The Insider

Popular Categories

Concerned Citizens Come Together to Discuss Local Issues at Commissioners Meeting


An estimated 50 people attended the Wayne County Commission meeting on April 2.. It was truly inspiring to see how many people came forward to speak their minds to the commissioners. The tone remained respectful at all times, yet a number of very real concerns were brought forth. What brought us all together that morning was the recent news that our esteemed County Clerk, Ryan Torgerson, was not going to run for election in 2018, nor was Sheriff Taylor. In addition, we had learned that Jeri Johnson, Director of our Emergency Services had also recently quit. Coupled with the resignation of our County Attorney Le Ellen Mc Cartney last summer, the recent personnel losses were of great concern to many Wayne County citizens.

The following is a condensed list of issues and concerns so eloquently voiced by the taxpayers:

  • The commissioners need to take a hard look at their spending priorities
  • The loss of 4 key county employees in less than a year may reflect a failure of leadership
  • Communication from the county government to the citizens needs to be improved
  • Citizens in the “down county” area feel unrepresented at the county level
  • Solid support for Ryan Torgerson was frequently expressed by citizens, who urged him to run again as a write-in candidate
  • Those in attendance voiced firm support and appreciation for all of the folks working at the courthouse
  • Some citizens may be willing to help with mundane county chores such as stuffing envelopes
  • There is an unfortunate cultural divide between up and down county, “move-ins” and “locals”, LDS and non-LDS

 In addition, several county employees spoke up; Colleen Allen is very concerned for the county, Sheriff Taylor said Wayne County law enforcement wages fall well below the state average making recruitment difficult, Ryan has been asking for additional personnel in his office for the last 4 years but none was forthcoming, Adus Dorsey says he has been working on tourism issues but has limited resources.

 There may be a write-in candidate for County Clerk; Adrian Ruger of Fremont. Deputy Dan Jensen will be running for Sheriff. The commissioners have advertised for a HR position, and have authorized advertising for 2 vacant positions on the Travel Council. Our current County Attorney is Mike Olson, who is also the Emery County attorney. All of these things add up to the big question, which is; how does the county set spending priorities for the tax revenues it collects?

 One of the things that Wayne County Taxpayers Associaton is researching at the moment is the source of tax monies collected in Wayne County. We need to know the percentage and amount of tax revenues generated by tourism and hospitality, by greenbelt property taxes, by full-rate property taxes and so on. That way, we can determine if the interests of the tourism and hospitality sector, the retirement and second home sectors and the agricultural sectors are being fairly represented in county government.

 Once again, give yourselves a big pat on the back for attending today’s session. Public engagement is crucial to improving our local governments.

As always, any feedback from you, the taxpayers, is encouraged and welcomed. And, as always, we are seeking interested and engaged members for our board of directors. We meet monthly for 1 to 2 hours. We also encourage members to volunteer to attend a commission meeting once in a while and write up a brief report about what they heard. (One of the other issues we are very interested in is what kinds of topics are discussed and decions are made by the commissioners in their “closed” meetings. The things they may legally address behind closed doors are extremely limited, and must be disclosed before they go into closed session. Citizen involvement can help to track these things.)

Ronni Egan, Wayne County

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.