Are Utah Problems Prompting FLDS to Build New Texas Town?
 
The Eldorado Success
 
Construction continues apace at the YFZ Ranch, four miles north of Eldorado, even as the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS) finds itself under increasing pressure in the Arizona and Utah borderland. That pressure comes in the form of heightened scrutiny from the Utah Attorney General's office, and a series of setbacks in Utah courts. Add to the mix the fact that the region's only bank, the Bank of Ephraim, a strong supporter of the FLDS community in Colorado City, AZ and Hildale, UT, failed last week.

But things aren't all rosy for the FLDS here in Texas. After the group's cover story was exposed in March, and Eldoradoans learned that their new neighbors were more interested in building a town than a corporate hunting retreat, the operation at the YFZ Ranch began attracting more than media attention --- it caught the eye of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

That isn't to say that any of the FLDS faithful have turned their backs on Prophet Warren Jeffs, or that any of the workers are giving up and leaving the YFZ Ranch. To the contrary, construction there seems to be accelerating, even to the point that a grid of roadways is starting to appear, making the whole thing look more and more like a new townsite.

Meanwhile, former members of the FLDS, some of them recently excommunicated by Warren Jeffs, are adamant that the YFZ Ranch, is more than just a getaway retreat for church members. Ben Bistline, the author of "The Polygamists, a History of Colorado City, Arizona" told the Success recently that "a goodly number of people in Colorado City are packing to move to Texas."

Recent events involving the FLDS include an eight-month investigation by the Utah Attorney General's office that concluded last week with a report alleging that seven of the thirteen-member joint police force serving C-City/Hildale, are practicing polygamists, a criminal offense in Utah. The report also claims that the officers failed to police one another, also a violation of the state's criminal code.

The charges come less than a month after Rodney Holm, a former member of the C-City/Hildale police force, completed a jail term following his conviction on a bigamy charge and two counts of unlawful sexual contact with a minor.

Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff's office also alleges that members of the C-City/Hildale police force exaggerated the hours of training they have undergone. The entire Hildale police force was suspended in August, 2003 for failing to maintain its training hours. They were reinstated after catching up on their training hours. It is precisely that sudden round of training that is now in question with investigators asking if any of the training every took place.

The Attorney General's charges are currently under investigation by the Utah Police Academy and the Washington County, Utah District Attorney's office.

It should be noted that Attorney General Shurtleff has been hesitant to prosecute individuals on polygamy charges, as have most Utah prosecutors. However, Shurtleff now maintains that police officers should be held to a higher standard since public trust is eroded when police officers are seen in open defiance of the law. Police officer Rodney Holm's conviction in Washington County Utah was a watershed event and it reportedly sent shock waves through the FLDS hierarchy in the Fall of 2003, helping to set the stage for at least a partial migration to Texas.

Not everyone agreed with the new direction the church was taking, especially since Warren Jeffs ascended to the Prophet's chair following the death of his father. The already tense situation, compounded by the Holm conviction, began producing rifts in the ranks of the FLDS faithful, prompting a round of excommunications. These only added fuel to the fire as the pro and anti-Jeffs camps began choosing sides.

Attorney General Shurtleff raised the ante by appointing a special investigator, Ron Barton, to look into the FLDS. And, it wasn't just polygamy that was being investigated. Soon, federal authorities were taking an interest in the FLDS and its financial dealings, especially as they might relate to federal organized crime statutes.

Another setback for the FLDS, and its members in C-City Hildale, came last week when the area's only bank, the Bank of Ephraim, failed and was closed by state examiners. While the bank's failure wasn't directly attributed to its dealings with the FLDS, questionable loans made to church members were of concern to state banking officials.

According to published accounts in the Salt Lake Tribune, the bank's primary problem involved an employee who embezzled nearly $5 million over more than 20 years. Bank officials were quoted as saying that the fault actually lay with state and federal auditors who failed to detect the problem for more than two decades.

The Bank of Ephraim is important to the FLDS story because it was one of the few lending institutions where C-City/Hildale residents could get a loan. Since much of the property in the town is owned by the FLDS through a trust called the United Effort Plan, it isn't sold to the residents who live there. Instead, the residents lease the land then mortgage their leasehold when they arrange for bank financing. The Bank of Ephraim was reportedly one of the few, if not the only, bank that would lend money against leaseholds. State banking examiners have openly questioned the wisdom of these leasehold loans.

Three of the bank's branches have been taken over by Far West Bank of Provo, Utah. But, Far West officials say they have no plans to reopen the Hildale branch, leaving C-City/Hildale residents without a local bank.

Also of interest is the fact that the Bank of Ephraim loaned a "significant amount" of money to building contractors, many of them FLDS members from C-City/Hildale, according to sources close to the investigation. Those same sources tell the Success that much of the mortgaged equipment is now being used in the construction that is ongoing at the YFZ Ranch.

In another local note, TCEQ officials are increasingly frustrated by their inability to bring the YFZ Ranch into line with Texas environmental regulations. Among the concerns are sewage treatment facilities, or the lack thereof, as well as unlicensed cement and rock crushing plants.

While TCEQ officials will not say what their next move will be, there is a sense that the State of Texas plans to act, and soon. Exactly what that action may be, and when it will occur, remains a mystery.

At press time, construction continues unabated at the YFZ with aerial photos revealing that the building project may have actually accelerated. A grid of six intersecting roadways seem to be under construction on the ranch, giving the property the overall appearance that something very much like a town is under construction. Maybe not a town the size of C-City/Hildale, but certainly larger than the corporate hunting retreat Schleicher County residents were first told to expect.

The Success continues to seek comment from FLDS and/or YFZ officials. Neither are willing to talk to press.
 
MyEldorado.net
Originally published July 1, 2004
 
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