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Show "J r &4 J8A i The Salt Luke Tribune. Sunday. May IH. 1986 Common Carrier Police-Firefight- f Bad Idea ers fewer than lu 000 residents Generally these cities and towns were affluent residential communities with no large industrial districts and few ot the crime problems associated with other urban areas The commission found that in larger cities like West Valley, a "Department of Public officers Safety" with faces, "the potential for conflict of purposes, with the result that attention to one problem will be sacrificed to the attention paid to the other " The Blue Ribbon Committee that West Valley City's Mayor Michael Kmbley had look into the idea of West Valley going to a PSO department came to the same conclusion. The committee stated in its report that the PSO concept would not w ork in a city of 100.000, and the city's own projections are for a population in excess of 100,000 by the year 1990. a mere four years away. By Clayton D Dun ms eH Valley City is considering the consolidation of their police and fire departments into one Department of Safety." This proposal is supposed to provide better service and reduce costs. The "Department of Public Safety" concept would liue policemen and firefighters as "public safety acting or PSO's who would perform duel law enforcement and lire pro' cross-traine- offi-cei- cross-traine- s tection duties The idea of combining these two public services, as radical as it may sound, is not new It has been tried by one t ity after another, with little suc-- i ess. for It) y ears. The Fraternal Order ol Police, at he request of the lawmen who make up that organization, has compiled a fair amount of information dealing with tfie pros and cons of the PSU concept. This information includes reports and testimony presented to 1 Association the International of Chiefs of Police, the International Association of Fire Chiefs, and the International City Managers Association. The information gathered points out the problems in combining departments and services. After carefully studying the prob- lem the FOP has concluded that the PSO concept, has been tried, and in most instances, found wanting. During the 28th annual Fire De- partment Instructors Conference held on Feb. 21. 1988. John A. Neale of the National Board of Fire I'nder- - .. y Clayton D. Dumas writers said of the PSO concept: "the proponents of the idea are generally students of government, men of thethe idea is not ory not practice or fire police chiefs, nor supported by by men of practical experience in local government" More recently, the 1973 National Commission on Fire Prevention and Control, in its report to the President of the United States, said that of the 23 cities and towns across the nation that had combined their fire and police departments at that time. 17 had ... How to Submit Articles To Common Carrier Board of Lay Editors Opinions expressed in Common Cy.iiiertiu not necessarily reflect those of Th t Salt Lake Tribune or the Common Carrier Board of Lay Editors. Articles in this department are selected by the lay board of editors which operates independent of The Tribune editorial and reportonal policies. The Common Carrier board, representinij a cross section of (he community, is composed of Diane Heslcph, assistant John L. Kennedy Junior High School. (Iranite School District Sancy Cooper, it businesswoman; Allen (I. Leans, associate state director for handicapped services. Club Department of Social Services; Connie Meske. office manager. Plumbers and Steamfitters Union, Local 19. and Dr. James K Stro;ier, research professor pnn-cipa- l, ; and associate chairman for undergraduate studies in the University of C tab's department of mechanical and industrial engineering. The board seeks articles from all segments of the community Articles need not be professionally prepared, but should be about three and a half pages of double-spacetyped copy. They should pertain to the economic. political or social wellbeing of the Intermountain Area. Articles should be timely, have a basic idea, promote and be challenging. "open letters" are not acceptable. d, dia-Ing- Material should be mailed to Carrier. The Salt Lake Tribune, P.O. Box 867, Salt Lake City. Utah. 84110. Common HEY Wi now. eiuVr d Common Carrier author is Clayton I). Dumas, 6312 King Valley Hoad, West Valley City, Utah 84120. Mr. Dumas is a union pipe fitter, lie is an active member of the Rational Rifle Association and a gun lobbyist. A resident of B est Valley City for the past 10 years, Mr. Dumas has also been active in local political affairs. The views expressed in the article are the personal views of the author. Today 1 J The Public F orum Is We live in a complex society, and whether were trying to defuse a serious civil problem or contain a deadly chemical fire, we need specialists. The "Department of Public Safety" concept does not provide us with these specialists. Instead, we get a trying to provide both professional fire protection and crime control. The result is a city and its citizens that are poorly protected and inadequately served. Even more disturbing is the fact that this is all being done on the assumption that it will somehow save the citizens money. National Commission on Fire Protection and Control reports say studies have revealed that cities and towns that have gone to PSO departments have lost millions of dollars. These losses come in the way of start-u- p costs, excessive fire losses, increased insurance rates, lawsuits against the cities and towns, and finally in expenses incurred to return to the conventional fire and police departments. It seems foolish to support a proposal that could cost the city and its citizens so much and is almost destined to fail. It is important that West Valley's mayor and City Council understand how the citizens of West Valley City feci about this important issue. Citizens can do this by writing or calling the mayor and City Council. It is also important that the citizens attend and speak out at the City Council meeting that will decide this issue on May 22, 6 p.m., at the West Valley City Hall, 2470 S. Redwood Road. Your life and property could be in jeopardy. Tribune Readers Opinions Solution Is on Ice One-fiftof the office space in Salt Lake City is unused. The lake is rising. The fire department should use its pumps and hoses to fill the empty offices with water before it reaches the lake. In winter, the offices would serve as enormous ice cubes. With a little dynamiting, they could be removed from the buildings and sent by . rail to well, anywhere. This would revitaize our construction and