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Show '7, PAGE 15 THE ZEPHYROCTOBER 1991 (like the political Neanderthals that wo are) through another ugly, meaay squabble. And What Wo'va Got-Cltfz- ena NELSONS HEATING and REFRIGERATION Against the Environment Council With this kind of county commission, what we, the citizens of Grand County gat are ludicrously stacked and unbalanced committees, from the Grand County Planning Commission, to some of the Special Service Districts, to one of the newest and most flagrant of our committees, Bette Stanton's newly convened "Citizens Against the Environment Council.11 (This is one of the most delightful meetings in Moab this fall, for all of you meeting aficionados, and Ifs free and open to the public since Ifs being paid for with your tax dollars.) For all of you who had to miss the first two meetings of the "Citizens Against the Environment Coundr meetings, here are some of the amusing goings on of this enlightened group. A bit of background. Bette Stanton conceived this council to counter the threat from organizations like the Sierra Club (which is now spending most of Its money and time trying to ensure that our children will have dean air to breath, decant water to drink, and a world to live In when they and their children grow up). Bette promised the County Commission that there would be no such environmentalist views on this committee, there would only be TRUE BELIEVERS In the GREAT DOCTRINE OF GROWTH AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT. Best not to take any chances on corrupting any of Grand County's most faithful devotees with any dangerous new Mess. Best not to have anyone around who might observe, In the spirit of the Emperor's New Clothes, that gsnerafiy, the TRUE DOCTRINE OF GROWTH AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT makes about as much sense as someone trying to "borrow his way out of debt." (If any of the committee members are actually "dosef" environmentalists and care about what the world wifi be like for our children, I am very glad you dipped through Bette's screening process, and look forward to your contributions to the council's proceedings.) A partial cast of characters, charting Moab's future. Robbie Swaaey, Film Commission; Gene Nodlne, Moab District BLM; longtime Moab residents Bobble Pier, Columbia Oil and Gas, John Holbrook, McDonalds, and Steve Patterson, Eddie McSfifTs; John Keogh, WALU; and of course, Director Bette Stanton. Other members may not yet know what they've signed up for. At the last meeting, the committee briefly discussed changing the groups name to the "Quality of Ufe Coundl." Fortunately, the committee, to Its credit, was honest enough to schemes Is to sharply reject such an Orwdlian name (the usud result of decrease the quality of life for the regular taxpayer, while udng his tax dollars to subsidize developers costs and Increase developers profits). Wdl, I guess you would have to admit that this would constitute an Increase In the quality of life for the devdopers and real estate folks. Taking tax dollars out of county residents' pockets and stuffing them Into developers' Economic pockets is euphemistically cdled "cresting development Incentives." development folks love to "create development incentives. A questlonndre passed out for "brainstorming," asked committee members what they felt desirable amount of growth for Moab would be; they got to check off answers of 122, 168, 233, and "more." Not unsurprisingly, there was no check off space for staying at the present level (which la currently "full house"). I had prevloudy given Bette a short, one page article by Herman Daly, senior economist World the at Bank, differentiating between "growth" (to increase In size) and "development" (to increase In qudity). Seemed like this might be a useful contribution to the committee process, but when I asked her what she thought of the article, she responded that It was too "Inflammatory to pass out to the other committee members. Yea, verily, a righteous guardian of the TRUE FAITH, protector of INNOCENT MINDS. The god of economic development should be Improving the qudity of life for those who live here now, not just Increasing the number of bodies In town. The goal la not to increase the number of Jobs for developers from Colorado and California, but for those folks out of work here In Grand County. Steve Patterson, restaurant owner (Eddie McStiffs) and recent vociferous opponent of the 1 restaurant tax, proposed a 3 sales tax on all real estate sales instead of the restaurant tax. These tax receipts would be used to provide housing for low income employees (like those who work in restaurants); Steve explained that the new people buying property and moving to Moab would not mind paying this tax on thdr property as long as It went toward low Income housing since they would want low Income people to "mow thdr lawns, wash thdr dishes, and change their oil." A tax on the national parka might be used to raise more funds. Add the Kokopdll Theatre and Moab would be a year round in would Moab resort city. (Oh wow, how great, and all the poor folks who now enjoy living soon be towing thdr bdongings off Into the Nevada sunset.) After the meeting, Robbie Swasle and Bette Stanton gave me one of the best compliments I have received In a long time. I agreed entirely with them when they said that I was "the most negative person they had ever met" There Is very little common ground among the things we value. Stated briefly, I have very little Interest in money and spend my life pursuing other values, working only enough to pay my expenses. By comparison, they seem to worship money, denominating most other values In monetary terms, caring little for the other values in life. Since few of the things I work on yield money, In their world view, there is little that I do that Is of value. Someone who squanders his life on valueless pursuits is surely by definition a negative person. And often we run a collision course, as I try to protect what I value, the grand and splendid beauty of the land around us, life both for humans and also for the other critters and plants with whom we have evolved on this planet; and as Bette and Robbie protect what they value most, making money from these same resources. Why can't those who only care about making money go off to the cities where they can fulfill thdr dreams; why do they Insist on turning the beauties of southern Utah into another shabby, tacky, gaudy economic development project? We who love the canyons and mountains and deserts and rivers can't go elsewhere and create these wonders in a new place. You can go elsewhere to make money; you can't go elsewhere to enjoy the beauties of the land we have here. serving Moab since 1962 tal FURNACES? pro-grow-th 1070 Bowling Alley Ln 259-562- 5 Land Before Time 33, 77, Rocks & Fossils 5 No. Main Moab 259-664- 4 featuring: Dinosaur Bones Crystals (also home of Canyonlands Telephone) 1-- full-fledg- (non-monetar- ed PETRA s COMPUTER SERVICES Service lfl Hi cwwie 'TeTE5iO, WD I'm y) M Supplies , JJoT TAW. Sales Upgrades 59 S. Main Western Plaza 259-625- 2 |