Triathlons
The City of St. George and the amazing Bob Peckham put on the City's inaugural kids triathlon today. It was very well run. My oldest 3 competed and had a ball. There were lots of kids there who had just watched their parents compete 2-weeks earlier in the SGTRI and, no doubt, were ready to show them up.
Kanab is putting on its inaugural beginner distance triathlon next weekend. The weather and the scenery (of course) should be perfect. The organizer, Jeff Gardner, told me this morning that he's nearing his cap of 100.
Every time my family thinks of the first SGTRI we put on, we just shudder. Traffic control, timing chips -- what's that? Seeing how we've come along with experience, the future looks very bright for St. George's kids triathlon and Jeff's Kanab triathlon.
The cities, county, state highway department and state parks (Gunlock the first 3 years and Sand Hollow the last 2) have been nothing but helpful in our triathlon (though, looking back on it, they were probably crazy to not tell us "no" the first year). Starting my law practice in California, I would deal with California agencies a lot and with Utah agencies occasionally. The difference was night and day. One state, after running people around for months, itched to tell them "no" -- no matter what the issue was. The other state wanted to help people figure out how to get things done. Like a lot of freedom-loving people, I decided I'd live in Utah someday.
One of the biggest kicks I get out of being a legislator is when a constituent asks me for help with a state agency. I call the department or division director and ask him/her to work it out with the constituent. And it almost always gets worked out quickly to both parties' satisfaction. Some of this has to do with the size of the state (and we need to make sure we don't lose this attitude as we grow), but a lot of it has to do with the relative size of government.
An editorial recently railed that the legislature shouldn't be concerned with limiting the size of government. I disagree. Though this might seem counter-intuitive, smaller governments deal better with the people; there is more accountability and better service when the buck stops quickly, instead of passing through layers of bureaucracy. Washington County, for example, has one of the lowest tax rates of all the counties, despite its tremendous growth. People familiar with the county might tell you it is "underfunded." No doubt, it has significant difficulties dealing with downturns in revenue or unexpected costs, and it has to make hard decisions to deal with those events. I shudder to imagine my next meeting with Commissioner Eardley, anytime the State passes on ("dumps" he might say) a cost to the counties. But show me a county close to Washington County's size where it's easier to get prompt access to a decision-maker or to get a problem addressed quickly. Fat bureaucracies make things easier for the government workers, not the citizens.
How are governments like triathletes? Lean is better.
Kanab is putting on its inaugural beginner distance triathlon next weekend. The weather and the scenery (of course) should be perfect. The organizer, Jeff Gardner, told me this morning that he's nearing his cap of 100.
Every time my family thinks of the first SGTRI we put on, we just shudder. Traffic control, timing chips -- what's that? Seeing how we've come along with experience, the future looks very bright for St. George's kids triathlon and Jeff's Kanab triathlon.
The cities, county, state highway department and state parks (Gunlock the first 3 years and Sand Hollow the last 2) have been nothing but helpful in our triathlon (though, looking back on it, they were probably crazy to not tell us "no" the first year). Starting my law practice in California, I would deal with California agencies a lot and with Utah agencies occasionally. The difference was night and day. One state, after running people around for months, itched to tell them "no" -- no matter what the issue was. The other state wanted to help people figure out how to get things done. Like a lot of freedom-loving people, I decided I'd live in Utah someday.
One of the biggest kicks I get out of being a legislator is when a constituent asks me for help with a state agency. I call the department or division director and ask him/her to work it out with the constituent. And it almost always gets worked out quickly to both parties' satisfaction. Some of this has to do with the size of the state (and we need to make sure we don't lose this attitude as we grow), but a lot of it has to do with the relative size of government.
An editorial recently railed that the legislature shouldn't be concerned with limiting the size of government. I disagree. Though this might seem counter-intuitive, smaller governments deal better with the people; there is more accountability and better service when the buck stops quickly, instead of passing through layers of bureaucracy. Washington County, for example, has one of the lowest tax rates of all the counties, despite its tremendous growth. People familiar with the county might tell you it is "underfunded." No doubt, it has significant difficulties dealing with downturns in revenue or unexpected costs, and it has to make hard decisions to deal with those events. I shudder to imagine my next meeting with Commissioner Eardley, anytime the State passes on ("dumps" he might say) a cost to the counties. But show me a county close to Washington County's size where it's easier to get prompt access to a decision-maker or to get a problem addressed quickly. Fat bureaucracies make things easier for the government workers, not the citizens.
How are governments like triathletes? Lean is better.
posted by steve u. at 5/28/2005
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2 Comments:
When do you plan on turning on your ATOM feed? I'd like to subscribe to your blog, but you've got to make your feed active.
Leaner is better! I am trying to open a snow cone stand where I live (Virginia). I have everything to open, I have even spoken with the health dept. but the "site planning committee" and the building inspector are having some very serious concerns, and I will not be able to open my doors for at least another two weeks. By the time I jump through all the hoops summer will be over and all will be lost. Snow cones in a nice little shack. It's rediculous.
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