railroad industries. Tourist revenues could be raised ice sculptures. by making barn-sizeThese could be placed by helicopter atop Mount Timpanogos. Large corporations would gladly pay to have their logos made perpetual. Overcrowded jails could be replaced by open-ai- r sculpture galleries. Taxpayers would save money and the Legislature would be saved the pain of decision. Utah license plates could then advertise the greatest ice on earth. T. RUSSELL WINGATE h . d Tax Dollars at Work? state has built a beautiful for the Department of Health at about 300 North and 1500 West. Along with this building they used our tax dollars to construct a magnificent parking lot, one that would be the envy of those of us trapped in the downtown area. A new street, wide and landscaped, also was part of this project, turning a desolate, unattractive area into a The Forum Rules 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 reason 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, P.O. Box 867, Salt Lake City, Utah 84110. show-place- . So where do the people in this fine new building who work park? In the huge parking lot built with our tax dollars? Not on your life. They crowd their cars along both sides of the once-wid- e roadway, narrowing it to the point of danger for anyone trying to drive along the road. They block the corners by parking around them and impede the progress of the UTA bus that has been rerouted to serve this new and important area. Could it be that they park in the street because the parking lot is full? Nice try, but I've seen the cars on the street at 6:30 in the morning with nary a car in the parking lot. It sits empty, all day every day. Oh, yes. and no offense guys, but a lot of you parking on the street look k as if you could stand the hike from the parking lot to the front half-bloc- door. ROBERT L. MOORE A Fighting Chance Another little boy disappeared from his home in south Provo two weeks ago. His mother had not been watching him carefully as the romped out in the front yard and disappeared. She searched the neighborhood and then called the proper authorities, asking if they had seen a small, blondhaired. blue-eyeboy. They said they had a lot of missing children, but none fitting his description. She dutifully put an ad in the paper and put posters up around town, saying there was a $25 reward out for her missing boy Driving north on Interstate 15, cars race past the body of a little boy laying face down on the side of the road. He had been hit a week ago.The to lay on the road, decaying and abandoned. - Another car driving south slows down just past Lehi. The back door opens and a child is thrown out. This seems easier than taking the child to a shelter, or having the parents "fixed." The toddler, just over 2 years old. cries for her parents and unsteadily walks down the side of the road. Drivers only give her a passing glance, not wanting to be bothered with taking another abandoned child home. You don't do this to your children Please don't do it to your pets. Take unwanted animals to a shelter and have your pets spayed or neutered Give them a fighting chance at life. PATRICIA GREENE Provo N Point of Law Corporation Deemed Separate Person Edward J. McDonough One of the major advantages of incorporating a business often is. if it is done right, the shielding of the individual officers, directors and shareholders of the corporation from personal liability for the debts of the corporation. The law considers the to be a separate "percorporation son " Edward McDonough pi noticing in Salt Lake is a lawyer City. But if a corporation us not run right, the individual officers or shareholders can become personally liable for the corporation's business debts. This usually happens when an individually ow ned business or a partnership incorporates, but continues to do business, ignoring the existence of the corporation Board meetings are ignored Stockholders' meetings are m- er held Business is conducted and decisions are made by the business owners as if the corporation never existed In such a case, when the corporation is a corporation in name of its owners, a only, a mere alter-egcourt may well decide that, from the point of view of its creditors, the cor o poration does not exist, and look beyond the corporation to its principals for liability. In lawyer talk, this is called "piercing the corporate veil." It works like this. When the new tile roof at St. Alphonsis Church began to leak soon after it was installed, the problem turned out to be defective simulated tile roofing sold River Building Products, Inc. For over a year, the building committee of St. Alphonsis Parish worked with Gunnar Halversen. South River's owner, but got no satisfaction. Finally. with the permission of the pastor. Father John MaGuire. a suit was brought against not only South River Building Products. Inc., but also Gunnar Halverson. Gunnars lawyer moved to dismiss the suit against Gunnar. "The allegedly defective tile was supplied by South River Building Products, not by Mr. Halversen," Gunnar s lawyer told the district judge at the hearing. "South River is a corporation in good standing. Mr. Halversen is its president and sole stockholder, but he is a separate person who did not guarantee the corporation's debts." Father MaGuires long-timfriend and lawyer. "Judge" Carruthers. re e ferred to the deposition of Gunnar Halversen which had been taken prior to the hearing. The deposition shows, your honor," Carruthers said, "that South River Building Products, Inc., has never had a board meeting since Mr. Halversen acquired all of its stock; that Mr. Halversen uses the corporation's bank account as his own; that Mr. Halversen has allowed the assets of South River Building Products. Inc., to drop to almost nothing by paying himself a large salary and dividends, so that South River Building Products, Inc., is technically insolvent. The corporaton has no separate life of its own. It's only exisof Mr. Halvertence is an alter-egsen, and its only purpose is to shield Mr. Halversen from what would otherwise be his own responsibilities." When the district judge agreed, and denied the motion to dismiss the case as to Gunnar Halversen, Gunnar agreed to make good the roofing guarantee of South River. o Super Comfortable Levi's" TAILORED FOR MEN Slacks form Levis" Menswear. y The quality 100 Polyester stretch fabric and comfort waistband makes Levis" Action Slacks perfectly comfortable for the Big or Tall man. two-wa- (Point of Law is published for information purposes only, and should not be used as legal advice. You should see your own lawyer for specific legal opinion.) unmm I I t i |
