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Show Misrepresentation of the people THE SAN JUAN RECORD Wednesday, April 12, 2000 - Page 7 Dear Editor: This is a copy of a letter sent to the Monticello City Council A letter regarding your misrepresentation of the people you were elected to serve. Your decision regarding taking over the Electric. Empire Electric has proved to be (continued from page 6) power from Empire more than reliable, and always someone you could count on, no Electric has always made matter what the situation. Out On A Limb sure we had the best linemanEmpire to take care of the problems from the day they took over. Maybe we pay more for electricity; thats fine, at least we know what were getting for our money. Which is not something the city is best noted for. One small water project proved to be too much for the city to handle. Now look As you can see on these at our streets. And all the wasted money thrown away because pages, a large number of area the city was too busy or too lazy to follow through on the project. residents have responded to And you want to run a power company. Get real. Most of us the decision of the Monticello remember the old power system. We dont need to head back City council to purchase the downhill to the way it was. If you really w'ant to feel important municipal electrical system vote in your public meetings that the city manager from Empire Electric. live within the city limits. Im glad one of the council is not I appreciate the response blind as to what is going on and is man enough to stand against from readers and am de- the rest of you, and make good decisions. Your actions on this foto a lighted provide public matter could not have been for political gain, so it must have rum for residents to express been for monetary gain. I also feel the letter you mailed everytheir support or frustration. one in Monticello was a misuse of city funds and a waste of However, in the interest of time, you could have better used Resigning. moving forward, I have deSteven D. Nielson cided that I will cut back on Monticello the number of letters I publish regarding the issue. Of course, we will continue Why not democracy work? to cover the controversy in the news portion of the San Juan Dear Editor: We were amazed to hear that a referendum movement has Record. started in Monticello. If successful, it will seek to overturn the recent decision the Monticello City Council made to purchase .the City electrical system from Empire Electric. Why elect good people in November and then second guess them in March? Why not let democracy work? Why not support our Council in the decision that was made after extensive research? uHl you knGW a Roth IRA from How silly the naysayers wTill look in a few years when Farm Bureau was the right choice ? Monticello City is keeping a quarter million dollars a year here 'dieiTyoiTstopyrkinffM instead of sending it to Colorado. Dozens of small cities in Utah tfoni livinfamsiaM own their own systems profitably. Ask the citizens of Blanding so-call- ed let when workwg atlmng e Find out how the earnings of a Roth Individual Retirement Account could help you maintain a comfortable lifestyle after retirement. tax-fre- Jeff Nielson 435-587-26- 11 for starters. As a city official in Blanding said to me, It was absolutely a Monticello did the right thing!" Respectfully, Rex and Pauline Jensen no-brain- er. Consider power system by economics Dear Editor: I think the Power System should be considered from the economics of the project. The popular vote was last November. If I have a medical problem, I go to someone knowledgeable of my problem not to the man or woman on the street. The City had a specialist in the power field evaluate the system - not the man or woman on the street. I have had experience on the City Government with Mayor Edway Redd and Mayor Morris Nelson. The power system brought in 23 of the city revenue. I know what it will do. After it was sold, we learned the powers to be had allowed all the demand meters to be subsidized. Our water and sewer rates went up and we had a franchise tax added to our bills for 20 years. I was opposed to the power system being sold. I still think it was a mistake. The more worthwhile projects we get involved in, the more criticism we get. Ernest J. Sonderegger - Call uxlay for a free insurance review. Just say ukrn Farm ... uhenerer you 're ready. Bureaufinancial Services Insurance Investments anvw.lbft.com Farm Bureau Life Insurance Compant Arst De Mmnrv. Western Farm Bureau 1 lie Insurance Umt (impan. Denver. Clurado untie pnxfcM and ten ices offered through hquilnw Marirtmg Henkes. 