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Show i;; C 005 0 UTAH 0 p PRESS ASSOCIATION 07 W. 200 S. SALT ' " - "Ksx" ,S 'f CITY, UT no brief candle to me. It is a sort of h which 1 have got a hold offor the I want to make it bum as brightly as e handing it onto future generations George Bernard Shaw (2) B410lfn06 Uintah Basin S'A Jr,',.?-'- ' .. LAKE ilirW WiWiS 500 Kings Peak VV Dangerous crossing i Concerns associated with large numbers of students ; leaving campus during the '4 lunch hour have created issues at Union High j safety and one police officer said he fears it's going to take a fatality before people will wake up and see that ; something needs to be changed." Tuesday October 23, 2001 A frf I) .Roosevelt, Utah 88, Number 43 www.ubstandard.com Vol. S-- PUBLIC COMMENT CUT SHORT 11 Seepage No mistaking this message: Our hospital is not for sale! MONDAY MORNING UPDATE Commissioners say hospital isn't for sale Are we ready for bioterrorism? The Uintah Basin has not had any reported anthrax scares. However with the Olympics being hosted in Utah, the question still begs whether the county has an emergencyresponse plan to About 60 people returned to the Monday, Oct. 22 work session of the Duchesne CountyCommissiontoques-tio- n whether the commissioners Guy Thayne and Lorna Stradinger intend tb sell the Uintah Basin Medical Center to LifePoint. The Tennessee-baseit company owns the Ashley Valley Medical Center in Vernal, and Castleview Hospital in Price. The group appeared for the second week in a row because they were not allowed to finish questioning commissioners the previous week, due to time limits set by Thayne. Thayne told those gathered that talk of selling the hospital had been blown out of proportion by "the mediaand that many people had overreacted. Standard reporter Therena Morrill responded the newspaper had done nothing more than report on an d, for-prof- 12 Seepage A Thurl Bailey to Pictured in the foreground is what remains of the Buxton - White Medical Clinic as THE OLD AND THE NEW demolition crews began removing it to make way for more parking space for the new physicians clinic pictured in the background. The Buxton - White Medical Clinic was built in the 1970s when there were just six physicians in Roosevelt, they were Drs. Buxton, White, Condie, Madsen, Shupe and Seal. speak Thurl Bailey, former NBA player drafted by the Utah Jazz in 1983, will serve as guest speaker during the Chamber Luncheon at the 5th Annual Uintah Basin Business Symposium. 15 Seepage By Therena Morrill Weve spent years Duchesne County commission recruiting. If the chambers were hill as Duchesne County residents turned out to exhospital is not for press opposition to the sale of the sale then lets not publicly-owneUintah Basin Medical Center to LifePoint, a put everyone company that has expressed an interest in purchasing the hospital. The through this ordeal! meeting was precipitated by a re- Joanie Koford, the Utah Juest from president of LifePoint, to be ing the hospital even before heary put on the county commission agenda Kofords presentation. Commission to make a presentation on w hat ComChairman Guy Thayne made it clear missioner Loma Stradinger previfrom the beginning of the meeting he would remain in control of the proously referred to as an "information d for-pro- State playoff bound ; Union, Duchesne and Aftamont qualify for state football playoffs. Volleyball teams advance as well. Seepages v' 16-1- 8 sharing" session. County residents who spoke at the meeting vocalised opposition to sell- - '.'kTC ceedings. The presentation was delayed due to Kofords late arrival and problems EARTH TO VOTERS! Survey shows majority don't know names of elected officials By Lezlee E. Whiting Okay, we admit that this is not one of those scientific surveys with an error margin of plus or mi- nus .000000001 percent - but it is a pretty fair random sample of what Duchesne and westside Uintah county voters know about local politics and whal they would like to see local politicians do when it comes to making improvements in their communities. The good news is that people know exactly what should be Roosevelt CnY Duchesne City I County I Proper Can you name your elected officials? 34 I 25 YES 27 I I 73 66 75 NO Do you know where your public officials meet? I 17 I YES 25 I 22 NO 75 78 83 1 Attended any publ ic meetings in the past year? 12 I YES 2 I 25 g 75 I NO . 88 IJ 98 I Are you a registered voter? YES 80 . 