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Show Viewpoints The A-17 Park Record. Sat/Sun/Mon/Tues, February 22-25, 2020 editorial Climate Fund grants will make a difference here and elsewhere W guest editorial Opinion piece taking aim at Romney and Biden misguided MIKE BAKER Park City This is in response to Peter Yogman’s guest editorial from last Saturday’s Park Record edition (Feb. 15-28). Let me state first (and as my grandmother used to say) there are two sides to every story. If a person only watches Fox News (and as per Peter’s editorial details, he must watch 24/7), you are only going to hear negative messages about politicians that do not agree with Trump’s decisions. Using the term “Mafia Boss” is a key buzzword that Fox News uses to describe Joe Biden and is so far from the truth that it’s a joke to any sane person. I grew up in Detroit in the 1950s and the real Mafia controlled the garbage companies and the unions. If a person tried to get into the garbage business in Detroit at that time, and/or if someone tried to interfere with the union’s operations, they were murdered (think Jimmy Hoffa). This is how the Mafia keeps control of their businesses. Joe Biden has never ordered a hit on anyone in his life. Joe Biden is a former senator, vice president of the U.S., has served the country with honor and is highly esteemed, so calling him a “Mafia Boss” is inappropriate and disgusting. Using this term is the same as when Trump calls Rep. Adam Schiff “Shifty Schiff” and Elizabeth Warren “Pocahontas” and Michael The Park Record Staff PUBLISHER ....................... Andy Bernhard Editor ................................... Bubba Brown Staff Writers ......................Jay Hamburger Scott Iwasaki Alexander Cramer Ryan Kostecka Contributing ............................. Tom Clyde Writers Teri Orr Amy Roberts Tom Kelly Joe Lair Copy Editor ............................ James Hoyt Engagement Editor............. Jeff Dempsey Photographer .........................Tanzi Propst Circulation Manager ............. Lacy Brundy Distribution........................... Henry Knight Accounting Manager ......... Jennifer Snow ADVERTISING Advertising Director ........... Valerie Spung Advertising Sales ................... Jodi Hecker Lindsay Lane Sharon Bush Emma Fedorowich Director of Digital Marketing .. Tina Wismer Production Director ..................Ben Olson Production ......................... Louise Mohorn Bloomberg “Mini Mike.” Trump is like a 7-year-old bully on the playground, calling everyone he doesn’t like derogatory names. It’s very sad and strange adult behavior! I will say, though, that anyone who has been a politician for a long period of time will have made some decisions in their past that will come back to bite them, and I’m sure that for Biden, allowing his son to take the job at Burisma is one of those decisions! That said, corruption indictments against those working at Burisma have never been proven in the Ukraine or in the U.S. You can say any company is corrupt, but that’s just mouthing off until it is proven in a court of law. The Ukrainian government has done their own investigation of Burisma and has determined that there is no corporate corruption present. But still, Trump (and Fox News) continue to call it a corrupt company. Just like Trump likes to still say that the CIA sent Hillary Clinton’s server to the Ukraine. The NSA, FBI and CIA have all stated publicly that the CIA did not do this, but Trump continues to spread this disinformation. Now, per Mitt Romney’s business dealing years ago while he was at Bain Capital: buying failing businesses or businesses going through bankruptcy is completely legal. Buying failing companies and spinning off their assets has been done for over a hundred years in the U.S. The employees at these failing companies knew that they would be losing their jobs because their employer was going bankrupt! Let’s look at the other side of this story in relation to Trump. He has put many small businesses in the U.S. out of business (forced them into bankruptcy) simply by not paying these businesspeople for the services they provided to his developments. This isn’t illegal either but it’s disgusting! He had contracts with these businesses, and Trump just decided he wouldn’t pay them and told these small business owners to sue him for the money he owed them. Trump started Trump University, a fake university that scammed thousands of students out of their tuition payments. Trump also started a charity, Trump Foundation, and used the money that was donated to the charity to enrich himself. Trump makes Bernie Madoff look like a Boy Scout leader in comparison. I would like to suggest to Peter that maybe once or twice a week he watch the PBS News Hour. These reporters are extremely intelligent and unbiased. Sometimes it’s good to look at the other side of the story. For the record ith the spectre of climate change looming, and the acknowledgement that it could one day serve as a wrecking ball to Park City’s ski tourism-dependent economy, most Parkites are enthusiastic about doing their part to combat the warming temperatures. So it was a joyous occasion Tuesday when the Park City Community Foundation named the first recipients of its Park City Climate Fund grants, an initiative started in the fall that is meant to encourage creative local solutions to the climate crisis. In total, the Community Foundation doled out more than $175,000, a significant outlay that makes clear the nonprofit is serious about supporting organizations that have new ideas to limit our community’s carbon footprint. The largest grant went to Utah Clean Energy, awarded $75,000 to facilitate the community’s access to carbon-neutral electricity through the Community Renewable Energy Act, a landmark piece of state legislation passed last year making it possible for municipalities to tap into renewable energy through Rocky Mountain Power. Recycle Utah was given $50,000 to fund a two-year education program aimed at reaching zero waste community-wide by 2030, while TreeUtah wants to use its $50,000 grant to, in part, plant more than 2,000 trees throughout Summit County in locations like restoration sites, public parks and schoolyards. And showing once again that our youth are among those most committed to curbing climate change, the Park City High School Earth Club was given $6,000 to help students create a school composting club, reduce the use of styrofoam in the cafeteria and educate their peers about environmental issues. It will be exciting to watch the organizations make progress toward their goals in the coming months. Parkites ought to roll up their sleeves, lace up their boots and look for ways to get involved — because making the initiatives successful