For about a year I have experienced being on the Walsenburg Finance Committee as a citizen member. It was a learning experience. There were many items that demanded attention at each meeting. The other citizen members and the city council members who showed up from time to time discussed issues to be included on the city council agenda.
If you attend one of these meetings, you will be recognized if you have a comment or question. After you present your idea, Dave Johnston and other council members will politely show you why your idea is not acceptable and business will continue as usual. The addition of citizens to various committees was a kind of window dressing to show that the city was open to ideas. They are open to ideas as long as it's their ideas. At present there is only one committee which is the finance committee.
As the finance committee and city council meetings approach, the notice for the meetings and their agendas are posted at the library and city hall. Many times last minute changes are added. This is a pattern for short notice changes like those at the last meeting when very serious decisions were made without discussion. Many citizens weren't aware of these major issues, so they didn't show up.
Most decisions of the Walsenburg City Council are unanimous. There is very little dissent. The decisions are made by Dave and the council before a vote is taken. In essence a council meeting is a formal announcement of what has been decided that is best for the populace. I don't accept this as a a way to run a democratic form of government.
The idea for a representative government is that the electorate is entitled to an opinion, and the representative elected has a duty to his constituents to listen to them and do what they ask.
This concept has been overlooked in every level of government to the extent that we are facing the type of system seen in socialist countries. When you vote you must choose what the party advocates.
When the city council puts a referendum on the ballot, they make it known in advance that bad things will happen if it doesn't pass. They held true to their promise. Not only did they pass an initial ten percent water rate increase, but they are planning to increase electric rates with a three percent franchise fee. A sewer fee increase is slated for April and a gas increase is on the table.
If all of this is hard to digest. the sale of 330 acres of the city ranch for marijuana production with little or no advance notice, should just about do it. Now we have three major highways into Walsenburg where visitors are shown how popular marijuana is here. It seems that we are vying for the title of the marijuana capital of southern Colorado.
When I moved here for retirement, I never saw this coming. Seeing this infatuation for marijuana, would have sent me down the road to look for somewhere more appropriate. If this is what the citizens want, it's their decision. I have met some very nice folks here, and I'm sure some of them feel as I do. Let's just hope the real estate market will improve as workers decide to make a career move into the marijuana industry. That will help those of us who want to move on.
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