27 I I 173 I 66 g 73 20 I 34 NO I Have you voted in the last 5 Years? YES NO done to change things for the better. In fact, there wasnt much hesitation at all from those who agreed to answerour Beven question survey when we asked, "What is the one mqjor concern that you feel your city or county representatives need to address?" The bad news is that the majority of folks werent real sure just who their county commissioners or city council members are, or where they hold their regularly scheduled meetings. A total of 139 people agreed to f! I I Survey has good news, bad news when it comes to voter awareness. i - 66 34 In Duchesne, those we contacted said road conditions, and the need for elected officials to "find out more of what people want, were the main concerns for city officials to address. In the county, a recreation center for youth, roads, and getting tougher on crime and drugs were on the minds of those surveyed. In Roosevelt, 56 percent of those contacted said they could not name their City Council members or mayor. I n Duchesne City, 75 percent answered no" tothe question that asked if they could name their elected city officials. Seventy-thre- e percent of the respon- for youth. Other concerns Roosevelt voters feel need to be ad- dressed by city leaders include: attracting new business development and retaining established businesses, spending on the golfcourse, drug problems in the community, and road maintenance. 1 Stradinger commented, Local politicians will tell you that every comment, telephone call, letter, ore-ma- il they get from their constituents is important, but some of dents in unincorporated areas of them, while are just so, Duchesne and west Uintah counties well... misdirected. said they could not name their county Its not unusual for folks to launch commissioners. a complaint at the wrong target, such Likewise, just 25 percent of those as complaining about the quality of polled in Roosevelt said they knew schools to a county commissioner, nr where city council meetings were held. calling up a city council member to In Duchesne City, only 17 percent of rake them over the coals about social those queried were aware of where security. Not everyone is always aware their city leaders conducted public of which jurisdiction or responsibilimeetings, and in the outlaying areas ties fall to which elected official. of the counties, 22 percent of those In a telephone sursurveyed knew where county commis- vey conducted last month by the sioners held their regular weekly Uintah Basin Standard, it became meetings. apparent that while a high percentage When it comes to attendingpublic of local residents were registered vot meetings such as city council or county era who had cast their ballots in an commission sessions, the vast mqjor election over the past five years, t hey ity of those we polled said they hadn't were hard pressed to remember the made it to a public meeting within the names of their elected officials. c intended to Bell the hospital to LifePoint I never would have caved, adding that "government only takes charge when no one else can provide the service. When someone else can be a care taker government should move SEE UPDATE on page 3 In concerned, Im not interested. Li fcPoint's chances ofbuying the hos- pital are next to zero." Roger Marett, an assistant administrator at the Uintah BaBin Medical Center asked commissioners if LifePoint had been told the hospital was not for sale, why commissioners were obligated to put a LifePoint on the agenda even though LifePoint was not a county taxpayer, and how often commissioners intended to create an uproar among local healthcare providers and em- - AN ANXIOUS MOMENT -- Commissioner Loma Stradinger placed phone calls to try to locate Joanie Koford, the LifePoint representative who made a presentation to county commissioners and about 65 concerned citizens at the Oct. 1 5 meeting. Stradinger explained to the anxious crowd that Koford had taken a wrong highway en route to Duchesne. EVANS SENATE DISTRICT INTACT companies. His questions were met with more applause. Marett expressed his frustration by stating the hospital had worked hard to recruit physicians. He said that three new physicians had indicated to him that if the hospital were sold to a private company, they would leave the area. We've spent years recruiting. If By Barry Maxfield the hospital is not for sale then lets In reaction to the 2000 census, not put everyone through this ordeal!" Marett said. "LifePoint isnt the only Utahs legislators finished out the one spending money to be here to- second 2001 special session with the passage of a bill changing the way day." Koford described LifePoint as a voters will choose their state legislacompany that owns 23 rural hospitals tors in future general elections. The in eight states, with a mission to meet bill was signed by Gov. Mike Leavitt n on Sept. 11. comhealthcare needs of With gains in population, states munities. They offer group purchas- may be required to redraw voting SEE COMMISSION on page 3 district boundaries to assure that vot- - Redistricting done, few changes made for-prof- it Rep. Snow's district 54 has boundary changes. The district lost some of Wasatch County on the westside. non-urba- Voters say the darnest things By Lezlee E. Whiting Stradinger apologized for the agenda item, saying that she had probably not chosen the best words to use. Thayne said if he "had honestly Duchesne County, we're tiyingtoopen up an agenda, to have an open government. " She said that anyone can get on the agenda, even if its just to complain