The rural residents of Grand County have rejected two initiatives in the past 14 years to restructure their government — a rare nonpartisan and part-time council that oversees a thriving redrock tourist destination.
On the last day of this year’s session, the Utah Legislature passed a massive 89-page bill that, among a host of election policies meant to bring the state’s code up to date, requires counties to now adopt one of four approved forms of government. All of them have candidates run on party tickets. None of them is what Grand County currently has.
“I find it frustrating that the state complains about overreach all the time,” said the county’s council chairwoman, Mary McGann, “but it’s the state that seems to overreach into Grand County, making decisions that affect us.