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Show SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH FRIDAY, JUNE 1, 1973 Commissioner Says Inner City is No. 1 Priority Demo County Organizational Convention Slated for June 16 Robert Moore Vee Carlisle : This year's Democratic organizational convention has been slated for June i6, and will be held at Carpenter Hall, 120 West 13th South it was announced by Chairman Robert Moore. Registration of delegates will being at 12 noon. The main point of business to be held at the county convention will be for the election of a new county chairman, secretary and treasvice-chairma- urer. have come and gone into being as possible candidates for the position include J. Reed Tuft, a Salt Lake City attorney, and Frank Johnson, president of Terracor. There has been no announced condidate for the position. Vee Carlisle, presently vice chairman, has said that she is still deciding whether to seek n, . Much wondering has been given as to who will be the new county chairman. Robert Moore, present county chairman, said that he will not seek another term as the chairman for Salt Lake County. Other names which re-electi- on. . . Jr. Federal assistance may be forthcoming if Salt Lake City Commissioner Jennings Phillips, Jr., can help. Mr. Phillips flew to Washington this week to discuss with federal housing officials what steps can be taken to expedite federal assistance for the inner city improvement Also at the county convention project. Mr. the delegates of Salt Lake County for the Utah State Democratic convention to be held August 25, 1973 at the Salt Palace will be certified and the vacancies which have arisen from deaths, resignations and Phillips met with Floyd Hyde, undersecretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Mr. Phillips also plans to meet with the National Urban Coalition to discuss any means of achieving inner city rehabilitation. The improvement project, which includes a section of the city center of 9 blocks, has become the citys number one priority in redevelopment, accord- persons moving from their districts will be filled. Secretary. Louise Jorgensen and Treasurer Leonard Cosco have not announced as to their intentions for the upcoming ing to Mr. Phillips. election. Those plans took on a new outlook last month when the city school board announced the closure of Sumner Elementary and the city expressed interest in development of the school as a central point of the city cultural cenetr. of the city fathers but of a sysThe Commissioner said that tem that is doomed by antiquity. the funds which he is seeking He said that the tax problem to expedite are the key to the is becoming overwhelming be- entire project which includes cause with expansion of coun- some 50 low cost housing units ties rather than cities, that the in the target area. city residents were beginning to Specially the money would be resithe with used for curb and gutter concounty struggle dents over who pays what taxes. struction, repaving of alleys and The inequities of the taxpay- roadways, demolition of hazarders and their burdens are tre- ous structures and construction mendous. County residents pay of the new housing and developless tax than their city neighbors ment of a park and cultural do, yet they take advantage of center. If the funds are approved the the police protection and other of services the city structure. improvement plan would get Mr. Moore went on to say under way within a two month that he secs no relief for the period and the tangibleoneresults would be seen within year. taxpayer but that a community The also said that Commission council form of government with area representation would prob- the city will apply for open funds this fall if the fedably help the taxpayer more space continues the than other government forms eral government allocations. This benig considered by Salt Lake open space for the developused is money County. ment of park and other open '.Continued on page 8) areas for citizen recreation. Reform in County Government Seen as a 'Must1 by Residents The Salt Lake County Democratic Chairman, Robert Moore, gave his views on county government to the Salt Lake County Government Study Commission at its weekly meeting. Mr. Moore said, A paid administrator in Salt Lake County would be comparable to its paid school superintendent. People have no confidence in him; they dont think hes doing a good job and theyre not happy about the whole thing. This was the context of a speech given to the boards 11 members and a group of citizens who attended the meeting. "The real cancer sore is the itproblem with Salt Lake City beself. It is literally decaying cause of tax burdens, social problems and the move to the suburbia. Mr. Moore also pointed out that the failure is not the fault Com. Jennings Phillips, Utah Last State in Nation to Use Paper Ballots,County Clerk Says Utah is the last of a dying breed. The state is the last one in the nation to remain solely with paper ballots for elections. This has been a matter of concern with many persons, but the real problem lies not with the changeover to a voting machine, but which kind of voting machine will best serve the needs. This apparent matter came to light in the first meeting of the Voting Machine Advisory committee selected by the Salt Lake County Commissioners to present recommendation by November 10. The committee chairman is County Clerk W. Sterling Evans. Mr. Evans pointed out the good and the bad points of several different types of machines that could be sued for the voter tabulation and then recessed the meeting until June 27. In the interimperiod attempts are being made to arrange for demonstration of various machines by having them brought to Utah by the manufacturers or by having the committee travel to Texas during the annual convention of the National Association of Counties July 22-2- 5. Mr. Evans explained that the devices fall into three types. 1. mechanical lever type machines, 2. electronic ballot counters, and 3. punched card voting devices. The county clerk went on to say that the lever machines are the simplest and the easiest to operate and relatively foolproof but are bulky and weigh about W. Sterling Evans 600 pounds apiece. Thus the of the machine problem moving to the polling places and preparing could be very costly and require a large storage facility. The problem could be solved by having less neighborhood polling places and larger polling places set up like in schools for about 20 to 30 voting dis- tricts. Mr. Evans also pointed out to the committee that the county has been considering voting machines for over 10 years because of their ease of operation, the fact they help eliminate voting errors and invalidated ballots, and because of the speed of the ascertaining voting results. TODAYS EDITORIAL Seat Belts Save Lives Enactment of proposed state laws requiring U. S. motorists to buckle up their seat belts could produce some dramatic reductions in highway deaths and injuries. It is estimated that if seat belt use across the country could be raised to even 80 percent from the present 25 to 30 percent level, highway deaths could be cut by 16,000 to 18,000 a year. Where campaigns to encourage voluntary use have failed, enforcement may provide the answer. To date, mandatory seat belt use legislation has been introduced in 20 states. Bill have passed one house in New York and have been cleared by committee for legislative vote in Michigan and Ohio. Statistics show the law is accomplishing its goal the reduction of death and injuries. Within one year of (Continued on page 4) |