Show ' r v (tit fif-m- t riir 0HM Friday March 8 2002 A4 The Herald Journal Our view The good ol’ days S ome things arc just too precious to pass up The picture here comes from a family history book brought into the newspaper by Carol Clay the of the guest commen- -' tary on the bottom right side of this page V In the old photograph Mrs Clay is shown as a child aboard her Shetland pony “Floss” Nothing remarkable about that except that co-auth- or the young- ster used to regularly ride Floss all the way from her home near the Whittier School in Logan to her aunt's and grandmother's houses in North Logan near where the Cache School District offices are now “All I had to do was tell my mother where I was going” ' Mrs Clay recalled “When I got to my aunt’s unannounced there was always room at the table for me turbing if not downright chill-- '' ing The 1500-wor- d critique follows: as began “A group has been watching your career at the Journal for a while now We happened to get together for supper last evening' and your article on Logan’s -j power supply shock came up m our conversation We decided as a group that one of us should write you periodically to urge you to take more care in your news reporting” ' Although the letter did make some good points about weaknesses in the news article one The casual viewer of Logan wonders if an anonymous comMunicipal Council telecasts munication of this type might probably wouldn’t have noticed say more in a negative way a curious thing during Wednesabout the sender than the receivAs the Logan day’s meeting er Stettler’s name appears in Month” city “Employee of the bold type above his articles award was being presented one while his critic prefers to opermember of the council did not in the shadows ate join the hearty applause Hummmmm referred And for the as group With upwards of 25000 readtoin the letter our hynch is that ers inspecting their work each consists of one day Herald Journal reporters are “we” in this case person accomused to taking criticism but an panied on special dining occa- anonymous letter received this sions by three mannequins in week by city reporter Jeremiah Victorian formal attire disStettler seemed particularly Soapbox i- flesh-and-blo- Consolidate local governments Carol Clay and Richard Watkins he Herald Journal recently threw an editorial pitch on the future of local government that beckons our best swing (“Growth calls for analysis of towns’ governance” Our View February 24 2002) It was a good pitch the ball we’ve been looking for It deserves to be knocked over the outfield fence to break a sluggish game and awaken a lethargic crowd Eyeing the situation the Herald cites Providence’s current struggle with steady growth and its search for governmental change to cope with the social and economic demands associated with an expanding com- - munity f- its “town to city ’’metamorphosis It applies Providence’s struggle to all of Cache Valley and advises that we “ start planning for growth now” acknowledg' may or ing that such planning” may not include a change of governmental’ structures but it’s certainly a good time to start talking about it” The Herald doesn’t mention the word “consolidation” We’re not sure it’s even hidden somewhere between die lines For some time now a few of us Your view of snowmobilers To the editor: The l0ng:ived battle between backcounlry skiers and snowmobil- ers rages on' I was saddened by the behavior of several snowmobile riders' while skiing Bunchgrass on Fri-- " ' day Feb 22 1 used to defend snowmobiling and responsible riding asa form of recreation that although I didn’t participate in was was fine with those who do Feb-2a beautiful day to be outside and I chose to spend'it backcountry skiing Unfortunately my beautiful day was invaded and ruined by snowmobil ers My fiend and I skied up the Bunchgrass trail and along the way noticed several sno wmobilersWe decided to ski anyway and to pick a low-ang- le stable and untracked slope (theRAIC rated avalanche danger “considerable” that day) We assumed that upon seeing fresh ski tracks the snowmobilers would skip our slope an 'assumption that obvi- ously gave way too much credit to the snowmobilers ' My companion and I completed 'three beautiful runs and were putting our skins bn at the base of the slope Two snowmobilers entered the hill at the top of the slope One stopped next to our backpacks the other down the slope a little distance up hill from us Both turned off their machines and got off Our back- packs new tracks ami my compan- ion in his bright yellow parka were clearly visible to both My compan- -' ion shouted up to them in hopes they would stay off the slope They were instead joined by two other snowmo- biles and proceeded to track up the entjre hillside using long traverses to cover the hill they even erased our It’s hard for me to imagine that this was inadvertent In the span of five minutes these people sucked ' all the fun out of my beautiful back- - ' country day I can no longer defend the responsible snowmobiler and can only hold a grudge against all of fhemLlt only takes one 'jerk a few minutes to make a slope uiiskiablqand ruin every- one’s day I may not agree with the ' way they choose to recreate but have always felt that I don’t have the right to screw with their day and can’t ' understand why they took it upon have openly used that word to enunciate the notion that Cache Valley is overripe for merging its 20 separate yet governments Logan City Providence Mention ' themselves to screw up mine Elizabeth Langenburg Logan' : rTi?s rai f A ' ' Carol Clay Richard Watkins valley is endowedwith a wealth of human resources: skilled and experienced individuals who now or could perform in numerous areas of community enttfprfse'Ak the Herald posits it's more a matter of governmental “structure" And