From Deseret News archives:
Let voters decide future of lands
I understand why congressional action is required. Uncle Sam is a major landlord in southern Utah. But as a resident of Washington County, I'm disappointed that I didn't hear about the proposal before it made its way to Washington, D.C.
At first I was disappointed in myself. But then I took a look at the process that produced the bill. Alan Gardner, a Washington County commissioner, described it in a recent editorial:
"The original committee of 20 represented a broad spectrum of interest groups and stakeholders. The county was divided into geographic areas, and open public meetings were advertised and held to discuss each area in detail."
I believe that Sen. Bennett and Rep. Matheson hoped to include as many residents as possible in the process. But how many do you think actually participated? Was it a few hundred or a few thousand? I don't know, but I'm willing to bet it was a very small sampling of the 130,000 residents of the county.
Is that lazy? Is it wrong? Maybe, but that's the way it is.
Commissions and public hearings are inadequate for an issue of this magnitude. The quality of life of every resident of Washington County is at stake and the voice of every resident should be heard.
So, let's put the proposal to a countywide vote.
We should also unwind the unwieldy conglomeration of proposals in the current bill. It's a typical political ploy. Some of the proposals have no chance of passing unless they are attached to other proposals in the bill that are very popular. We should require that each component stand on its own merits.
For example, the two primary proposals might look something like this:
Comments
- Christmas Village lights up Ogden 9:32 p.m.
- WVC welcomes the holidays 9:30 p.m.
- Sloans two point guard lineup 9:24 p.m.
- Jazz involved in 4-team race 9:23 p.m.
- Man in Net sex case is arrested in... 9:16 p.m.
- Running game key to BYU offense 9:16 p.m.
- Davis man sues over Tasering 9:15 p.m.
- Abbas: Settlement freeze not enough 9:12 p.m.
- Teachers using cell phones for class 9:07 p.m.
- BYU football starters 9:03 p.m.
- BYU would like friendlier rivalry
263 - Protests against Phoenix LDS temple
211 - RSL wins MLS Cup on penalty kicks
202 - Thunder rolls by Jazz
136 - Letters: Rushing to judge Palin
133 - Boys basketball rankings
127 - Editorial: Poor welcome for Palin
112 - Man trapped in Nutty Putty cave dies
108 - Hall, Johnson matchup key
102 - Letters: Trump card for believers
92
Despite Anonymous' use of words that sound good, the article is actually a...
Vegas or San Diego, both yawner bowls if you've been there, done that....
It frustrates me they would close the cave. There are varying degrees of risk...
Some of the data will of course include everyone. You can't rent a dwelling...
I can't wait for Max Hall to open up the Bakery tomorrow. There will be...
Give Koufos 15 mins/game and see what he does. You detractors are foolish....
Can't wait to see a beat down of the U today. And Rich actually has 5 picks...
Did Pitta just say that this game is a big deal to Utah but to BYU it's just...
I attended David's Tuesday night show and it was amazing! My sister and I...
Robert Johnson will finish with the most tackles because BYU will be forced...


You can be the first to comment on this story.