| Show o inion The Herald Journal Logan Utah "Right conclusions are more likely to be gathered out of a multitude of than through any kind of five selection’ — Judga Laamad Hand Anwricn uM (II7MN1) Sunday August 25 1996 Page 13 Our view Ethical conflicts aren’t in county’s best interest financial gain constitutes a legal conflict of interest for council board and commission members A “perceived” conflict of interest exists if relatives or friends stand to uestions about a perceived conflict of interest in a Cache County Board of Adjustment vote on a controversial motocross race at Sherwood Hills should prompt the county to review its laws governing relationships and official votes profit from an official body’s vote and this requires simply that voting members reveal their relationship before voting j Griffin should be commended fof Board Member Kelly Griffin insisted last week that his marriage ties to the Weston family which owns Sherwood Hills had no bearing on his vote on whether the resort should be allowed to hold motocross events on property in the zone county’s That may be so Perhaps Mr Griffin is of such strong moral character that he could vote his conscience on the issue with no thought of how a yea or nay might go over at the Thanksgiving table or next extended-family outing But can Cache residents count on the same County all other current behavior from lofty and future officials? We don’t think residents should have to Griffin’s situation is similar to that of many other public officials in this valley where large families often combine broad business holdings with varying degrees of influence in local government According to state law only a forest-recreati- making his relationship knowd before casting his dissenting vote in favor of motocross at Sherwood Hills But again — in a nation whose strength has rested for more than 200 years on the principle of a “government of laws not of people” — such matters should not be left to mutual trust Some urban counties in Utah on have acknowledged this and addressed the problem by imptming much stricter ethics and ' rules than those covered by state law Cache and other rural counties have opted over the years to remain lax largely with the view By Bruce Smith that in areas friend- Herald Journal publisher ships and family relationships can hardly be avoided in the governing ogan’s proposed Transportation process Master Plan comes up short in solving a But with growth bringing more major traffic problem driving down conflict-of-intere- Logan’s main traffic problem st less-populat- ed L people — and more financial Main Street According to the plan now being conopportunities — to Cache Mley it is now clearly time for a change sidered by the city council installation of new stop lights controlling left turns here as well on Main relationship that provides direct Logan’s Street is not scheduled until Your view : Thahk!t(nipahiiw u-- lb the editor JC Penney Co and ZCMI for their extra support of charities and volunteers in our community Each year JC Penney sponsors what is called the Golden Rule Awards These awards are given to local volunteers nominated for their outstanding and devoted service to local charities There are three $1000 checks written to local projects of outstanding volunteers under the categories of “Adult" “Group” and “Youth JC Penney gives out an additional five $250 awards to nominated volunteers in the name of the charities in which they’ve offered much devoted service 1 have had the privilege of serving as a judge on the committee which picks these outstanding volunteers in our community Thanks to the volunteers Chris Smith of the Voluntary Action Center Jim Allgaier of JC Penney and to JC Penney Co for recognizing each year those who give so much Another business that works hard for the charities in Cache Valley is ZCMI In June ZCMI held its fifth annual Charity Night Each year in June ZCMI closes its doors for a special evening event benefiting the chanties in Cache Vklley lb get in to this special event One must donate $5 to one of the charities on the list This money goes directly to these charities In addition to this ZCMI gives 5 percent of all purchases that evening to the charities that people request ZCMI really goes all out each year for Charity Night They give away hundreds of dollars m prizes they have it catered and they give coupons good for 20 10 and 5 percent off of individual purchases Cache Valley is lucky to have so many businesses the people Centennial ed Why of -t- business so we can contin-- ’ to tnaka1 Cache VUky the very best ft' hrough-ypur b for sujpport bf charities I am writing to thank j g of that support the in our community In this our year please support the UnitCache Wiley and its charities well-bein- can be If you have any questions about United Way of Cache Wiley or any of the agencies it supports don’t hesitate to call me at 753-0317 Mary Sorensen United Way of Cache Wiley CETC appreciates community support lb the editor: V Cache Employment and Training Cen- ter would like to publicly thank the fid-lowi- ng people and businesses who have contributed to our program since January of 1996 We appreciate their support and contribution in helping to make CETC a valuable program fin people with disabilities: Larsen Jennifer Larsen Mar E and LaRee R Lee Maccys Inc Braden Mason Wonne Merritt Connie Edna Sadler Schreiber Foods Inc Sunshine Itmce Margery A Small Lyman B Stevens Thompson Electric USU Oedit Union ZCMI Charity Night Sec YOUR VIEW on Page 17 Vo yoo Miiip WaN' pppie iri IK vtfSlfc CRfcASo? dreds — if not thousands — of dollars to come to Yellowstone where they bump over crumbling roads stand in lines for From The BflHnos Gazette $ r inadequate and untidy restrooms and rarely see a ranger in many popular lously low and absurdly disbursed The parks get to keep only 15 percent of sdmission fees the rest is deposited in the US Treasury Yellowstone’s cut doesn’t even cover costs of collecting the fees Meanwhile the wonderland of of geysers and hot pots has dcvel- oped thousands of potholes Travelers from across the country and around the world spend weeks of vacation and hun-- mz v® I tote cm or yccsftfH? ' "P Vo ft? ds areas A pilot program will allow the National Park Service this fell to designate 50 sites to raise their entrance fees and to keep 80 percent of the revenue generated over what they took in last year Yellowstone should be included in this pilot program But the fee demonstration program by itself seems to offer too little too slowly Fees won’t be raised until next year and the program expires in September 1998 We call on the Montana and Wyoming congressional delegations to visit Yel- lowstone themselves and see what