Buffalo Chip to Lehi City Council for passing a law putting an exorbitant price tag on the public's right to know. Ask to see something under the Government Records Access Management Act and you could be billed for any assistance supplied by the likes of outside lawyers or computer experts whom the city deems it must consult to fulfill your request. If a city department head ambles over to a file cabinet and pulls out a document, you could be charged at $50 an hour. As attorney Jeff Hunt told a newspaper, We the People own the records; the government just holds them in trust for us. Lehi officials lamely say that those who ask for public records should pay the expenses. So if a resident's house burns down, he or she should pay the full cost for the fire company to respond? Telegram to Lehi City Council: Letting citizens know what government is doing is not an annoying distraction, it's the most important thing you do. Slapping down this silliness is now an important thing the Legislature could do.
Beehive to members of the Utah Valley Home Builders Association for serving as "Subcontractors for Santa." Every Christmas season the builders help families by doing home repairs. This year's recipients included seven families with members serving in the Utah National Guard, some in Iraq. The help was much appreciated, especially since many National Guard personnel are paid less on duty than in their regular jobs, adding money problems to their families' worries. Lynnae Chilcott of the National Guard said, "To have them come in and say, 'Let me take this off your shoulders,' is really huge. It just takes a load of stress off the backs of these families to help them like that."
Read more...
