It's official: At noon on Jan. 1, 2001, Salt Lake County will have a new form of government.
By a 53 percent to 47 percent margin, voters Tuesday approved a proposal to switch from the current three-commissioner form to a council/mayor form that will separate executive and legislative powers.Results were complete but unofficial at press time.
"It doesn't solve all our problems, but it wasn't intended to," said Jim Leigh, a member of a citizens committee that drafted the plan. "It's a first step. At least this way we get rid of the `I'll scratch your back if you scratch mine.' "
A frequent criticism of the commission form of government was that commissioners swapped favors in order to pass their own projects. Proponents of the change believe a nine-member council and independently elected mayor will reduce that tendency.
Six of the council members will be elected by district, with three elected at large.
The Salt Lake County Commission - Brent Overson, Mary Callaghan, and Commissioner-elect Mark Shurtleff, who will replace Randy Horiuchi in two months - will have two years to prepare for the change-over.
The proposal's passage has a personal impact on Callaghan and Shurtleff - their terms of office will be cut in half.
"It means I'm out of a job in two years, but I look forward to working to make the transition and keep the cost down," Shurtleff said. "There's so much to do."
Cost had been a major issue in the campaign waged for and against the proposal. County Auditor Craig Sorensen has estimated it would cost up to $1.2 million to make the switch and an annual additional cost of up to $3.1 million.
"I'm surprised that, as many people that object to our increased taxes all the time, they would continue to vote for (costly government changes)," said opponent Lynn Price, also a member of the drafting committee. "I'm amazed that we keep taxing ourselves down the road to socialism."
In relative terms, however, the cost is small compared to the county's $500 million annual budget.
Price attributed the proposal's success to how it appealed to residents' "idea from seventh-grade civics" of how governments should have institutional checks and balances. Also, "I think there is a backlash still to the fighting that has gone on in county government."
While the commission's well-publicized bickering with County Attorney Doug Short was not technically involved in the proposed change, many people believed changing the form would help avoid such problems.
Whatever its ultimate merits, the switch is likely to engender some transition problems. Of greatest concern is the fact that it will have its inaugural year - and consequent wrinkles to work out - immediately before the 2002 Winter Games come to town. As Price put it, "The whole year before the 2002 Olympics we'll be in total upheaval."
Of the three counties to consider government form changes this year, two - Salt Lake and Morgan counties - approved them, while one - Weber County - rejected it. Salt Lake and Morgan join Cache and Grand counties, which have already made the switch.
In the past, Salt Lake residents had considered, and rejected, several proposals to change their form of county government. Those measures, however, were coupled with various city-county government consolidation or incorporation proposals.
Both Salt Lake newspapers and some television stations had editorialized in favor of the change, a factor that Overson, a proponent of the plan, has said influenced his decision to go ahead with it. Unlike Weber and Morgan counties, Salt Lake's proposal originated with the County Commission rather than a citizen petition.