will take contributions from all of us. But what’s perhaps most encouraging is the effect the grant program could have beyond the borders of Summit County. The Park City Community Foundation announced the Climate Fund during last fall’s Mountain Towns 2030 event that brought in leaders from around the region to discuss climate change, and the nonprofit sees fostering solutions that can be replicated in other mountain towns as a core tenet of the initiative. That’s an intriguing prospect because, try as we might, Summit County cannot tackle climate change alone — though, as the Park City Climate Fund proves, we’re eager to lead the charge. letters to the editor Ditch the divisive views Taxpayer-funded welfare I have been subscribing to The Park Record newspaper for the last 48 years. In the last number of months I have been seeing extreme political views and commentary at times dominating the front page or the editorial page of the Record. Their often long narratives dressing down our elected political figures or other divisive or extreme political views. These long articles promoting hate and division and name calling don’t belong in a small community-based paper, and I think the Record staff should take a closer look at commentary before placing it in our community paper. And yes I’m addressing a recent letter by a Peter Yogman as an example of what I’m talking about. While I believe in free speech I think there are other mediums to express these views. As a Utah taxpayer, I recently had a very disheartening email exchange with one of our Utah state senators, Mr. Kurt Bramble. I contacted Mr. Bramble as he is in the forefront of initiating (mostly unconstitutional) legislation dealing with the issue of right to life and abortion. I asked Mr. Bramble if he and his colleagues were in full support of S.B. 74 and H.B. 254, which provide for the re-establishment of federal funding for non-abortion-related family planning services and access to contraception products for our financially less fortunate citizens. It is eminently logical for people embracing a strong right to life opinion to be completely supportive of any legislation that would go to dramatically reducing the number of unwanted pregnancies so that the whole right to life vs. right to choose issue would be rendered moot. Mr. Bramble’s response was that he would not support taxpayer-funded welfare. I found this to be a completely irresponsible and contradictory position. One only has to look as far as the Utah state budget for the DCFS (Department of Child and Family Services). Utah taxpayers fund this agency at $173 million per year, $45 million of which goes to foster care services. I would love to hear Mr. Bramble’s explanation of how this is not taxpayer-funded welfare. More to the point, If one does simple math, $45 million over the course of supporting children from (unwanted) birth to the age of 18 totals up to a whopping $810 million, and if one adjusts for inflation, taxpayer-funded welfare (which Mr. Bramble says he cannot support) for foster care services over that 18-year period is over $1 billion. Mr. Bramble and his colleagues take a “don’t confuse me with the facts” on this issue view to the exclusion of any reason and have no issue with wasting $1 billion of Utah taxpayer dollars over the next 20 years to support their view. As a Utah taxpayer I find it difficult to understand Ken Martz Park City A civic celebration Voterise wants to thank the 156 Park City High School students who registered to vote last Friday, the 1st annual Utah Women’s Voter Registration Day. Their commitment to civic engagement will be beneficial to our local community, our state and nation. We particularly want to recognize the outstanding contribution of two seniors, Darian Carter and Kristina Schiffman, who organized and implemented the activities. Also, very special thanks to all the Park City High School teachers and administrators without whose support and cooperation this would not have been possible. Park City is a great town and its concerned citizens of all ages make it even better. Elsa and Dick Gary Voterise why Utah voters would continue to elect representatives who so cavalierly waste our taxpayer money for a position that does not make any sense. Diverting, say, $10 million per year for education of our young people on family planning and providing them with access to contraception has the potential to save Utah taxpayers between $500 million and $750 million of taxpayer-funded welfare over the next 18-20 years. Conservation of Utah taxpayer dollars seems to be very low on some of our legislators’ agendas, however. The next time you vote for Utah legislative representatives, perhaps you should consider voting for individuals who actually are fiscally conservative and will not waste $1 billion of your hard-earned money. Robert Chamberlain Park City Affordable housing tax a poor idea Park City is a very generous, caring community. Just witness the number of fundraising events throughout the year that support a variety of noble and worthy causes. But an affordable housing tax? Really, is that a reasonable function of government (and our taxes)? There are many people who work in Park City but live in outlying communities because the cost of housing in Park City itself is sky high. Should we subsidize everyone who cannot afford to live within the confines of our fair city? Perhaps we should explore free outside-the-city parking and free, frequent bus service into the resort areas and other working locales. Or perhaps the supporters of the affordable housing tax idea should organize another fundraiser to buy hotels at the bottom of Main Street and PCMR and dedicate them to affordable housing. Not every “worthy idea” is worthy of another tax. Ken Miller Jeremy Ranch Photos by Jeff Dempsey Asked on Main Street Do you like Daylight Saving Time, which lawmakers are considering adopting year-round? John Omeara Kaysville “I like it. I like going back and forth. I’m old school, man, I’m used to it. Plus it’s a good reminder to check your smoke alarms. “ Sunshine Omeara Kaysville “I love it. I look forward to changing the clocks. I don’t think I’d want year-round daylight saving. I also think it would be too dark in the morning in the winter for kids going to school.” Marianne Doyle Fremont, California “I don’t think we should get rid of it. Changing the clocks with the seasons — that’s the cadence we all grew up with.” Mistie Whalen Orange County, California “I don’t know why we really need daylight saving at this point, and I think it would be fine if we did away with it. But then again, I am averse to change, so.” See these photos and more by following The Park Record on Facebook.com/parkrecord and Instagram.com/parkrecord |