Opposition of the Proposed Change in Government in Wasatch County -- WCCCG

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Date Posted: 09:06:36 11/02/00 Thu
Author: Mike Davis
Subject: Opposition of the Proposed Change in Government in Wasatch County

This article is to give factual information in opposition of the proposed change in government in Wasatch County. We all want more separation of government power, more representation and greater government efficiency. I submit that the proposed government change does none of this and in fact has a high probability of doing the opposite: less separation of government power, less representation and less efficiency. I will explain the basis of these conclusions.

SEPARATION OF POWER: The idea to change from a commission form of government in which the commissioners have both the legislative and executive power has merit. The commission form of government is streamline and beneficial when counties are less complex and populations are small. The Federal and State governments separate by having an elected executive position (President or Governor) and an elected district legislature (Congress and State legislature). This sounds like a good idea for a county too
but this is NOT what the proposal offers the citizens of Wasatch County. The proposed change in government provides an elected district legislature and an APPOINTED executive position called a county manager. The executive branch of the county being appointed by the legislative branch is NOT a separation of power. The executive branch will not have any direct accountability to the voters since only the legislative branch can hire or fire the manager. The sponsors of this proposal have often mentioned that three counties in our state have already successfully switched to the same form of government as they proposed. In contacting those three counties: Cache, Morgan and Grand, I was surprised to learn that none of those three counties have the same form of government as is being proposed in Wasatch County. Cache County has an elected executive manager,
NOT APPOINTED. Morgan County simply has an expanded Commission form of government -- seven commissioners instead of three with no separate executive branch. Grand County is the closest with an appointed manager, but NO districts for the council. Grand County is now on its third manager. The only true separation of power offered by the proposed change in government in Wasatch County is the separation of the power of the voter to have direct accountability from the executive manager. Clearly the majority of other counties which have made a change in their county governments have not opted for an appointed executive manager. Wasatch County should not either!

REPRESENTATION: At first glance, Seven commissioners appears to be more representative than three or five commissioners and districts must surely offer more representation that at large positions. I disagree. There is a significant difference between having a representative and being represented. Each district will certainly have the full attention of the council seat they elect from their district. However, each district will not have any of the attention of any of the council seats from the other four districts and at most 20% of the attention of the at large council seats. The districts potentially divide the county and open the door to run our county governments much the same as the State and Federal governments where "sweet deals" and "pork barrel" spending are the results of one district helping another for a favor in return. It is important to ensure the best representation possible in the Executive branch position as well. The proposal states that the person who represents the executive position of our county does not have to live in Wasatch County. They could live in Davis, Salt Lake, Utah, Summit, Morgan or Duchesane counties since all they are within one hour of Wasatch County as prescribed by the proposal. To be hired, the executive manager doesn�t even have to live in the State of Utah. Only after six (6) months from the date of hire does the executive manager need to live within one hour of Wasatch County. Many of the day to day activities of the county include interaction and work with other counties, State and Federal agencies. We have a fair amount of State and Federally controlled land within the boundaries of our county. The county also has dealings with water agencies such as the Provo River Water Users Association, CUP, and private water companies. Can a non-resident, appointed executive manager truly represent Wasatch Counties best interest in these and similar important issues? NO. In government, what is proposed on paper and what actually happens are most often different. Wasatch County should be looking for a form of government that will actually represent the County. This proposal does not.

EFFICIENCY: For government to be more efficient it must provide more for the money and be faster. Larger government does neither. To make anything more efficient you take what you already have and make it work harder. More government has and always will be more expensive. Unseen costs are everywhere. In speaking with a Cache County council member who was one of the original sponsors of their government change 14 years ago, she claims that they very much like their seven member council with the elected executive manager and I believe her. However, there are significant differences between Cache and Wasatch Counties: Cache county has approximately 90,000 residents and Wasatch has 15,000; Cache County has 19 towns and cities compared to 4 in Wasatch County. Cache County land is taken up by municipalities and Federally controlled lands with little actually "County Only" lands.
Wasatch County controls thousands of acres outside of municipal, State or Federal control. Even with the things she liked, the Cache County Commissioner said that things move much slower with seven council members instead of three. This same sentiment was repeated in Morgan and Grand counties. Slower is not more efficient. Though none of the three counties could put a definite cost difference together, all three felt there were more costs before. (Admittedly, this is not very scientific, but it�s the best they could do).

CONCLUSION: The last thing the Councilwoman from Cache County said was,
"Whatever you do, don�t make the change in haste." The time table used in Cache was 2 years in drafting the new form to maximize all citizen participation before the initiative was offered to the voters and a one year transition period to smooth out the change. Salt Lake City is also following a similar timetable in its change to a 7 member council and elected executive mayor. Morgan and Grand timetables are similar to Wasatch Counties and both counties are suffering with the change. Morgan County can�t replace a commissioner who quit because their plan, which was approved by the State Attorney General, has significant flaws and is contrary to State law in several areas. If Wasatch County is to change its form of government, it should be to a form that is actually better for the county. The proposed government change is NOT. There are many other options that may better suit Wasatch�s unique requirements.

It has been mentioned that we must wait four (4) years if the voters turn down this proposal. It also should be said that if we do accept it, it cannot be changed for at least four (4) years, even if Wasatch County suffers problems such as Grand and Morgan Counties are. Wouldn�t it be best to do it right the first time? By State code, a petition to investigate which form of Government is best for Wasatch County can be initiated. This could be started the day after the election of November 7th. Do what�s best for
Wasatch County and vote NO to the proposed 7 member council with an appointed executive manager.

Thank you,
Mike Davis

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