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Show landfill and all its bells and whistles to encourage expensive recycling. They say we really are a Class 2 city, producing less than 20 tons per day and that we shouldn't have paid the 1 landfill. high premium of a Class Still others complain that the fault is Moab City's for taking forever with a badly flawed and then not helping the transition go more bid process, letting it out in mid-summ- er smoothly. And this is where I lost it. Complain, complain, complain. If s not that difficult, yet we know best everyone is an expert We do it our way and as with most things, we are the that way, the most expensive way. Other communities are only ones in the world doing it Moab and wait to see how we do things. Then they know how not to beginning to look at do them. As you can see I too became infected and mean. Mean enough that Stiles said cool is it, take some time, chill man, your deadline extended, maybe permanently! And, as usual, he was the calming voice in the storm. What made me most mad was how quickly this town pounced upon a person who was free enterprise and his dreams. Why should I have just trying to follow the Constitution, been surprised? It just shows my stupid innocence. This is, after all, the same town that fabricated charges to recall another bunch less than 6 months after the change of county government What happens when you take the 'a' out of Moab? Is Moab the meanest, ugliest little town in the West? Edward Abbey said so more than 10 years ago. Is it true? Others have quoted it as they have packed up, bowed their heads and moved on to other towns. Instead of sadly saying good-bywe say, "Don't let the door hit you on the way out." or we just slam that door and say, "..and stay out, we don't like your kind, we never wanted you anyway." What are the reasons so many move here with high hopes, only to see them dashed? Everything has a cause, and a cause for everyone. Monticello has Blanding, East Green River has West Green River; but who does Moab have to fight with? Must we go perpetually after our own throats because we don't have a rival community? Is this why we continue to have both a city and county government even though if s outrageously expensive? Or is meanness just our form of entertainment? As Moab's meanness seems to be more of a summer phenomena, is there a toxic spore that is released when the temperature reaches 100 degrees? It seems that almost every summer there is an issue that gets out of hand, obtains a life of its own, and divides the Moab community along different lines. It creates new and previously unimaginable alliances. Research shows that this goes back a while: the nuclear repository wars of 83 and 84, the toxic waste incinerator wars of 87 and '88, the early dump wars between the city and county in 89 and 90, the Bookdiffs Highway in 91, the change of Government in 92, the subsequent recall of 93, the attack on planning and local control in government (helicopter, billboard, subdivision ordinances and a locally developed master plan) in 94, the Sportsman Shooting Range debacle of 95. Was 96 a rare off year? We had the Green River revolt, the closing of the Power Dam road. If it was, we are certainly making up for it this summer. In trying to describe this summer's crisis, where do I begin? Will June and July go down in infamy or is it just a warm up for how mean and ugly this little town can be, the eternal promise of the Moab City elections? In case you live outside of Moab or are truly one of Moab's eclectic hermits, I'm talking garbage. Even East and West Green River, Blanding and Monticello were able to figure this one out. Our ongoing garbage wars go on. This dates back to the late eighties when Jimmy Walker and Dutch Zimmerman began punting the dump back and forth with Mayor Tom rather than deal with the problem of new dump regulations. The latest skirmish began when Moab City finished the bid process for collecting city Moab garbage by opening the bids in May after a year of delays. Then in n awarded the five year contract to Country Garbage, an contractor. Ever since then, following our annual rite of summer, the mob was reincarnated. Beyond reasoning, new alliances form where before there were none, and meetings become mean (T hated him but now I hate him less because we both hate them more.). Life becomes mean. One topic impedes on each conversation to the point of nausea, and it's never enough. Even the County government, who should've been thankful that this year the stage was not their's, has gotten into the play. Before Jay Mecham, owner-operatof Country Garbage, even started collecting garbage here he was accused of being a rapist. And when he did start, some people hid their cans, filled them with mud, and then complained the service was never good enough. They complained that they didn't have the new cans they were promised, that they would be too small, that they had to live with doing their garbage the