1.1 C Ml) I njirmit Avenue. Wru Des Mmncv 1A I Mi &. FBI 1999 003 02Q5QJ MOUNTAIN ROUNDUPJRODEOlOUEENfCONTEST May 27 2 pm San Juan County Fairgrounds Entrants will bo judged on poise personality knowledge horsemanship Senior Division 15-1- Junior Division $15 entry fee (includes 9-- 14 and luncheon) contest Dear Editor: Ive done a lot of listening, analyzing, studying and fact finding these past few months on the Monticello pow'er purchase option. Its not my intent to inflame the issue any more than it already is, but it became apparent to me that I had to share some feelings with people on both sides of the issue. Im comfortable with my position and given the same circumstances I would do the same again. However, I know there are a lot of unanswered questions and predictions being made. Also, I believe there are hard feelings that have evolved out of a very hard and devisive decision for Monticello. First of all, this event, in my opinion, is much different than voting on a zoning ordinance or dealing with animal problems. This issue just happens to be a $2,700,000 expenditure that without question is the biggest decision in terms of impact that this town has ever been faced with. Ive always believed in and supported citizen involvement in City government. I do so much that I tried to get a power purchase initiative on the ballot last fall. Obviously it didnt happen. I tried to get a poll sent out with the bills, to get a response of yes or no on the issue. That didnt happen either. At the outset. Ive endorsed the idea of a feasibility study. Im disillusioned. I would have thought it should address both the pros and cons. It did not. I was very impressed with the statement which included the projection, although some of it is restricted. In formulating my opinion on the power issue, I had to consider the health of the City. Many questions, answers and solutions have surfaced since, for lack of a better definition, we as a council opened this up to the publi:. I would like to share some of those with you. Some are my thoughts and some are from concerned citizens. I was often counseled to base my decision on fact, not emotion. The fact is, I have a conscience. Another fact is that this decision uprooted families and put people out ofbusiness. What mother, irrespective of their position on this issue, wouldnt challenge the right of five people to uproot their family, cause their husband to lose his job, jerk their kids out of school, sell their homes and move. We all know this is the nature of the beast, but it certainly has consequences. Im disturbed that we made an issue of the ratepayers being the victims of some of the highest rates anywhere, when in reality those rates at this point wont change. In voting on the resolution, I had to vote basically on an operation and maintenance program that I knew absolutely nothing about. There had been no proposals submitted whatsoever. Somehow that doesnt seem like very good business. g I used the Citys and health as a positive, but I found it unusual that a feasibility study didn't address the towns debt load. By buying the system, we more than doubled the debt service of the City, with more to come. At some point this has to be addressed and I looked at it with some concern. The problem with our lifeblood flowing to Colorado became quite ah issue. It is a problem, but Im not sure where the answer is. Where does your natural gr s money go? Bill prints his paper in Cortez. Most of your sales tax goes up north. I wonder where our cars, groceries, and virtually all our necessities come from. All of you that were ratepayers to Empire Electric were also stockholders. You did not even get a chance to vote your stock to buy yourselves out. Ive thought about that, havent you? Pretty interesting spin. A young man with a family approached me and made a statement that made a lot of sense. I dont understand where the focus is in Monticello. The government and a lot of the people are always talking about building golf courses, buying power systems, promoting big ticket enterprises, so that we can provide something for our kids to come back to. What about me? Why dont you focus on the people that live here, the ones youre losing and show a concern for those that have had to leave. I have to admit that I wonder about unity and division. What to the when united and donated time happened days people and resources to build golf courses, ski courses, swimming pools, parks, pavilions, etc? I hope that the power issue has not galvanized and divided Monticello. Lets not separate the young from the old, the fors from the againsts. The decision has been made and Im sure that all the people on board are committed and will work as long and as hard as it takes to make Monticello even better. pro-for- well-bein- Clyde Christensen Monticello City Councilman yrs yrs 9 Share feelings with both sides Get a Jump-sta- rt on the season for only $49.95 tax Sharpen Blades New Spark Plugs New Air Filter Oil Change Cart) Check Overall Operation Test & BLUE HERON For more information, contact (JSU Extension Office at Kent and Chris Adair at 435-587-32- 435-587-23- APPLIANCE REPAIR 39 or 435-587-30- 44 iHUllllHU 59 KIIIIIIIS 0wooriru Apnl 30. 2000 |