Representative Government

Most people I grew up with had an idea about democracy. They thought when a decision was made it should be by vote.  In school we voted on class officers, on cheerleaders, and on various decisions.  If someone voted a different way than you that was their right.

How have we come to the point of being against another person's right to express themselves. This goes against the very premise of a free society.  Lately the white house has begun stacking the deck against non-profit groups which oppose them by using the IRS as the agency of enforcement. The same government agency is being used to punish citizens who choose to reject the ACA(so-called affordable care act).

Our current federal government is against free speech and the right to bear arms. In the past there was a majority of citizens in both political parties who believed these were fundamental rights.  There was no issue about our basic rights.  The political differences tended to be about foreign policy or budgetary matters.  We have previously agreed to protect our country, our children and grandchildren.

I wonder if we could get back to basics and agree to protect our country from illegal alliens and stand together to protect our freedoms which are outlined in the constitution.. Can we agree that whoever is against us and trying to destroy our nation is our enemy? Whichever party we belong to, we should be able to agree on this fundamental truth.

Our survival depends on what we do with this truth. Politicians, agencies, political correctness, and all of the above deserve equal condemnation if they are trying to destroy our country and its constitution.

Our Treasurer

Walsenburg has an administrative style of government.  Most day to day decisions and transactions are done by the city administrator. He has control of virtually all the various city departments including the accounting department.  This is where the bills are paid and the money is collected. The city budget is also generated in the accounting department. The budget directly involves our services and taxes and should be examined closely.

One provision for examining the accounts is an elected official.  The City Treasurer is directly elected by and answers to the citizens. We are faced with losing this accountability with the resignation of our current treasurer. If no candidate is found, this job could be changed to an appointed position taking away the small amount of citizen involvement that now exists.

There is currently an ad in the newspaper for City Treasurer. The deadline for submitting a resume is May 1st. If you or someone you know can do this job, it would be a great service to our city.

Our freedoms are vanishing each day.  When we have a chance to participate in the governmental process, we should see it as an opportunity to speak for the community.  Too many tasks are delegated to third parties with special interests.  It takes some effort to participate in the process, but the alternative is no voice.

Walsenburg Priorities

This week a topic came to the forefront in the city council meeting and in the finance committee.  The city is in dire need of new computer equipment.  While not disputing the need for equipment, it never fails to amaze me how creative the council can be in finding money for those projects they think are important.

Another subject which came up is the Northlands sewer project.  The 20 or so citizens in the Northlands have state of the art water infrastructure and access to natural gas. Why should they have a state of the art sewer system guaranteed by the city? They seem to be priority number one on any council agenda.

Shouldn't it be a priority to set up a plan to refurbish the aging pipes and dilapidated streets in Walsenburg?   The city is where the taxpayers live who have to deal with all the aging infrastructure problems.  A couple of recent examples of these problems were the defective fire hydrants discovered during the February 6th and 7th fires in the city.

A five year plan for improvements is a condition of the city ordinance making capital improvement funds available for sewer and water projects.(City of Walsenburg ordinance 1015 dated 12/10/12)  To my knowledge, this has never been done.  To his credit, Mayor Eccher has stated that he is focusing on replacing the gas transmission line from Trinidad and the fresh water line from LaVeta. That is a start in the right direction.

It is not too much to ask for basic services when you pay above average utility bills. These basic priorities should be on the table at every finance committee and city council meeting until some results are seen.

Marijuana Rules

Just when it seemed that Walsenburg had an ordinance in place and zoning done for medical marijuana, the council members decide that the rules are too stringent for potential businesses.  The fact that city ordinance 1020 has some common sense rules concerning distances that a dispensary is required to be from residences, schools, churches, etc. seems to have little significance.  The council feels the need to amend the ordinance because a potential business wants to locate next door to a residence.

This same kind of logic was used to argue for the marijuana zoning ordinance which placed R-O property as a candidate for marijuana operations.  The vacant building across from the Pizza Hut was located in a residential zone.  Instead of letting the potential business work out the location for a properly zoned area, the city council decided to include residential zoning for marijuana operations to accommodate someone who wanted to use that particular building.

It would seem that the question of proper zoning of a business in the city is within the jurisdiction of the city planning and zoning committee. Why should there be an immediate need to change zoning rules before the zoning committee can study the case and make recommendations?

I will go on record in support of our current ordinance 1020 which should be enforced as written.  There is no reason to change a perfectly good ordinance.