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Show THE ZEPHYR AUGUST 1990 PAGE 2 ' page two Jim Stiles The courthouse needs to be safe and accessible. Beyond that, If the State Is which we cannot afford to correct, what are they going to do, Imposing regulations upon us sue us? Are they going to shutdown the building? Are they going to make the Commission conduct Its meetings outside? (Frankly, I always thought our elected officials would make better decisions If they could get out of that stuffy, windowless, florescent-l- lt chamber). Our It can afford to spend. county can only do the best It can with the funds Most recently, a headline In the local weekly announced that the University of Utah on the Sand Flats Road. The project plans to construct a $9.5 million dollar theatre complex would be financed by $6 million In federal funding, the remainder coming from matching funds. Although the Idea of a small outdoor amphitheatre has been favorably received for a long time, the scope and cost of the project came as a surprise to many. (The theatre project Is discussed In detail elsewhere In this Issue.) Again, what has happened to common sense? Why build a massive enclosed performance hall four miles up a winding road that carries you past the county dump? Where are the studies that would suggest our community could support a performing arts center of that size? Why not start with something modest and see how well Its received? What started as a simple outdoor amphitheatre Is being Rube Goldberged to death - made complicated and more expensive than our wildest dreams. And again, whos going to pay for It? non-fede- ral "The fact that my native land Is prey to barbarism, that In It, mens only God Is their belly, that they live only for the present, and that the richer a man Is, the holler he Is held to be. changed since St Jerome spoke those words almost 1500 years ago. weve become a lot more sophisticated. But the The tools of barbarism have changed millennium Is a force still there and a half. As St Jerome watched greed and after driving we tear his are today watching the same catastrophe all over shortsightedness society apart, But this time around, the weapons of choice are Visa cards, Mastercards, and again. ballpoint pens. The only means of defense Is common sense, but I'm beginning to think Its a commodity In short supply. Before I wander off on some obscure tangent where even j lose track of the point Im attempting to make, let me backtrack a little and tell you why SL Jerome came to mind. Last week, I was scanning back Issues of this paper, looking at the news stories that have seemed to be of greatest Interest and concern to the citizens of Grand County. Three topics came to mind: the proposed Book Cliffs Road, the proposed Courthouse expansion, and most recently, the University of Utah's plan to construct a theatre complex on the Sand Flats Road. These three projects carry a price tag that exceeds $65 million. While all three proposals continue to build a head of steam, no one seems to have a clue as to how we will pay for all this. Even more frightening Is the fact that no one seems to Not a lot has care. First, let's consider the Book Cliffs Road. When the Special Service District Board first presented this Idea to the public, they tried to promote the notion that It was "free It wouldnt cost the taxpayers of Grand County a penny. This simply Is not true. Mineral lease revenues, the funds that are supposed to finance Grand Countys share of the work, have dwindled and are not enough to meet the costs. Just as Important, the Utah Department of Transportation has joined the project and has agreed to pay to pave the road. Yet UDOT Is desperately searching for ways to finance road proposals to which they were committed long before the Book Cliffs Road was even a glimmer In Jimmie Walkers eyes. Once again, money promised that doesnt exist' And with regard to the Special Service District and the mineral lease funding It receives, It Is an established fact that that money could go to other projects within the county. That leads us to the proposed courthousejall renovation and expansion. Even Commissioner David Knutson has conceded that the county could have created a special service district for the specific purpose of making those Improvements to the courthouse. Had the money earmarked for the Book Cliffs Road been used for this project Grand County's citizens today would not be facing a substantial Increase In their property taxes. We were told that the Book Cliffs Road would be free; but you see, Its not free. According to the Commission, the $4.5 million courthouse expansion Is not just needed Its required We are apparently falling to meet certain standards established by the State. Ive heard the wiring Is shaky, the roof leaks and the building lacks handicap access. Ok, we can deal with those problems at a cost much lower than $4.5 million. But I also understand that the court system has threatened to build Its own court complex If the County doesnt build one for them. By all means, let them. The County would lose the rental fees that It collects from the court, but I think we can all live with that --t- hat got Into an argument with a friend of mine over all this at the Broiler last week. He ended up ruining my appetite. I maintained that these "free federally funded pork barrel projects hadtoend. He shrugged and said, "Hey, If we dont get the money, someone else will. So we better grab all we can. But I don't think he finished his thought He should have said, "We better grab all we can before the barrel runs dry. That Is exactly what Is happening. It Isn't as If theres a big chunk of cash out there and we are fighting for our fair share. THE BIG CHUNK OF CASH IS GONE. We are fighting for revenues that dont exist The government announced last week that the national debt for 1990 (lust 1990) Is going to exceed $230 billion. Our accumulated national debt Is well on Its way to $3 trillion. This Isn't Just some paper exercise. The government finances Its debt by borrowing money (Treasury bills, bonds, etc.). It pays Interest on those loans. For every tax dollar you and I paid last year, almost half of It went to pay the Interest I on the debt Some will argue that $9.5 million for a theatre or even $50 million for a road Is "a bucket compared to other wasteful government programs. And, of course, the drop true. But were not Just talking dollars and cents, were talking about a mindset really, thats a rationalization that Its OK to waste money, because someone, somewhere else, Is wasting even more. Besides, It may be just a drop In the bucket, but multiply that "drop a thousand times, all across the country and youll find that bucket full and overflowing. A family cant maintain a budget like that for long and keep Its head above water. Nor can a small business. Nor a corporation. Nor a government Which brings me back to St Jerome. The time has come to decide Just what It Is we need, as opposed to what we want None of us wants to go hungry, but we don't have to fight off starvation by living like pigs. If we don't learn that lesson soon, the next generation may experience the barbarism St Jerome described In ways that seem Impossble as we view the future from our snug, smug vantage point In the last decade of the twentieth century. In I had completely forgotten that Its goathead time again, until recent rains caused their sudden all over my back yard. With It comes the Second Annual Goathead Contest Last year's winner, Rob Welch, produced a single plant with a maximum diameter of 16 feet 7 Inches. The winner (If anyone Is crazy enough to compete for this prize) will receive a free one year subscription to the Zeohvr. Remember: NO CHEMICAL FERTILIZERS. If you think you have a winner, call me at 259-7773. know no safe depository of the ultimate powers of the society but the people if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise their control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them, but to inform their discretion. Thomas Jefferson I themselves; THE CANYON COUNTRY ZEPHYR P.O. BOX 327 MOAB, UTAH 84532 3 (801) JIM STILES, PUBLISHER 259-777- SUBSCRIBE NOW Trish West an annual subscription is only production manager $12.00 contributing writers Jack Campbell, Lance Christie, Ken Davey Peter Haney, Jan e S. Jones 1990 The Canyon Country Zephyr all rights reserved The Canyon Country Zephyr is a monthly newspaper, published eleven times a year at Moab, Utah. The opinions expressed herein are not necessarily those of its vendors, advertisers, or even at times of its publisher THE CANYON COUNTRY name address. ZEPHYR P.O. BOX 327 MOAB, UTAH 84532 |