has Herald Journal tfwisKr-yo-o Vcttocm frantically trying to get where they want to go Pedestrians should have the right of way when their liht is green At their last meeting some city council members argued that the proposed only addresses today’s traffic prob-em- s and fails to look at the big picture as far as growth is concerned Today's traffic problems on Main Street arc critical and the priority of the council should be to fix the traffic-signproblem on Main Stretfiis“sb&NaM pMsIMbCtomtcil I members can’t do anything about tomorrow until they fix today One council member said he was comfortable with the plan because it was developed by professionals in the field of traffic engineering But he should remember the consultants don't live in al Logan and obviously haven’t driven mudi on our streets City council members live in Logan drive in Lopan and know firsthand the unique traffic problems this city has They need to listen to the “experts” but they also need to take the lead in setting priorities that will solve the serious and dangerous traffic problems As part of their proposal the consultants recommended a $5 monthly fee for each household to finance improvements I suspect many households would welcome a $5 fee if Main Street traffic could be fixed before 1999 Broca Smith's column appears on the Opinion paga every other Sunday Yellowstone admission fees must be raised get Im eral times by frustrated drivers ‘ fftellord Fillraoro caw or If you want another scary experience try walking across Main Street on a busy afternoon Drivers making left and right turns pay little if any attention to pedestrians I have almost been run over sev- Other views thou-san- Mel Foster Cacie Employment and Thining Center three or four light changes simply become frustrated and go through red lights creating a serious safety hazard ISO cash-strapp- Carol Wayment Wilson Motor and either has to be first or second in line in the left turn lane and wait for traffic to dear (if indeed it ever does) or run a red light Many drivers after waiting for nd Last Yellowstone National Park Morgan Peppcridge Farms Mountain collectedyear million in admission fees $38 Fuel Pelham Family Trust Island from 312 million visitors That’s $122 Heights Construction Inc Morris Poole person whether the visit lasted a day per DDS Preston Drug Preston Salvage or a week Ethel Rawlini Scott Raymond MD Admission fees collected in YellowDevoe Rickert Deanna Romriell stone and other national parks are ridicu- Jeanette Roskelley n i La-Z-B- oy cus traffic It’s not uncommon to see dozens of cars lined up in the left turn lanes trying to turn on Main Street To make a turn a driver left-tur- for drivers entering the intersection from other directions Traffic officers seem to look the other 1999 way when drivers run red lights because Obviously the Salt Lake City they probably know firsthand hoyy frustrating If k to drive on Main and have to rconsu!tfiitf who r inake left'turnv: to developed "the Running red lights to make left-haplan and set the turns leads to total disregard for traffic priorities don’t often drive down signals not only on Main Street but also in other areas of town As a result no Logan’s Main Street The dty council needs to invite them back to Logan and one pays much attention to the sequence make them spend a day driving up and of lights on the traffic signals Many dri- ' down Main and trying to make a few left vers believe the yellow light simply hand turns so they can see first hand how means that you speed up to make it serious the problem is It’s my bet fixing through the intersection before it turns the mess on Main Street would jump to red The red light means you still have a the top of the list if they were to see just little more time and can probably make it how difficult and frustrating navigation through if you hurry of this street can be Driving a car across Main Street can Those of us who are forced to use be a real adventure When you think you Main every day are totally frustrated have the green light in your favor you with the experience and wonder why a had better watch out for driven still turn1 to solve ing left in front of you — they just keep a problem that has been with us for coming with no regard to the color of the yean I doubt many citizens are excited light Those who are new to our commuabout waiting another three long yean nity and not accustomed to how it works before anything is done to solve a major are amazed there are not more serious accidents However it doesn’t seem to traffic bottleneck in the dty The problem as I see it is there is no take long for them to learn to disregard way driven can make safe and sane left the traffic lights like everyone else Oral and Trisha Adams Ina Bennett Don and Jeaneen Burgess First Commerce Bank Gilbert and Anna Mae Duncan Brian Firth Lucille Glenn Vernon Goodsell Kenneth W Hight Mrs turns because there are no traffic signals that regulate l Money HAve to tick uJ The Opinion page to Intondsd to acquaint readers wtoi a variety of viewpoints on mallets of public Importance and provide members of fw community wbh a tonim tor their iriews Personal ootomns cartoons and letters bom readers reflect toe opMone of toelr writoro and creators EdWortaia under Via heeding "Our rvpfNini ill vwwi or no mwa jounw 1st coord Members of toe edborial board BRUCE SMfTHpubNaher CHARLES MoCOUJUMmanaglng edRor JENNIFER HINESfelty editor RAEANNE THAYNEhews editor become of our park They should drive the route between the Northeast Entrance and Tbwer Junction an obstacle course of broken and pitted pavement rivaled only by the chain of craters on the road between Madison and Mammoth Years of neglect in building and road maintenance has accumulated into a multimil-lion-dollar backlog Yellowstone needs an immediate infusion of federal funding to jump start a needed program of repairing roads and upgrading visitor facilities It also needs a sizable increase in continuing funding for maintenance capital improvements and visitor services That continuing need can be met by substantially raising admission charges and keeping all of those fees in the park musapsus L ini noma jounwi wnoomoo unwi id ino editor Potentially Nbetoue or offensive letters wN not be published however and toe editor tseervea toe right to edit el toners to conform to toe length and style requirements of too Letlera should be: Typewritten and No more toan 450 worts In length w Addressed and include daytime phone number tor purpoeaa of verification Signed by toe author IndMduals ere limited to one published letter arShln any MHlay period Address toilets to htolterhnewscom Guest commentaries are also welcome and are tun a! the editor's discretion doublo-epaoe- d |
