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Show 4A Sun Advocate, Price, Utah Wednesday, July 2, 1980 Wage rise in dire times is questioned Sun Advocate Last week the Price City Council approved a salary increase of $100 for the office of mayor. This was at the request of Mayor Walt Axelgard. He will now be paid $600 monthly. It seems ironic that the council would give the chief executive a raise in the same meeting that they approved the laying off of seven city positions. City Councilman Mark Hanson said the council had decided against taking raises for themselves because in times like these "we believe we should be able to bite the bullet." We applaud the council for taking this stand on keeping their salaries at$250 monthly. There Is little doubt that the mayor and the council members do more for the city than they are getting paid to do. For instance, last year council members took quite a buffeting from the special district proposal they made in hopes of improving the streets and other public works in the city. The council got numerous angry comments from local citizens, some which were obtained over the phone late in the night. Sometimes these citizens forgot the councilmembers spent many hours on this proposal in hopes of making the community better looking and more able to handle growth. Not enough residents know of the many hours council members spend watching over the efficiency of the city departmentsMayor Axelgard says that he can spend some 40 hours a week working on issues and problems related to the city. We do not question that Axelgard has applied a lot of time into the job. But there is a question as to council. whether or not the city needs a We do not believe that the prime duty of the elected officials should be to handle the operation of the city. The officials should be directing policy so that the daily operation will go - full-tim- e day-to-da- y smoother. The city's operation can then be handled by the the city administrator, department technicians managers and city employes who are hired to handle the work. There is also the question of how the mayor's political activities tie into his responsibilities for the city. Mayor Axelgard has become quite prominent in his work with local officials on the state and federal policy-makin- g levels. He is a member of the Southeastern Utah Board of Directors, the Community Impact Board, the Governor's Advisory Committee and is the past president of the Utah League of Cities and Towns. All of his participation in these boards and the political organization is commendable, but we do not believe it is necessary that the mayor carry such a load in the name of the city. By carrying such a load, the mayor has reinforced the belief on the part of some residents that elected officials should be retired or able to devote full time to a council position. Such a belief may prevent talented persons with limited time from devoting their ideas and wisdom by serving on the council or as mayor. Again, we believe that the value of elected officials is not in their virtue rests in performing finding innovative wayS in resolving problems with the use of the city staff. Even by limiting the elected officials duties to day-to-da- y tasks policy decisions, no official within the county is getting paid enough. How do you pay someone enough who must represent the common good? Most other cities see the roles of mayor and councilmembers with respect. They are positions of social service through which communities can be made more desirable places to live. Most residents understand, as do most of the candidates who run for office, that the financial pay is low. But job satisfaction should be high because of the sanctity of the work. For example, after a council member leaves office he usually can see projects he has helped push through which will improve the quality of life for generations to come. Most city residents in the state realize this important role that local public officials play in improving our society. However, in Price it seems as though this role of public service is not fully recognized. There seems to be an attempt to make bureaucrat with a regular the mayor a full-tim- e salary. Indeed, the Price mayor is now paid more than any of the other mayors we polled in cities which have a similar population to here. A judicious sense of direction is needed by local officials in this time of layoffs, service cutbacks, economic hardship and spiraling inflation. The salary increase does not seem to provide this needed direction, both In an economic sense and in keeping elected officials primarily involved In decisions. policy-making N JgcEi - Anderson We have of energy studies, including dozens of classified reports, and one stark fact stands out: There is no shortage of oil. It is true that the worlds oil -- His conservation program obviously isnt the answer. The oil sheiks can go on cutting production and raising prices. The solution is to find another fuel and let the sheiks choke on thirsty inhabitants are consuming oil far faster than nature is believe the nation that developed nuclear power and landed the first men on the moon can find a substitute for oil. But it will take an emergency WASHINGTON examined hundreds producing it. But at the present consumption rate, there is plenty of oil to last at least 50 years. And this doesnt take into account the new oil that is being discovered every day. The greedy oil - producing nations not only possess an enormous surplus, but they have the capacity to produce at least 10 million barrels a day more than is now being pumped. The oil potentates are simply withholding oil from the market in order to keep prices in orbit. President Carter has misled Americans, meanwhile, into believing there is a real oil shortage. This way, he might convince the voters that the energy crisis is caused by a shortage beyond his control. So he has merely called for a cutback in consumption to conserve the existing supplies. The sad fact is that the oil -- nations can cut production just as fast as the users producing reduce