of the City. We say we do not have this kind of government in Kanab. One man has taken over the government of our City! The problem out in the Ranchos is a direct result of our city government being handled by one man. If the Mayor and the Councilman over roads and streets would have been on top of the letting of the contract and then the subsequent construction and listened to the critics as the work was being done, and then done something about it, we would not have the terrible expensive mess we have. What really happened was the City Manager (not the Mayor) was talking to the project Engineer, who has been proven faulty in his work, and then telling die Mayor and the Council that all is well and dont listen to the critics. What has come of it? The independent engineer report has proven the roads in the Ranchos are seriously out of specifications and even dangerous. That they are irreparable. That there should have been a penalty of 50 which was called for in the contract if the contractor was in violation of the specifications. Then, to make matters worse, the City Manager convinced the Mayor and Council to pay the contractor and engineer in full in December, 89. The work had not been completed. No final inspection, no completion date, even now. When you pay a contractor and engineer in full, what you are saying is, Thank you, we are happy with your work and goodbye. This also releases the bonding company. If the City had held tack the usual 15 for a year, the bonding company would have been obligated to come in and redo the roads even if it took another million three hundred thousand, at no extra cost to the tax payer. Now see whos repairing the roads in the Ranchos? The City crews. It should be still under contractor guarantee. Who then is paying for the repairs on the Rancho roads? Answer, the whole City of Kanab. Whats going to happen n the future? The Rancho property owners are refusing to pay. They have hired an attorney and have started a lawsuit The City will have to do the same. The interest is building on the million three at almost three hundred a day. This could go on for years. If the Ranchos are successful in setting aside the Special Improvement District, who will pay for all this? Answer, All the property owners of the City. In fact they are already paying. Whats the solution? Its tough to try and correct the bungling of our Mayor and Council after so much money has been misspent. But it will be a lot cheaper to stop all this expensive legal work and ongoing interest and bite the bullet now and make our City Fathers take hold of the situation, fire the City Manager and dissolve the SID. Tighten our belts even further as a City and pay our obligations and take it as a bitter lesson. Lets have responsible people running our city government. Lets unify our Great City Of Kanab! share-holde- rs Citizens for a more responsive, responsible Paid Advertisement City Government. MONDAY MAY 6, 1991 Dorothy Ripper is chairperson of Demo Party of the The new chairperson Democratic Party of Kane County is Dorothy Ripper, taking over from Dr. Avnish Pandya, following elections held at the Democratic Party Organizing Convention held last Wednesday. Elected vice chairperson was Dick Cates, and Carol Sullivan is the secretary-treasure- r. A total of 22 delegates from Big Water, Kanab, Kanab Creek Ranchos, and Orderville attended the convention. Delegates to the May 1 8 State Convention were chosen. They are Dr. Avnish Pandya, Dick Cates, Jesse Johnson, Carol Sullivan, and Stan Lippincott, alternate. Baker, Ramsay are wed end Mrs. Roy Baker of Dexter. Mo., announce the marriage of their daughter. Kelly Lynelle. to Maughan Dean Ramsay, son of Mr. and Mrs. Mr. Dr. Pandya said his two years Robert Ramsay of Kanab. The couple were married on Apri 12. The bride is a graduate of St. Louis Community College and currently is enough, and he wished to spend working as a dental assistant at Northwestern Dental School. The his time with medical commit- groom is a graduate of Northwestern Dental School of Chicago. The ments, and therefore did not couple live h Chicago with plans to move to northern Arizona later this wantanotherterm as chairman. summer, where Maughan will practice. He thanked Dorothy Ripper, the previous vice chairperson, and New Hope Church Caroline Lippincott, previous film May 12 for working secretary-treasure- r, A Christian film, Cry From with him, saying the party was now bigger and better and a vi- the Mountain," will be shown at New Hope Bible Church in able political contender. Kanab on Sunday, May 12, at 6 at the helm of the party was sets Goin's on in Orderville p.m. The World Wide Pictures production is an adventure film set in Alaska. It is the story of a family being reunited through a accident and a religious experience. Makingthe dream of obtaining Evangelist Billy Graham apaGED (high school equivalency) as himself in the film. pears more than just a mirage during the hot summer months ahead is the goal of Mohave Community Colleges Success Centers. To help make the vision a reality, adults who have not obtained a high school diploma are encouraged to attend the last set of GED classes that will be held in Mohave County between now and June 30. The classes will be taught at the Success Center in Colorado City and will prepare students for the five academic areas that are on the GED exam. Those areas include reading, writing, math, social studies and science. Successfully passing the GED exam gives the student a State of Arizona Certificate which is equal to a high school diploma. In addition to the GED pro- The grandchildren of Lasca H. gram, MCC also offers Adult Chamberlain will honor their Basic Education classes for stu- grandmother's 80th birthday at a dents who are 16 or 17 years old celebration on May 10 from 6 to 8 and are not currently enrolled p.m. in the Orderville Ward Culin high school. As with the GED tural Hall. Family and triends are invited to attend. No program, ABE students are re- was bom Escalante gifts. Lasca and raised quired to attend an orientation in Kanab. hShe married session in order to register for Robert C. Chamberlain the late and has classes. lived in Orderville since 1929. They To attend an ABEGED ori- had three children . Frank of Mementation session, contact Neal phis. Tenn.. Blaine of Orem. Utah, Ekker in the MCC Success Cen- and the late Lorene C. Russell of Orderville. She has 11 grandchB-dre- n ter in Colorado City at Mohave slates ABEGED classes and 22 great grandchildren. By TWILA COX A combined ward dinner was held on Saturday night at the Orderville ward hall after a cleanup day. Hamburgers and wieners were prepared by the 2nd Ward members. Pam and Spencer Young of Sandy attended church in Orderville on Sunday. All of their children and grandchildren were here and visited with Ida and Charles Winters, Marion Young and Cleo and Elbum Sorensen. Dale and Margaret Sorensen attended horseshoe tournament in St. George on Saturday and he got 2nd place in his division. Wayne Sorensen had surgery on his hand in St. George on Friday. The Old Time Orchestra played on Sunday afternoon at the resthome in Kanab. We rode on the senior citizens bus. A mission farewell was held for Robert Johnson, son of Bob and Laura Johnson, on Sunday in the the 2nd Ward. Mrs. Johnsons mother of Washington state is here visiting the Johnson family. Thor Wixom and a girlfriend spent the weekend here for Rob-er-t Johnsons farewell. Brad and Derrick Lamb and family members spent Sunday with their mother Feril Lamb. Bob Cram is working in Salt Lake with his brother, Coyle. Merideth Cram is spending some time in St George with her daughter to help with a new baby. Mr. Ron Taylors parents visited here for Hie weekend. |