Show iptpipli Ooinion The Herald Journal Logan Utah “Right conclusions an more likely to Be gathered out of a multitude of tongues than through any kind of authoritative selection " — Judgs Laanntf Hand Amsrican Jurist (1I72-1M- Thursday August 27 1998 17 Page Quest commentary Logan ordinance unfair to landlords By Paul Hants T he Bill of Rights provides our protection against excessive interference by government There is nothing in Logan's new Fit premises ordinance to protect landlords The newspapers have been very efficient at exposing trying and convicting those few landlords who have rented substandard housing Thomas Paine in his famous pamphlet Common Sense said tint "people should never abandon their futures to an authority they cannot control" Tenants now are given control of landlord's property! (Most tenants are super I refer to those very few irresponsible folks) Supreme Court Chief Justice Brandeis wrote bearing government officials It says that American people have a “rigid to privacy against the government The Fifth and Fourteenth amendments declare that an American may not be deprived of "life liberty or property without due process of law" The Constitution gives people the right to contract for any goods or services without being told by government what that contract may or must contain Government can't require a landlord to provide information beyond that which he needs to secure the contract! Nothing in this law protects the land- lord from vandalism late or no rent pets broken screens tenant bankruptcy expense of court attorney and sheriff service costs or supplemental service costs Etc! Landlords don't break appliances flush unmentionables down the toilets bring roaches burn holes in carpets punenrholes in walls throw spaghetti on "Experience should teach us to be most on our guard to protect liberty when the government purposes are i beneficent LDS Church President Joseph P Smith saidt "It is our right and obligation to protect our property and maintain inviolate every right to which humanity is entitled" This law discriminates against landlords ' Hie new ordinance assumes that every tenant knows nothing about his rights and expects the landlord to educate mem about these but then considers the tenant is an expert in correctly diagnosing all electrical mechanical and plumbing problems The ordinance doesn't assure the price is right work is necessary or suitable! Nothing in this law protects the landlord! Landlord has no recourse if the tenant's actions endanger the property 'The iwwratreacttou of a landlord who ' receives a bill fimn a tenant for renairs is to raisd the rent 10 cover these repairs The tenant finds he has shot himself in the foot and will vacate Hie police need warrants issued by Judgesi to do what our city council just gave tenants power to do The Supreme Court ruled in die case of Sears Firestone Florida and Fennsyl-Van- ia vs Fuentes that “A man's home ctodies wages rents and everything he owns are his private property and are absolute necessities of life and cannot be taken without due process" A tenant cannot redirect convert or withhold rent without violating a landlord's contract rights (Sixth Amendment) It is his livelihood! Logan Council woman Karen Borg just gave our rights to the tenants The landlord has thousands of dollars invested: the tenant has less than a month's rent Karen's law gives the tenant the rights of prosecutor witness jury and executioner Hie Bill of is to protect citizens from over ceilings overhaul auto engines on living room carpets etc The tenants don't pay property taxes Webster says rent is “a torn place" How right he is!! Call it ‘environmental McCarthyism’ Our tenants sign this statement: "Lessor represents that the apartment is in good clean habitable condition at time of occupancy and Lessee acknowledges the same by endorsement" When deficiencies are brought to the tenant’s attention the standard defense is always “It was that way when I moved in" Hie tenant and landlord will be in adversarud positions and will retaliate The city is now in a position of extreme liability if there is one procedural slip up! If a tenant or landlord sues die city where will the money come from for reparation? This ordinance assumes tenants are forced to live in substandard housing In truth they are free to shop around until they find a place dud they like The laWi of siipply and demand without gdvehf- -' ment Interference work tirtill ih hduklAgi " Councilman John Harder got it right when he said "It should be flushed down the toilet" As we watched this law from the beginning it was painfolly obvious that Karen Borg had ner mind made up support appreciated toward repeal Paul Harris Is a Logan buainassman and land-ion- ! 