OCR Text |
Show ALL POLITICS IS LOCAL...SO WAKE UP!!! Several years ago, I wrote a story about apathy in Moab and Grand § tie ee County. I think I called it: “Moab—deadfromtheneckup.” It seemed to me at the time that Moab’s citizens had lost their zeal, their commitment to activism, their enthusiasm for participation in the political system. And, just as I predicted, no one complained about my scathing editorial because the citizens I was referring to were too apathetic to reply. You guessed it...too DEADFROMTHENECKUP. I freely admit that I have lost much of my own enthusiasm, although recent antics by some members of the Grand County Council have re- a A a ee nee 16 Number 4 a October/November 2004 invigorated me. And it was heartening to see another council member, Al McLeod, show some real courage and stand up to the rubber stamp mentality of the controlling council majority. Clearly, the current Council Majority caters to the few, ignores the many, and tries to squash dissent any 4.....POINT BLANK: The Clock is Ticking on the West's Jaguars By Richard Mahler NEW WEST BLUES: ‘Sorry...wrong number!" time it can get away with it. But who can we ultimately blame except ourselves? Last week I went to the County Clerk’s office and asked for some election data. Fran Townsend and her staff were able to retrieve election results for me, going all the way back to 1988. The numbers were dramatic and revealing and, By Jim Stiles for me, predictable. It showed that since 1992 voter participation has dwindled from an all-time high to below 50% for the first time any old timer can recall. In 1988, when Grand County voters decided whether or not to accept a proposed toxic waste incinerator, 73% of all registered voters participated in that election...we stopped the incinerator and voted out the incumbent commissioners who had proposed it. Two years later, in a non-presidential 7..... DEPUY! Volume 3 The Art of JOHN DePUY with commentary by his great friend Ed Abbey (from "My Friend Debris") election year, 64.5% of the registered voters still turned out to cast ballots in a hotly contested and extremely entertaining commission election between Republican candidates David Knutson and Manuel Torres and Democrats Dave Bierscheid and Craig Bigler—the Republicans won handily. But in 1992, an angry and energized Grand County electorate turned out in record numbers to change our entire form of government. Public sentiment toward Knutson and Torres had changed dramatically and a record 76% of all registered voters helped make history in Moab. 8... LOSING SOLITUDE: Two Arts 6 Cheatgrass 12... THE STABILZATION OF DELICATE ARCH An NPS plan to ‘preserve an icon...By Jim Stiles But it was all downhill after that. Look at the numbers—1994/56.3%, 1996/65%, 1998/48.8%, 2000/56.4%, 2002/49.7%. Even in presidential 14... ARCHES STORIES From Julien to Travers...visitors to the arches election years 1996 and 2000 (indicated by bold type), the number of Grand County voters fell by 10% to 20% compared to 1992. And in both 1998 and 2002, we dropped below 50%. By Jim Stiles ; What's happening in Moab isn’t dramatic when compared to the national average, but Moab citizens have always been great advocates of participatory democracy. What’s going on here? I believe, in part, the apathy can be traced to the fact that we are an unabashed tourist town now, a population center whose government caters more to the people who visit than to the people who live here. The town’s residents have fragmented more into small cliques...we were always cliquish but were somehow held together in times of crisis by a thin but resilient thread of common concern. I don’t see that any more. 17... HERB RINGER'S all envisioned one-on-one representation, WEST 18.... AROUND THE BEND AGAIN More Arches memories..... By Ken Sleight 21... SILVER BULLETS...By Scott Silver simply declining...we’re becoming stupid. But something else happened in 1992 that is worth considering and, in fact, is about to be given to the voters’ scrutiny in November. When Grand County changed its form of government, we tossed out the old partisan three person commission and replaced it with a seven person, non-partisan council. Only two of the new council seats were elected at-large, by the entire county; the other five were elected by district. The notion at the time was that the district council seats would be like having a neighborhood We AMERICAN Central City, Colorado in the 1950s And of course, there is also the perception that the intelligence of the American voter, in this “Fear Factor/The Apprentice/Survivor” culture is representative. By Martin Murie 24..AN INTERVIEW WITH MAXINE NEWELL Memories of a life on the Colorado Plateau 27..... THE ZEPHYR BACKBONE REPERTORY perhaps CO. More new faces for 2004 regular neighborhood meetings, and an opportunity to really feel personally connected to local government. It didn’t work out that way. District council members, elected by a 29.... FEEDBACK: Another extended edition... relative handful of voters, often ignored their constituents and have made decisions with profound effects on the future of ALL Grand County citizens. Many residents don’t even know who their local representative is. In 1990, almost all of us could name our three commissioners; in 2004, I Why Waste Your Vote on Kerry or Bush, When You can Waste it on ME? By Jim Stiles doubt if one in ten could identify all seven. Consequently, I think it has created an arrogance among many members of the governing body who no longer feel accountable to anyone except their own self-serving interests and/or to the more powerful special interests that some members of the council are so eager to accommodate. There is no room for this kind of arrogance at any level of government. But while we may feel helpless to change much of anything in Washington, we can still make ourselves heard in small towns and counties. And especially this year... : Two ballot initiatives will appear in November that give us the opportunity to modify the structure of our local government once again. As SUBSCRIBE TO THE ZEPHYR SIX ISSUES (ONE YEAR): §15.. TWELVE ISSUES (TWO YEARS): $28 EIGHTEEN ISSUES (THREE YEARS): $40 proposed, the council would be reduced to five seats from seven and all council members would be elected by a vote of all county residents. I strongly support this initiative and think it will give us a governing body that more accurately reflects the will of the people. One thing is certain—local elections are the last place left where I think a vote has much influence. Don’t waste your last chance to kick someone in the butt. NAME ADDRESS CITY STATE 6 9-DIGIT ZIP CORRECTIONS AND GOOFS There were a couple of mistakes in the last issue that need to be PLEASE READ THIS! mentioned here. First, due to a printing error, the bottom half inch of four ages were cut off. As a result, the last four lines of Erica Walz’s story, "Profiles in Cabbage,” about Randy Ramsley’s Mesa Market in Caineville, were lost. The story in its entirety can still be found on our web site. If you go to the home page, look for the ‘archives’ link, and then find The Post Office will NOT forward 3rd Class mail. If you do not send us a ange of address, we cannot be responsible for issues you did not receive. Subscriptions must begin with the next issue. Back issues are available at ridiculous prices. Call for a price list. Those readers who choose to take advantage of the multi-year discounts do so at their own risk. There is no guarantee that the world will be here in three years, let alone this publication. the August/September 2004 issue, you should be able to finally read those missing words. And...I’m an idiot. I must have had Delores del Rio on my mind or something. Instead of laying out a new ad called “Dolores Contemporary” in Dolores, Colorado, I wrote, “Delores.” I think I got it right this time. CHECKS OR MONEY ORDERS ONLY TO: P.O. BOX 327, MOAB, UT 84532 My apologies to Jim and Liza. | PAGE3 A |