consumption. This curtailment is not an act of God, but an act of man. It is a problem, therefore, that Carter can deal with. their oil. We crash program. -- F-1- been recruiting retired U.S. military personnel to train the Saudis in the use of their Lockheed Hercules transport planes. But, according to our sources, Lockheed personnel have not simply trained their Arab charges. They have assisted them with nearly every operation except direct combat and the Lockheed recruits have even come perilously close to that. C-1- When Moslem dissidents stor- med the holy shrine in Mecca last fall, it was the Lockheed air force that flew the Saudi troops to the outskirts of the city. JOE SPEAR J State Department officials insist that Americans in Saudi Arabia are not involved in any combat related situations, and that they will return to the United States when their training mission is -- complete. But our sources claim that, under the guise of training, the Americans are actually working as mercenaries. UNDER THE DOME Harrison Schmitt, has some impressive credentials. As an astronaut, he was a member of the Apollo 17 moon mission. He also belongs to a string of professional organizations, and he has a doctoral degree from HarSen. Lockheed of Arabia Saudi Arabian officials have asked the Defense Department to supply them with the latest attack equipment for their American built 5 jet fighters. There is no doubt that the Saudis would be able to use the equipment. The Saudi Arabian air force, it appears, is largely operated by Americans. The California - based Lockheed Aicraft Corp., for example, has WITH R-N.- vard. Still, Schmitts colleagues do not respect him for his intellect. Privately, many of them refer to the senator as Moonrock. The tasks of guarding Capitol Hills 200 acres and 20 buildings fall on the shoulders of the 1,167 members of the Capitol Police force. whose Most of the policemen salaries range from $14,000 a year for rookies to $52,000 annually for the chief sit at desks all day checking handbags and briefcases carried into the buildings. But the guards are easily diverted. One congressional employee told us that, while a guard flirted with her, a male companion carrying a gun walked right by the security station. First Casanova Since his February divorce, President Carters middle son, Chip, has been playing the role of the first familys Casanova. On several nights, our reporters spotted Carters Secret Service detail uncomfortably camped out in their cars outside the downtown Washington residence of Chips latest flame. At an average salary of $30,000 a year, this must make the Secret Service agents among the highest paid chaperones in the country. -- FAIR GAME? the basis of three separate studies, the Interior Department has proposed removing the leopard from the list of endangered On species. Our sources say that one study is statistically unsound, another has been repudiated by its author, and the third was conducted by Safari Club International an Arizona based big game hunting club. As a result, the leopard may soon be fair game for big game hunters once again. -- WATCH ON WASTE a part of the traditional patronage system on Capitol Hill, the majority party is permitted to award elevator operator jobs to favored constituents. The 89 operators who are currently employed earn an average of more than $10,000 a year. But the elevators they operate are automatic, so the operators do As nothing but push buttons. For ths simple task, the taxpayers shell out more than $900,000 a year. Washington Watchdog by bill hendrlx Looking Back In History Four years ago this month considerable numbc" of us were beating the drums, hoisting the nag and lining up for parades to celebrate our nations Bicentennial. Now the United States is nearly four years older and the enthusiasm has significantly subsided. America will soon be 204 years old, an age that doesnt exactly stir the imagination or inspire celebration. Most of us are back at our every day tasks and the future of the United States has a slightly lower priority in our lives than it had in 1976. A closer look at our history reveals that we are not the first generation to react this way, however. ' After the Declaraton of Independence fervor had dimmed, Alexander Hamilton expressed his concern about the fumbling The frail and tottering young government, edifice seems ready to fall upon our heads and to crush us beneath its ruins. Perhaps a similar mood exits today amid a large segment of the population. Answers to important questions seem further out of reach. Where can our government find individuals with the perception and skill to solve such intricate problems as the energy shortage, the iran Crisis, inflation and the federal budget, unemployment and over government regulation? If todays issues appear insoluble, it might be worth examining the problems our new country was undergoing two centuries and four years ago. The Declaration proclaimed our independence, but the new nation was then faced with the realities of survival. The first government was the Continental Congress which found itself with dubious powers over the 13 states. Powers which failed to include the ability to raise money directly, to muster troops, and it lacked authority to regulate commerce. George Washington wrote in 1786, I do not conceive that we can exist as a nation without having lodged somewhere a power which will pervade the whole Union in as energetic manner as the authority of the State government extends over the several states. This and similar comments gave momentum to a demand for a constitutional convention. Sectional differences had to be settled, small states had to be assured of their rights. Ultimately an agreement was ratified by the states in 1789. Thirteen years had passed in turmoil and conflict over the constitutional form of government, but, at last, the United States of America began to function with confidence and establish herself as a world power. All Americans can profit by bearing in mind the circumstances which brought the Constitution into existence. -- |