A state lawmaker from Blanding is gauging support for carving San Juan County into three pieces — the southernmost encompassing communities on the Navajo reservation — while dismissing accusations that the push has racist undertones.
Divvying up Utah’s largest county would bring local government closer to the people and restore representation for San Juan’s conservative central region, which recently lost control over a county seat, Rep. Phil Lyman said. And in a Facebook post earlier this month, he asked people if they’d sign a petition to put the question on the ballot as soon as this year.