way they've always done their garbage. They tied yellow ribbons for Bob. Others complained that Bob has raped this community for 20 years with his higher prices, enough was enough. They say that three years ago, Moab City needlessly gave Bob a $5month raise per house because he said he had to pay for the landfill costs the new Solid Waste District was charging him. Others complain that the Solid Waste District is to blame. They say that with the Solid Waste Board's emphasis on recycling, the Board purposely pushed Moab into a Class 1 e, mid-Jun- e, out-of-tow- or WestGyfit Photography Shrewsbury PHOTOGRAPHY MOAB -- UTAH - 80 1 259 7943 Visit us at: 750 SOUTH MAIN ST (in the Miller Shopping Center) 3 (801) 259-794- The County Council at least had 6 months. Country Garbage had none. There were Bob has had 28 years to work through all the quirks of complaints even before he started. our garbage pickup, if anything he is responsible for most of those quirks. And with difficult at times. change, things arc bound to be different and even confounded has us so easily? Why have we But where are our priorities? Why garbage beat this issue for more than 10 years? Is garbage the only common ground this community has this summer? Why aren't we planning the celebration of the opening of the new high school? Have we no other common unities within our community? These are some of the issues that provoked me. Another is, what would have happened if I had proposed a $75 tax increase as Bob's supporters propose? (Ironically, I was tarred and feathered for helping to lower county property taxes by getting the Hospital off the property tax roles and I was the only County Councilman to oppose the 1 Hospital sales tax. And I would like to thank Harvey again for running.) How many of the continuing supporters for Bob's Sanitation show as much support for their school district? Are we putting our trash at a higher priority than our kids? Every summer we seem to expend an awful lot of energy tearing this community apart; what could be accomplished if we were to direct that energy at something positive? High hopes dashed again... For me. I'm going fishing with my friend and try to explain to him how I can live in such a mean little town. The crazy thing is that Moab city should have put in their own bid. Government, without having to pay taxes and getting better bond rates can do garbage much cheaper than the private sector, probably $8 a month here. Garbage rates at my friend's town are $5 a month, and remember, you get a free can. Bob, thanks for 28 years of great service, we really should have a party to celebrate your retirement Anywhere else it would be possible, but not here. Instead we say, "Don't let the door hit you on the way out" And to Jay Mecham and family, we just slam that door and say, "..and stay out, we don't like your kind, we never wanted you anyway." If s a good thing the future of world peace does not rest upon our shoulders. Allegro don votai, the Second Act The best way to perpetuate meanness is to do nothing. The next best way is to sit around coffee tables and perpetuate it. City elections are coming up. Will they continue with the mean, sick script we are currently humming along to? Absolutely. There will be only three mean city council candidates, all spouting Growth is Good, Growth is Good, Growth is Good. No one will dare challenge them. Whatever happened to providing government services at the lowest tax rate possible? Instead, we will get growth. Growth, because growth is "good". Growth, because growth "lowers" our taxes. Growth, because growth "improves our lives. Growth because there is no more room in Jackson Hole, Aspen or Telluride. Ifs the biggest Ponzi scheme ever conceived. All lies mind you, but they will win the election unopposed. And we will have more growth, higher taxes and a faster decreasing quality of life than anyone can imagine. Growth is, by its very nature, inflationary. It raises the cost of housing, taxes and everything else. Growth increasingly consumes all that is good. Growth increasingly divides and subdivides the shrinking pie (our planet Earth and our town of Moab) into more and smaller pieces. For anyone to get ahead, many more must suffer. (We all are suffering now due to the strength of the dollar and the changing foreign exchange rates. Last year, 5 francs or 1.35 marks bought you 1 dollar, this year it now takes 6 francs and IB marks, a 20 increase in the cost of coming to Moab. Thus fewer foreigners can afford to visit, for our decreased visitation. We need more GROWTH!) accounting Rats in a Box, part 3 The philosophical cure for growth is simple, fewer babies. Fewer babies mean more resources for everyone. Fewer babies mean no more sewer and water expansion, no more Offering Photographic Supplies for all photographers. Select a fine limited edition, photographic print from Our Gallery. r nf?" " - Commission Portraiture and effective Advertising Photography FOUR m& mpm 3 r-- - |
