Dear Editor:
There has been a successful legislative push by our local Republican Party leaders to bully a few counties in Utah to do away with their local voter-approved “politically independent” councils in favor of “politically partisan” commission/council form of government. There are few options in the bill.
This was yet another way to bully voters and do an “end run” on the majority of local Grand County voters’ desires.
They did it very well.
The Republican Party has used the State Legislature to bully and impose, on Grand County residents, an idea that has been soundly defeated every time the issue has been on our local ballot.
Is this behavior viewed by the Republicans as something to be proud of?
Typical sneak play and the same questionable dishonorable representation and “under the radar” behavior we had in 1991 regarding the Book Cliffs Highway, and again a few years ago regarding the Seven County Infrastructure Coalition, all part and parcel to this issue.
It was the same “under the radar behavior” in the early ’90s that caused the local citizenry to resoundingly “send partisanship politics packing” and gave us the current form of county government we now enjoy.
Independent thinking is viewed as dangerous and obviously feared by the Republican Party.
Our politically independent, nonpartisan “council form” of government, put in place in 1993, referred to as “goofy” by Lynn Jackson, seems to be viewed as an enemy to vanquish.
Is this a good way to build the Book Cliffs Highway? We’ll soon see.
