Walsenburg Budget Challenges

I have been opposed to the Northland Sewer Project from the first time I heard of it.  This week the news comes from Trinidad that they are concerned about their decaying water and sewer infrastructures.  They are concerned about the citizens of Trinidad having adequate services..

Walsenburg chose to ignore these problems and expend money, energy, and time to secure an expensive new sewer and water infrastructure for a small sparsely populated area north of the city proper.  The primary beneficiaries of this expansion are landholders who are anticipating big profits from land sales in the Northlands area.

While Walsenburg citizens are making do with the decaying infrastructure, Trinidad is taking action to correct this problem.

This fall when the ballots come, there will be another question of raising sales taxes.  There should be a question for removing the Walsenburg Police Department from the taxpayer load.

The duplication of services between the Police department and the Sheriff''s department is too obvious to ignore. A large part of our city's budget is consumed by the police department.

In my experience no bureaucrat has never been in favor of cutting his position, so no one in office is likely to be in favor of this cut, but it would be a step toward restoring the budget to a balanced one.

Huerfano County Emergency Preparedness

As a citizen of Walsenburg I am interested in the safety of our community and the plans to respond to various emergency situations.  There are questions about what plans are for an extended power outage.  Is there a means for delivering water and sewer?  If there are backup generators, is there enough fuel storage for an extended power loss?

I haven't discovered an answer to these questions.  There are plenty more issues to explore.  While the Federal government is in denial about terrorism and its link to immigration, it is an issue when people are released into our country with little or no vetting.  What if there is an influx of people with little or no food or provisions?  Will there be law enforcement to help prevent crime and protect our citizens?

Some individuals are showing up here to get legal drugs.  Some of them are going on welfare because they made the trip with little money or forethought.

One resource that we have is Huerfano Emergency Services.  Don Mercier is the director.  His office is at the Huerfano Sheriff's office.  The number is 719-738-1180.

Some online resources are www.facebook.com/huerfano911, www.facebook.com/huerfanooem, and twitter.com/huerfano_911.

Your comments and questions are welcome. When you have an opportunity, talk with your city councilman or county commissioner about preparedness.