The Payson council runs like a well-oiled machine. Only on very rare occasions is there any conflict. The council members do their homework, and come to the meeting knowing how things are likely going to play out. They are efficient; there is very little tension, and virtually no suspense.
In doing a quick search of the council’s published meeting minutes over the past eight months, the council voted unanimously in favor of a motion on 69 of 76 occasions.
And that number doesn’t take into consideration the items on the agenda that are “consent” agenda items. The council votes in favor of all of the items listed under the “consent agenda” at one time during each meeting. These items are the mundane measures that don’t generally need discussion but keep town services running smoothly.
To be sure, it’s not as if all of the items not on the consent agenda are of great importance. These include the approval of liquor licenses and minor zoning changes. Still, the fact remains, if an item is put on the council agenda, it has an overwhelming chance of being passed.
If there were a dissimilar voice on the council, it would be Councilor Ed Blair. He was a member of the minority on six of the nine cases in which the decision was not unanimous; and three times he was the lone hold out on a 6-1 decision.
That is not to say that the make up of the current council is necessarily bad. They have had to deal with a staggeringly poor economy that has been without precedent since the town incorporated. They have dealt swiftly and competently with the emergencies the town has faced in the recent past, and their efforts to make the food drive for the needy in Rim Country a success is much to their credit.
Still, it is a bit like covering the U.S. Congress as if they were composed of all Republicans or all Democrats. Imagine if in the last eight months 91 percent of the votes (69 of 76) in the House of Representatives were 435-0, and you will have some idea of how things go at Payson Town Hall.
The Star Valley council has a different feel. It is more raw, less refined. Whereas the council is a good 50 feet from where the public sits in Payson, surrounded by a dozen members of the town staff, the public is practically on top of council members in Star Valley, who are aided by only two staff members.
More people show up for council meetings in Star Valley, and they are invited to speak on virtually every item discussed. The council members themselves are more likely to disagree with one another, and tempers sometimes flare. It is not always easy to judge which way the council will vote on a given matter.
An illustration of the difference between the two councils is the recent passage of identical resolutions calling for an intergovernmental agreement between the two towns regarding water rights.
In Star Valley the measure was heavily debated. The verbiage of the resolution was actually changed by input from the public. A number of different viewpoints were given on the subject before it was eventually passed unanimously. Afterwards there were handshakes and congratulatory words exchanged between the council and members of the public. It was a big deal.
The following week the Payson council took up the measure and approved it in roughly three minutes. Only Mayor Kenny Evans spoke eloquently of the thaw in the relations between Star Valley and Payson what the resolution signified.
It was a big deal, but it didn’t seem like a big deal. The Payson council is like that- calm, efficient, clever, if not necessarily representative of the divide within the community.
They quickly moved on to the question of increasing the speed limit on South Rim Club Parkway from 25 to 35 miles per hour. They spent a good deal more time discussing that than the potential water agreement with Star Valley.
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