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Show 111 jf ? Miner aims to upgrade ,1 commission Cooperation .with city govern- ujjts economic development and adequate planning are three of uajor areas J. Oneil Miner, candidate can-didate for two-year county com-i com-i uissioner, says county government 'fill needs improvement. ' Vl And Miner feels he is the man to bring about the necessary changes. l0V(t Miner, who works as a private , 4. consultant, is quick to commend the are", current County Commission for its I mrk, but stresses that he feels more m. canbedone. ... olsfj , "The county is only operating at (rJ half throttle," Miner says. One of his major concerns is cooperation with the cities in the ial r county, cooperation he says could be el ' improved through the existing, but l,r ineffective, Council of Governments. J "We have got to establish an ef-lj.r ef-lj.r fective line of communication between the county and city ltist governments," Miner says. The county is responsible for developing Jjj, ' the agenda for those meetings, and jjj.. Miner says the commission needs to :ors- step out and offer the necessary w leadership. j,r A second important need is economic development. "In the county, we are waiting for fSKj things to happen instead of making fan happen," Miner says. He urges Ijj ui active involvement with the state 1Bj ij Economic Development Agency and jjj j says the county needs to seek new businesses to locate in the county . B3 That type of aggressiveness would jrjj. broaden the county's tax base, l create more jobs and bring more K- money into the county's coffers, "making us a more viable entity." It's something he thinks he can BjB make happen. pc "What I think I can offer is a J. Oneil Miner public voice that can speak the language of those businesses," Miner says. "I will be out making things happen instead of waiting for them to happen." That increased tax-base would also help solve another problem Miner sees in county government - a demoralized group of county employees. em-ployees. Although they are the most efficient county employees in the state, with one. employee for every 595 citizens - the highest ration in Utah - they have only received a three percent increase in salaries over the past three years. That's hot good enough, Miner says. "We can't increase the taxes; we must increase the economic base so we can take better care of our employees," he says. Miner says he is also concerned with the current lack of leadership in water management, demonstrated by the stalled project to dredge the Jordan River. "We cannot take 'no' for an answer an-swer from Salt Lake County," Miner says. "This is an essential step to move forward on solving the Utah Lake high water prohlems that are going to get worse each year unless we provide the leadership at the County Commission level." Miner says another concern is the lack of effective representation on the state level. |