we firmly believe there are structural cracks in Cache government that continue to widen under the weight of increased growth and the trail of related pressures from public and private expectations especially having to do with the hustling and wrangling over tax updating and coordinating planning goals ami strategies foundational measures for determining and meeting present and future support services for 20 entwined communities ' Recently the Herald Journal quoted Logan City’s Community Development Director Jay Nielsen who com-- ' mented on Logan’s general growth plan: “Whole pieces of information ' This does-have just been left out n’t require an update It requires a rewrite of the entire plan” (“Logan general plan faulted” Herald Journal February 19 2002) Wouldn’t it make good sense to pncirclc the plan--1 ning needs of all Cache communities' by centralizing already limited per-sonnel office space funding and the daily planning services that all communities need to meet their respective growth objectives? Look at Logan and Cache County each with separate planning offices staff and individualized priorities and percep- turns Who really understands cost fairness and equity and division of responsibility when considering the interplay of the county’s 26 or so communities (adding the five unincorporated areas)7 And how can smaller communities hope to preserve favored town characteristics and accommodate continued growth without support from a full range of professional planning services? The logical answer: consolidate the valley’s planning resources equally serviceable to all communities and func and maintain them under a system So it goes for law and complexity of growth in our valenforcement roads mass transit ley warrants consolidation of essenlibrary and other cultural amenities tial services best accomplished by And while at it let’s get our two integrating all 20 overlapping often school districts merged and drawn governing bodies into a broader stretch of community Essential service concerns would discourse and development include among others: law enforceWith the prospect of consolidation ment fire and ambulance transportahow would communities assert their tion utilities air and other natural individuality and not lose the powers resources and community planning The qualities of Since die Herald highlights planning of a culturally healthy vibrant idenin its commentary on future govertifiable community are too often nance we’ll do likewise in the concompromised because of die fiscal text of consolidation hoping to ' and caretaking responsibilities that illustrate what could be d : growth demands With consolidation in all service areas individual communities would have All of our governing communities freedom and resources to lack adequate planning resources and greater focus on social values rather than therefore are unable to provide the growth essentials A Carnegie study depth of technical and interpretive aimed at die nation’s college campusdata vital to decision-makeprivate es identifies attributes that define the interests and the general public live growth throughout our See SOAPBOX on A" continues to outpace efforts at monies Many of us have been “talking about it” for years More than that Cache citizens have led the state in ’governmental reform In 1975 Logan city residents voted out a commission form of government in favor of the more responsive and format In responsible mayor-counc- il 1984 citizens county-wid- e gave Utah its first “county council” the model that now governs the whole of Cache County Today the intensity : Nibley WellSville Smitbfield Ben- son — all other communities in the ' valley — would’ fare far better under one governmental roof up-tra- ck : Isf -- od ’ T y T ‘ No longer tolerant - : “County” government supposedly encompasses every square inch of the county’s geography both incorporat- ed and unincorporated and thus assumes representation for every citizen living within its politically con- stituted space All households therein are routinely taxed Hie present role of county government at least in our valley is outmoded but could be retooled as a framework for one gov- ernment consolidation We continue to emphasize that our dissatisfaction with die' functionality of local governments— the configuration — has littie to do with those who serve within these 20 jurisdictions We recognize the gen- uine efforts of municipal and county leaders to cooperate while attempting to protect and service their respective constituencies We with others note many accomplishments We think the cross-purpos- ent ed accom-plishe- county-municip- al rs r mss Mallard Fillmore Herald Journal Tin OpHon papa la htondad raadara wih to acquaint a vanity of vtawpofnts on iqanan ofpubtoimpoitonceandpioMdemombeisof Tha Herald Journal wetoomas Man to tie adKorFutanlafey lietoue or ofanalva Man wMnct ba publihsd however and toe adlor raaarved toe right to adl al Mats to conform to toe length arid atyle requirements of toe ' j ' Letlara f toconiinunayailtialonmtwavlawa ParaoiMt oounna cartoon and Man Iran naans isnaci aw opnona or nav wmart ano omM EdlorWiuhdirttM DARREllEHRLKkicKy - r ' ' ’V - LL V y- ' f' ’ !f ' : L j i ' f - Tr S ! : i - - 1 flStelm) Amoitmijuitt V "i numbarforpuipoaaaofvMlIcaloa ji y ' i Signed by toaautoot ( InrMwiiliiati am Brntoaflln ona pidiiaharl lol tor wmn any 30day period Addraaa&mal latlanto'HtollarOHnawamin nuaatmm) mantoriaa are alao watoona and are run d r wi9 fcnon oucraaorii a" T1 i T fadof r Nomoratoan450vnrdBtalangto BRUCE SfylTWputjtehar CHAHLF8 MoOOtUidhianatfng adBor any ’ MOB800aanarauoi(nyimpnont adax CiNOYYURTHtoalimadaor- i: should be: Typewritten and double spaced-!- : Our Aboard Mamban of tia editorial board: caichukms ut mat GUfto Sejatfiaid : ' ’i 's' -- i ‘ t jr "A- ' 4' ‘ ' ' ' ' J ' |