| OCR Text |
Show A4 Sanpete Messenger/Gunnison Valley Edition IN OUR OPINION ... TO they neither 1) answer the questions one way or the other, even when they could; or 2) help others who are trying to answer the questions. No one wants to rock the boat; but a little boat-rocking sooner can sometimes prevent a full-scale capsize of the vessel later. In addition to hindering the exposure of legal or ethical improprieties, the culture of hush— the reluctance to cause controversy, contention or anything but sweet accord—has been a thorn in the side of the principle of open government. We would be hard-pressed to tell you how many times our reporters have been told by public officials— from mayors, commissioners and city-council members, to administrators, to public-relations officers—that they don’t want something to go in the newspaper because “we haven’t done it yet, we’re still just talking about it.” Folks, the purpose of open government is to have transparency in the workings of government, and the discussions that take place in the process of governing should be just as transparent as the final outcome. Open-government laws and freedom-of-information laws are collectively called “sunshine” laws based on the idea that the operation of government should be done in light, in the open, where everyone can see it. The culture of hush extinguishes interest and participation in government, promotes civic apathy, promotes opportunities for fraud and wrongdoing, and compromises our societal integrity. And that’s no joke. Thanks Snow, KMTI for supporting Manti High School I want to thank Snow College and KMTI publicly for their support of our school and their many contributions to our community. Snow College is a great partner in education supporting our efforts as a high school. Bob Trythall and Gary McKenzie have been wonderful hosts, working with us and helping us with our athletic needs. They have graciously hosted the Region 12 basketball tournament on many occasions, and they have helped many of our student athletes and coaches in other areas as well. Every year the Snow College Advising Department comes to Manti High School to help students fill out scholarship applications. Thousands of dollars in scholarships are awarded because of these efforts to take care of our students. In addition, these volunteers from Snow College help students with financial aid forms and in applying and registering at Snow College. Thank you, Snow College, for remembering and taking care of the students at Manti High School. We really appreciate what you do. I would also like to thank KMTI for all they do for Manti High School, broadcasting our games to parents and fans and an- nouncing school information: the starting of school, parent teacher conferences, bussing info, scores from games, and other helpful information. Beyond all that, KMTI and Doug Barton have been very helpful—donating time and money—in helping us with our sound system problems and concerns. Thank you, KMTI staff and Doug Barton, for supporting us; KMTI is a great sponsor of Manti High School. Thank you, again, Snow College and KMTI, for making our high school and community an even better place! Ralph Squire, Principal, Manti High School Manti leaders in favor of courts building In recent weeks and months there has been a lot of public commentary regarding the proposed Sanpete County courts facility. Some citizens have expressed concern about the effect the new facility would have on our county fairgrounds. Others opposed locating the facility in close proximity to the Manti High School. We acknowledge the concerns of some citizens regarding the location of the facility, and we are pleased that the county commissioners and state courts have publicly announced a new location near the south entrance to Manti. Now that the proposed court location at the fairgrounds has been scrapped, and a new location has been announced, we urge citizens of Manti and the county to come together in support of the proposed facility. Following are several reasons why the new court facility makes sense for Sanpete County. THE EDITOR... FOR LETTERS-TO-THE-EDITOR POLICY GO TO WWW.SANPETEMESSENGER.COM, CLICK ON ‘OPINIONS’ THEN ‘LETTERS TO THE EDITOR’ The culture of hush So, hey, did you hear the one about the whistle-blower from Sanpete County? No, you say? Well, that’s not surprising, since there is really not much of a bigger joke than the culture of hush that pervades Sanpete. Unfortunately, the joke is not funny, especially in an area where the lifestyle places such importance on things like integrity and honesty; on things like “obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law.” No one likes a whistle-blower, a tattle-tale, a trouble-maker, a rabblerouser. But it really says something not-too-pretty about our collective integrity when we hear silence instead of whistles when they deserve to be blown. Some tales need to be tattled when they deal with legal or ethical offenses, and sometimes trouble needs to be made for people who deserve to get into it. Peace and harmony are more desirable than not, to be sure. But we would prefer to see controversy caused by people trying to do the right thing than undisturbed contentment that comes from people’s refusal or fear to speak out about something that is wrong. In the last few years, we have seen several very significant cases of fraud or embezzlement in this county. We are surprised not that they happened, but that they went on so long, and then afterward we discover that there were indications that may have been noticed by people who never came forward.. There have been other cases where questions have been raised, but people are so afraid of causing a ruckus that Wednesday, October 10, 2007 1. The proposed facility will be paid for 100 percent by the state courts. All property, construction, operation and maintenance will be paid for by the state. The revenue bond facilitates the project; the state pays for it—every penny! 