Editor:
It’s that time of year when if you live within the confines of most cities you get to vote for a mayor and
city council persons. These off year elections normally have very low turnout and the individuals who are in the “know”, normally the incumbents, get reelected year after year.
I do not live in Price City so the city election has no impact on me. That is the prevailing attitude of the
majority of citizens who live in surrounding towns or in the county. I personally do not agree! Price is the county seat. The prosperity of Price is an indicator of how well the county as a whole is doing. I feel that the hot button topics such as the Garley Wash Reservoir, the decline of businesses on Main Street.
The general downward spiral of the city is, to a large degree, the responsibility of our elected officials.
I frequently do Phase I audits for new businesses moving into southeastern Utah for a number of banks.
I always ask these new companies why they elected to move to Emery or Sanpete counties or wherever
rather than Carbon County or Price City. The two main reasons are taxes and the effort the county or city has put forth to entice them to that area. When you ask an elected official in our area why we are not competitive and why is our economy failing, you get the same old answer, it’s not their fault. It’s the coal industry or the price of natural gas or any number of reasons other than lack of leadership.
I don’t buy it! Look at Helper’s Main Street. There is a constant stream of traffic, new construction on old buildings, hardly a vacant property in the city. The answer lies with the citizens of Helper and the degree that city government is welcoming new investments in spite of the county taxes and degree of difficulty in working with the county elected personnel.
Maybe it’s time that the citizens of Price voice their concerns with the status quo, bring in new people
with new ideas and attempt to solve some of the problems and attitudes that seem to prevail. I personally would like to get answers to the numerous concerns about the Garley Wash project, why
other options are not even being looked at! You talk to Price City, it’s as though they tolerate your concerns but simply want you to go away! You never get a straight answer, only the “we looked at it and it won’t work”! That’s not an answer. That’s a denial because they are closed to any new ideas relative to Garley Wash or any other issue that is not of their liking or would impact the status quo.
You can bring about change or you can endorse the status quo with your vote. It’s up to you!
Mel Coonrod
Helper
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