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Show Last of a Series Amendment No. 4 Would Allow Counties To Choose Governmei Legislature for overwhelmingly approving the constitutional amendment which would permit optional forms of county government gov-ernment and allow each county to select the prescribed form that best suits its needs. "If adopted by the voters this November, the constitutional amendment will bring government govern-ment closer to the people," Dr. Oaks declared. county officials. Today, more than 75 years later, county governments in Utah are identically id-entically composed, except that the offices of county coroner, county collector, and county superintendent of schools have been abolished. In 1970, Utah's population (1,059,273) was five times as large as it was in 1890. The predominant characteristics in the 1970's is its urban nature. More than 70 percent of the State's population lives in urban areas. The percentage of Utah's population pop-ulation in urban areas is above the national average. Nearly 80 percent of the state's pop- -ulation is concentrated in the four Wasatch Front counties. The dramatic increase in Utah's population has not been uniform throughout the state. In 15 of Utah's 29 counties, the population is nearly the same (within 2,000) as it was in 1890. Six counties have actually experienced a decrease in population pop-ulation in recent years, while seven, or about one-fourth of the counties, have grown at the same rate or above the fivefold five-fold increase experienced by the state as a whole. About half of the state's population pop-ulation now resides inSalt Lake County, which now has nearly half a million people. In contrast, con-trast, Piute, Wayne, Rich and Daggett each have fewer than 1,500 residents. Daggett, Utah's smallest county, has a population popula-tion of 657. Proponents of the amendment amend-ment feel it is wise to offer flexibility in the form of county government. The recommendation recommenda-tion of UTEGO (Utahns for Effective Ef-fective Government) is that the restrictions of uniformity in county government be removed so that the citizens of each county coun-ty can be free to select the form of government best suited to their particular needs. In a recent speech before the Utah Association of Counties, Coun-ties, Dr. Dallin H. Oaks, President Pres-ident of BYU, declared, 'The citizens of this nation expect, and have a right to have, their local government functions performed per-formed without duplication, without artificial and wasteful" jurisdictional boundaries, and according to the most efficient professional standards." Dr. Oaks praised the Utah lature to prescribe alternative forms of county government from which counties may select, subject to referendum, the form which best serves each county's needs?" Proposition No. 4 has been endorsed by both Governor Calvin Cal-vin L. Rampton and Republican gubernatorial candidate Nicholas Nich-olas Strike, and in the Democratic Demo-cratic and Republican state platforms. Organizations which have endorsed the county government measureinclude UTEGO (Utahns for Effective Government), the Board of Commissioners of the Utah State Bar, the Salt Lake Area Chamber of Commerce, and the Utah Jaycees. In 1896 it was determined by the Utah legislature that each county would hzve a commission commis-sion composed of three com-missioners com-missioners and 11 other elected Editor's Note: This is the fifth and last of a series on the four proposed constitutional amendments which will be on Utah's Nov. 7 ballot. This proposition prop-osition is designed to allow each Utah county to adopt, by vote of its residents, the form of government best suited to their county's particular needs. Proposition No. 4 would amend the Utah Constitution to allow each county to select the form of county government which best meets that county's needs, provided the voters of the county approve the new form. At present, all Utah counties must have the same form of county government, regardless of size, population or special problems. Proposition No. 4 will appear on the ballot as follows: Shall Section 4, Article XI of the State Constitution be amended to permit the Legis- |