Summit County's government may expand

Summit County government might be growing along with its booming population.

A study under way in the county aims to decide if the fast-growing community should abandon its three-member commission in favor of an expanded version or even a council/mayor form of government.

"My theory is that we need more hands on deck to share the workload," Summit County Commissioner Bob Richer said. "We have administrative, legislative and managerial duties. We're king of everything all rolled into one."

With escalating growth pressures in Park City and the Snyderville Basin, Richer said holding on to the three-member commission equates to "hiding your head in the sand."

Eric Easterly, chairman of the government study committee, noted that Summit is unique among Utah counties because more than half of its population is in unincorporated county areas. The county provides municipal services to the nearly 18,000 residents in the Snyderville Basin, who Easterly said all expect the same level of service that Park City residents enjoy.

"We have so many people out there with a lot going on the drawing board," he said. "The commissioners feel genuinely overwhelmed."

Summit County's discussion on whether to make the shift follows the example of other Utah counties such as Salt Lake, Wasatch and Morgan, which have made the switch to councils in recent years.

The seven-member government study committee is now looking to Salt Lake County officials for advice on what type of ruling body would be a good fit for the mountain community.

One of the main issues Summit County officials are examining is whether the Salt Lake change has increased representation and provided a checks-and-balances mechanism, study committee member Steve Dougherty said.

By having an elected mayor running the administrative show, Dougherty said, Salt Lake has managed to unload almost 95 percent of the workload off the council's shoulders. That shift has freed the council to assume more of a policymaking role.

"It's not just ribbon-cutting but something more substantive," he said.

But Randy Horiuchi, a Salt Lake County councilman, isn't so sure the county council should be stepping into a legislative role. County government was not meant to be a lawmaking body, said Horiuchi, who was a member of the three-person Salt Lake commission prior to the 2001 switch to a council-mayor form.

With fewer administrative duties and a limited legislative role, Horiuchi said, the council-mayor form of government is "intellectually bankrupt."

Although Horiuchi has his qualms about Salt Lake's choice of government, he said Summit County does, at the least, need to expand its commission to keep up with planning and growth demands in the region.