Court starts new era for twin towns
 
IN OUR VIEW
The Spectrum
 
A 3rd District Court judge's decision last week both closes and begins a chapter for many of the people who call Hildale and Colorado City home.

Judge Denise P. Lindberg named new trustees to oversee the United Effort Plan, the financial arm of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The polygamous church dominates the two border towns. And its leader, Warren Jeffs, is evading authorities who are seeking him on charges that he fostered an atmosphere of abuse of young girls by forcing them into marriages with much older men.

The UEP took on added significance in the wake of Jeffs' legal troubles. The Utah Attorney General's Office stepped in months ago to remove Jeffs and his followers from the list of trustees to prevent a liquidation of assets that would help him hide from authorities.

The naming of the new trustees gives people living there a fresh start. Many continue to support Jeffs despite a growing list of lawsuits and the fact that he has landed on the FBI's most-wanted list. But others simply want to live their lives and practice the only faith that they know.

The appointment of new people to oversee the trust and of a special fiduciary to oversee the UEP's matters protects the people who live in the area once known as Short Creek. It also ensures that Jeffs won't have access to the trust's assets, which includes much of the land in Hildale and Colorado City.

The group is diverse. Most have ties to the FLDS church. Some have stayed in the faith, and others have left it. One, former Dixie State College President Robert Huddleston, has no ties to the FLDS community at all.

Together, with fiduciary Bruce Wisan, the group will protect the assets of the trust and serve the people of Hildale and Colorado City. That role is essential to helping the twin towns officially close the chapter written by Warren Jeffs.
 
TheSpectrum.com
Originally published December 19, 2005
 
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