SWEETWATER COUNTY Joe Barbuto was appointed by the Sweetwater County Commission in a 4-1 vote to fill the open Sweetwater County Treasurer position during the Commission’s meeting Tuesday.
Former Treasurer Robb Slaughter announced his resignation and retirement in June, and his last day was July 1, 2021. The Sweetwater County Democratic Party then started its search for three candidates to take over the position until the 2022 election.
Meghan Jensen, the Sweetwater County Democratic Party Chair, said after searching for people to put their name in to be considered for the position, they only received two names. One was Joe Barbuto, and the other was Dave Gray.
SWEETWATER COUNTY Sweetwater County Fire Warden Mike Bournazian provided a 2020 fire year briefing to the Sweetwater County Commissioners on Tuesday, and was also approved in a 3-2 vote to hire 14 seasonal firefighters.
Bournazian said the Sweetwater County Fire Department responded to 100 calls in 2020, 50 of which were wildland fires.
The largest fire the department worked on was the Richard Mountain Fire, which was a lightning-caused fire that burned into Utah. The Sweetwater County Fire Department worked on this fire for about five to seven days. While lightning is the biggest threat for fires in the county, Bournazian said human-caused fires went up this year in Sweetwater County.