2. A revenue bond is different from a general obligation bond. A revenue bond has a source of revenue associated with it to retire the bond. In this case, the source of revenue is a contract with the state courts. The state will not default on their obligation, to do so would jeopardize their favorable AAA bond rating. 3. The citizens and courts system alike want a safe court facility. Our current facility is not up to standard. 4. By law, Sanpete County must provide space for the court. 5. If we do not take advantage of the current opportunity to work with the state courts on a new facility, we could be forced to remodel the current courthouse at the county’s expense. 6. The revenue-bond financing is available now. The state courts have approved the project now. The state courts have agreed to pay all costs now. What good could ever come to the county by waiting, allowing costs to escalate, and risk not having the funding opportunity that is available now? 7. The state courts have used this financing arrangement in placing many updated court facilities throughout the state. Sanpete citizens deserve a modern and safe court facility. Vote wisely. Vote “YES” on the court facility revenue-bond. Manti City Mayor and Council Natasha Madsen, Kent Barton, Alan Justesen, Diane Keeler, Larry Lund, Korry Soper The value of saying ‘I’m sorry’ I had a little scare recently in my medical treatment through, you guessed it, the Veterans Administration. It wasn’t the result of a bureaucratic snafu or redtape tripwire. It was simply an honest mistake, which we’re all guilty of from time to time. But what distinguished this incident from other foul-ups I’ve dealt with, not only from the V.A. but life in general, is that the individual who made the mistake actually took a moment to say to me, “I screwed up. I’m sorry.” I was blown away by this. For all the frustration I was feeling, nothing put me more at ease than those five words, not even when the original problem was corrected. I thanked this individual profusely and praised their courage for doing what a lot of people (myself included) are afraid to do: accept responsibility for their actions and offer a simple and sincere apology. After this experience, I can’t help but wonder how many hurt feelings can be relieved by saying those few simple words. How many grudges can be relinquished just by hearing them? In a predominantly Christian culture, it’s easy to think of seeking forgiveness solely in terms of appealing to God. But what of appealing directly to the individuals or groups that we may have harmed (keeping in mind the caveat familiar to 12-step practitioners, “...except when to do so would injure them or others”)? The Jewish holiday Yom Kippur is observed by atoning for sins committed against God and toward one’s fellow man. I’m not Jewish myself, though I wouldn’t be surprised to find a Sephardic log or two in the genealogical woodpile someday, but I’ve decided to give this personal atonement thing a try. So far it’s had mixed results, but nothing discouraging, so I’m going to keep at it. But how do I apologize for wrongs that I’ve forgotten about? Parodic political pundit Stephen Colbert set up a toll-free number for people who may have wronged him to call and seek his forgiveness during Yom Kippur (1-800-OOPS-JEW). I’ve decided to take a similar approach only I’d like to know who I’ve wronged so that I might have a chance to apologize for the myriad ways I’ve managed to screw up over the years. While I don’t have the resources to set up an 800 number, I can set up a free e-mail address. So, if anyone reading this feels that I have wronged them in some way and may have forgotten about it, I invite them to let me know so that I might have the opportunity to apologize. Just write to oopsJOE@gmail.com and I’ll reply as soon as I can. And for those of who think that this is just another narcissistic attempt on my part to massage my own ego when I should probably be putting more energy into addressing my personal flaws, well . . . you’re probably right and I apologize. I hope you can forgive me. Joe Puente Moroni With fairgrounds out, let’s approve courts building Now that the issue of putting the court facility at the fairgrounds has been settled, let’s get on with approving a new Snapete County courts building. If you don’t believe the commissioners when they tell you a courts building is needed, please, believe me. I am first a citizen of the best county in the state, Sanpete! Secondly, I am a 29-year state employee in the juvenile court. The juvenile court offices started out in a trailer behind Top Stop in Manti. When the high school was remodeled as the Manti City Building, we moved to the top floor. After the staff grew from two to seven, the bottom floor of the city building was renovated for our use. We have yet to be housed where we should be—in a court facility. Each Tuesday, we bundle up our files, haul them to the van, drive uptown, unload the files, carry them into the courthouse and conduct court. Efficient, not! We should be