4 ’ environmental We would like to acknowledge the great participation this year in our sum-- C mer reading program The program is incentive-base- d to keep kids reading durmonths We have had the summer ing 194 participants this year! Congratula-- f tions to each of them We would like to thank the following Smithfield businesses for donating Mizes and awards to our readers: Regal Pizze- - ris Diana Allen North’s Star Buffet Hyers Chevron Flying J McDonald's Arctic Circle Rainbow Snow and Cache Valley Crafts We recently moved from the East where we had fluoridated water Nome in my family (including five children) valley have had seven cavities that needed to be filled Our dental habits have not changed one bit We do take fluoride tablets but it just isn’t as good as having fluoride in the water We should be outraged that our legislators have not given us an opportunity to vote on this issue! Fluoride in the water would benefit everyone with no harm done Most places East of the Mississippi have fluoridated water What are we waiting for? kid Library Board brought by environmentalists he began gunning for the hides of the informants rather than investigating the merits of their revelation Even though congressional committees and subcommittees are flush with staffers who served as lobbyists for resource extraction industries Young die is simply to shoot or discredit apparently decided that public employees who hold memberships in conservation organizations are sOmehdw the- - 'itipsaenger whose jdfc'ipfcf to uphold the law national forests Evidence of landscape abuse rose to public awareness when a few Forest Service range technicians blew the whistle on ecological damage after several honest attempts were nude to bring ranchers into compliance with grazing regulations When word got back to Young that die information was used in the lawsuit Michelle Palmer Providence FK Vo yam NM Mate ppurMBtoes tVovi Vtw tlttr ttois fcwiy HwN©? 1bn w? ment Van Eefs intimidation resonates with many other public employees in the the matter of Fish and ist accused of conducting a witch hum and abusing his power The Minneapolis wrote of Young's prying: Such a clumsy attempt at harassment would be laughable if Young were not chairman with to punish agencies plenty of power and officials who defy him But defy him they must Don Young ought not to preclude anyone from supporting whatever groups they please on their own time and with their own resources This atmosphere of repression which began under the 12 years of the Reagan-Bus- h Star-Tribu- ne administrations still continues under Bill Clinton The issue is not about being from the political right or left it is about knowing right from wrong Noteworthy is another case involving Jeff van Ee an engineer with the US Environmental Protection Agency in Las Vegas In fact it was van Ee who in describing his decade-lon- g struggle for free speech coined the term “environmental McCarthyism" Van Ee's chief tormentor is not Con the greater Yellowstone ecosystem Roybal says that her superion were vocal in characterizing biologists who criticized proposed extractive industries as conspiring with “ecofreaks" "We are taught to heed the opinions of cattlemen and loggers and miners as holding validity but the other side is regarded as if they are communists" she says “I used to think good science was made by objective minds hearing all sides and all opinions and brainstorming on those and coming up with foresighted solutions But that's not what happens That's not what the leaders of the agencies and the people in charge of protecting endangered species want" Political intimidation disguised as congressional ovenight wasn't acceptable in the 1950s And it shouldn't be acceptable today Todd WMdnaon Nvm in Bozeman Mont and is author of toe now book 860000 Under 8iego: The Politicians Wer on Nature and Truth' Ho is 0 contributor to Writers on tho Range a service of High Country News baaed in Paonia Colo Let the Palestinians try terrorist Nidal M aybe after yean rtf hiding out in Libya the aging and ailing terrorist Abu Nidal is in Egyptian custody maybe not The Egyptians are engaged in a war of their own against radical Islamic terrorists and rightly fear that shipping Abu Nidal to any of the countries that want him for trial — Britain Fiance Greece Italy — would thaw reprisals from his followers In die name of Palestinian whatever Abu Nidal is accused of directing dozens of acts of terrorism in the 1970s and 1980s most notably for die murder of 19 Pie in attacks on airline terminals in land Vienna in 1985 If Egypt is truly holding Abu Nidal its president Hosni Mubarak will find it difficult to let his unwanted guest slink back into the shadows Here's one possibility Abu Nidal is also wanted by the Palestinian Authority the nascent government in Gaza and the West Bank Abu Nidal's most murderous -- ft so yen 60 against his fellow Palestinians including a campaign of systematic assassination of aides to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat The Palestinians also have Abu Nidal to thank for their name still being in Western public opinion the automatic adjective for terrorist control an independent Palestinian state would not be a haven for terrorists As king as the Abu Nidals roam free the world can hardly be faulted for harboring that suspicion policy"-'1--?