about a neighbor's dog, because they are a public commission. Commissioner Larry Ross explained he had listened to Koford about four months ago at a previous commission meeting. "As for as Im JUST ASK A POLITICIAN... well-meani- answer our telephone survey questions. The majority of those contacted in the Roosevelt area said elected officials should concentrate on ways to provide more recreational opportuni-tie- s 3QR COPY 80 20 last year. In Roosevelt 88 percent of those contacted said they had not attended a public meeting within the past 12 months. In Duchesne 75 percent said "no to that question, and 98 percent of those living in Duchesne or west Uintah County reported they had not attended a county commission, or similar public forum over the last year. When it comes to voting, however, those contacted in our telephone survey do take that responsibility seriously. Eighty percent of those contacted in Roosevelt were registered to vote, and 80 percent reported they had gone to the polls to cast their ballot within the last five years. In Duchesne City, 66 percent of those surveyed reported they were registered voters, 60 percent of them had exercised that privilege in the past five years. Seventy-thre- e percent of those living in unincorporated areas of the counties said they were registered to vote, but 70 percent said they actually went to the polls over the past five years. with her lap top computer which she intended to use in the presentation. As the crowd became restless waiting for Kofords arrival, John Gale, a long time Roosevelt businessman, asked the commissioners why they were entertaining LifePoint'B presentation if the hospital was not for sale. His question was met by applause from those in attendance. Thayne responded, "For the same reason that Im listening to you. agenda item, which was faxed to the newspaper by Commissioner Lorna Stradinger that read, "discussion of LifePbint proposal to purchase Uintah Basin Medical Center." Standard news reporters contacted Commissioners Stradinger and Larry Ross, the UBMC Board of Trustees president, and UBMC administrators and others in reporting the story. n They just take all in stride. it However, when voters want to talk to an elected official you can bet they don't waste any time finding out who they are. City and county leaders we contacted said they dont receive too mapy outlandish complaints or criticisms that aren 't part of their responsibilities. but there are certainly calls that stand out in their minds. Like all good politicians, they said they just take it all in stride. Ballard Town Councilman Earl Hawkins clearly recallsaphone call he got late one night from a woman who called to com plain because there were bugs in her butter." His solution? I just told her I keep my butter in the refrigerator,Hawkinschucklcd, adding, I dont t hink that was the answer she was looking for, by the way. And thats a true story. Duchesne County Commissioner Larry Ross, a veteran politician in the county, said he will direct people to the proper contact when he gets a call from a constituent who needs help. Calls he receives regarding law enforcement, for example, are directed to the sheriff. Road matters are handled by dealing with the road department supervisor. But he recalled a time when a woman refused to believe the county commission couldn't address her concerns. A woman called and wanted to know about the school district and I told her the county deals with just about everything but the school district, but she insisted we did and did not believe me when I told her differently," said Ross. Altamont Mayor Travis Mitchell said his most memorable voter complaint came when he was cornered by a woman who questioned why he SEE VOTERS SAY... on page 3 ing districts have equal population numbers. That number is 30,000. This has been a contentious process since the 1 800s when Massachusetts governor Eldrige Gerry used the process to manipulate the outcome of elections in his partys favor, which coined the term Gerrymandering. The process of rcdistricting is carried out by the state legislature which redraws voting boundaries which include Congressional boundaries, state senatorial and representative boundaries, and even school boards. The process historically has appeared chaotic, since the majority party controlling the legislature tends to set the tone for the redistricting, with the minority party usually calling to arms troops who claim they have no voice in the proposals being made. Utah was no exception to this historical precedent. In a special session called by Leavitt, the legislature considered three versions of the bill drawn by the Redistricting Committee, which was chaired by Sen. Michael Waddoups and Rep.Gerry A. Adair. Each consideration of the bill brought a (lurry of amendments as legislators attempted to conserve their respective constituent bases. The final version of the bill was voted on only after being amended, reread, substituted, suspended and argued SEE REDISTRICTING on page 3 |