housed in the same facility that contains our courtrooms. We need an area for expansion because our caseloads are not getting smaller. Why haven’t we been able to co-locate with our courtroom in past 29 years? Because there is no room to house the Juvenile Court in the county building. Have any of you visited the county clerk’s office in the Sanpete County building? They are sitting on top of each other. Files are stored wherever they can find space. The commission chamber was divided in half to facilitate storage of boxes. The vacated jail area will only meet some of the county’s space needs. If a new court facility is built, the vacated courtroom area will be swallowed up in no time. We can have a modern, well equipped courts facility at no expense to Sanpete County citizens. This is not a myth! The money for the lease, staffing, maintenance, security has already been appropriated by the Utah Legislature and will be accessible as soon as Sanpete voters approve the bonds. Yes, the state will pay every dime of the payments as a lease! No, the court system will not “someday move out leaving the county with a building to pay for.” Why doesn’t the court system build its own building? Red tape! We would have to apply, get on a waiting list with every other state agency, and in 10 years our name would come to the top. Lease money (as opposed to construction funds) is available now! The county does the paperwork and within a year or two, our Sanpete courts have their own facility—a facility that will serve us for generations to come. Please do not fall prey to false information. The courts invite your comments and your questions. (Email Brent Bowcutt, court executive, at brentb@email.utcourts.gov , 435896-2710). Please believe me as I assure you, the courts facility is needed, will be a credit to our community, and will not cost you a dime to build, maintain or staff. Sam DeLeeuw, Supervisor Manti Unit Juvenile Court Manti, Utah Enough water to waste and flood “Ration the water,” “water fields on schedule according to water shares,” “there is always a water shortage.” How many people say this every year? How many farmers have said there is no water this year? Yet during the crop season, how many dirt roads can you drive on that aren’t watered more than the crops? There is too much water apparently, water that is wasted by irresponsible parties: party one, Dave Cox with Manti Irrigation, and party two, MoRell Snow, a Manti landowner. These two parties need to stand up and take care of this problem. No more passing the buck back and forth. I have spoken to both parties and they are fully aware that my house has been flooded three times, the most recent time on Sept. 22. They still do nothing. I have lived in my home since May of 1992, before the irrigation company did its project above my house. Randy Snow, homeowner Manti Voucher law will not weaken public schools The State of Utah has known for years that this decade would see growth in school-age populations swell by an additional 100,000 plus. That means 10-20 new schools at a cost of millions each, plus additions/remodels to existing schools in more rural areas, plus thousands of new teachers. They also know that the taxpayers of Utah are already overburdened with all sorts of taxes, so a tax increase has to be avoided. Vouchers only provide a small incentive for middle- and lower-income bracket families to pay thousands to take that financial burden off the state’s shoulders. In case you haven’t done the math, please do so before you vote: If your neighbor sends her child to a private school, she will pay about $4,000-$10,000 or more per child per school year. If your neighbor is wealthier than the voucher law allows, she will not be getting a tax credit for her investment. However, if she’s struggling, it may give her enough breathing room in her budget to send her child to a private school. Thus, the voucher law is not a law for the rich, but allows more people to privateschool their children if it is their choice to do so. Special-needs children cost more to educate. The voucher law provides a token of those costs for a parent willing to shoulder the costs of private schooling for that child. Handicapped or average or gifted, with a special-needs child in private school, your school no longer has to staff, or provide educational facilities to that child. Currently, the public school teacher’s required training for special-needs children is less than one semester of training. Twenty years ago it was just one class. With the voucher law, the child wins, the public schools win and the parents win—no longer having to struggle to get the pub- lic school to meet the full scope of needs of one child. If the state has even just one less building to construct, furnish, staff, and cover the upkeep, this accounts for millions of dollars each year. The Governor and the Legislature have done the math and know that giving a $1,000 credit to attract more individual family funding of education is a good deal for the education budget. Smaller class size means public schools can do a better job of teaching children who choose not to go to private school. Bottom line: the voucher law will not weaken schools. Do the math yourself. Educate yourself about this much-needed law. The alternative might end up being a tax increase, because one way or another, the population of students is what it is; these children need teachers, buildings, heat/ lights, books, computers and other supplies. Patricia Call, Springville |
