2019 in review: A sea change in San Juan County governance

A federal judge’s ruling and the “historical” election that followed has turned politics there topsy-turvy

• Last February, I asked “Who’s the Boss in Utah’s Bears Ears Country?” The following six-part essay is an attempt to partially answer that question after a year of watching events unfold there.

The election of Kenneth Maryboy and Willie Grayeyes to the San Juan County Commission sparked an interest in the way the county is run. (Bill Keshlear)

Part 1: Rule by resolution. Kenneth Maryboy and Willie Grayeyes took their oaths of office as commissioners a little under a year ago after what was described as a “historic” election. They immediately staked their claim to power by choosing to govern primarily through resolutions written by their longtime private attorney and approved without advice or informed consent of virtually anyone in the county.

Part 2: The power of environmental nonprofits. It’s hard to overstate the influence of Utah Diné Bikéyah, the tribal-affiliated nonprofit founded and run by Grayeyes and Maryboy until they took office. They’ve succeeded as leaders in attempts to create Bears Ears National Monument in a way that took results of a presidential election and proclamation to derail.

Part 3: Open-records stonewalling. Numerous requests for public records filed under GRAMA were generated in 2019 due in part to the climate created by the new commissioners’ evasiveness and open hostility toward many constituents and those constituents’ forceful…