- supaife&’&H AT his own domestic fanatics is said to have sent Abu Nidal a conciliatory letter saying “forget the past and our differences" Let’s not forget the past Terrorists should not have a comfortable old tendencies have also been directed Journal totTi Herald Editorial ’toypteoaawovB HP poiLtyna Arafat with a tin ear for international public relations but with a close eye on age even ones dying of cancer as Abu Nidal supposedly is Let the Palestinian Authority try Abu Mallard Fillmore CNN ftWNA iplinary action firing and possible prosecution by the US Justice Depart- dbveriive Like US'Sen' Joseph" Wildlife Service biologist Jane Roybal who was ordered to change reports docu-campaign of the 1950s he has been menting threats to grizzly bear habitat in McCarthy's notorious Bv 8cripp Howard News Setvtcn e Writers on the Range regulation is perceived as the hur-- ‘ tH gress but his own employer the EPA The charge against him: Holding membership in the Sierra Club which the EPA claims constitutes a conflict of interest even though van Ee's weekend activism has nothing to do with his government job Invoking an obscure federal code defining the allowable conduct of federal employees the EPA has ordered van Ee to refrain from getting involved with conservation and public health matters in the Las Vegas area or face disc- Guest commentary lb the editor lb the editor ’ n the Old West some settlers had an easy methodj'or dealing with obstacles to Manif Destiny: Shoot the Indians shoot the grizzlies remove any barrier in your path by eliminating it Use the ends tojustify any means Tbdayithose who still purvey the frontier mentality have grown more savvy The modem maneuver in an age when What’s the deal with no fluoride? Reading program r I No example of this is more illustrative than recent letter penned by Congressman months ago and was simply going Don Young of Alaska Young chairman House Committee on through the formality of allowing public of the powerful Resources a letter in July to dispatched be confused want to input She didn't Eleanor Towns Southwest regional with facts The other councilman abandoned their intuitive cognizance with her forester with the US Forest Service He asked for the names of agency employcrusade in her Americans have enjoyed the right to ees who hold memberships in environcontract for hundreds of years without mental organizations The intent of his request was thinly interference and we intend to continue to enjoy that right! We have let the coun- veiled It followed a successful lawsuit cil ram this law down our throats We brought by two conservation groups the Diversihereby respectfully save to ourselves the Southwest Center for Biological and Forest Guardians to stop harmful without contract to ty government privacy interference and will work patiently livestock grazing practices in local Your view t' BvToddWHhmaort ' The Optoton page Is Intended to acquaint madam aHto a variety of vtowpoMs on motors of pubSc Importance end pravkto members of toe community atth a tocum tor fhojrvtoaa Pemonel ookimne oartoone and lottom from waders wtaot toe opinions of toeir writoie and cmatom Cdborials under toe hoadtog Ou r IMfMini WTO fOW Of HQ nOIOIfl JOUmW Ubood-of too editorial board: BRUCE SMTHpubSsher CHARLES MoOOUJUMAnonaging editor MKEWEMERQRENfcRyedRor CINDY YURIWleatuwe editor Nidal Let Arafat and the Authority prove to the world that free of Israeli Letters policy: iMU JOUVHM wMDOfflM ItQBfS 10 wit 119 nmmQ mho rowniiy skwknjb or ousnswo won on not be pubNehod however and Via editor weaves the right to ed el tonne to contone to the length and stylo mquimmonts of toe 1 Letters should be: Typeertnen and rtmtofe spaced No mow torn 480 word In tongto Addressed and tochidsdaytmo phone number tor ptapoeee of veritoaton w Signed by too autoor tndMduato aw Miod to one pUNahed let tor ettoin any toMey period Addwee&mal mm thwernma lottom to Tttf-tTrr- rt memorise aw atoo wetoome and aw wn at pii oonon ovovimii W nwswa — |