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.

THE CITY NEEDS YOUR MONEY

Well, the appraisal for the prison was short of the expected amount.  This will cause the city to start thinking of your money.  Can we raise taxes?  Can we raise water rates?  How can we get more money to spend?

If the city of Walsenburg would spend money on renewing infrastructure, replacing fire hydrants, and paving streets, it wouldn't seem so bad when they ran into financial problems.  Most of the expenditures (in time and money) are on securing sewer, water, and gas for the Northlands.  We can't seem to get lines replaced in the older part of town where most of the water and sewer customers reside.  These customers are also the tax payers who pay for the city ventures.

Another big project is the replacement of most of the city's computers.  This expense will come up soon. We have an IT contractor who is charged with keeping our equipment operating.  Maybe we could put off a purchase until we get our finances in better shape.

We talked of making cuts in the 2014 budget.  A 10% cut was made in city employee salaries.  The police dept was also reduced in number.  An additional member of the police force left, but was replaced quickly. When we are under financial stress and an employee leaves, why replace him right away?

We also have another financial burden in our water park.  It is a money-losing venture.  The city's solution is to lower the entrance fee and do as little advertising as possible.

Whatever is placing our federal government in unbelievable debt seems to be contagious to our cities and some of our states.  It is simple mathematics.  If you don't have money don't purchase anything.

The Capital Improvement Fund

The funds for operating the water and sewer department come from revenue sources such as residential and business charges for water and sewer.  These funds are to maintain our system and deliver the water and sewer service. Other funds that are allocated to renew our existing lines are called capital improvement funds.  Things are less clear when we try to discover their balances and expenditures .

The capital improvement funds are designated by law from sales tax revenue.  At one time funds were generic and used for any improvement in the city.  A ballot issue in 2012 called Ordinance 1015 changed this.  The fund was divided into three parts.  A third was to be for the water department, a third for the sewer department, and a third for general use.  Section 4 of this ordinance mandated  a five year plan for improvements in water and sewer infrastructure.  Each year the city council is required to adopt a five year plan for use of the transferred funds.

No five year plan has been created.  Meanwhile the annual state maximum 10 percent of water and sewer funds has been transferred to the water and sewer departments without a five year plan. While  it is not clear, the money appears to have been used for other than capital improvements. The city council is not enforcing the ordinance to correctly appropriate these transfers.

It is difficult to see this because of our reporting system.  The capital improvement funds and the infrastructure and repair portion of our water and sewer bills should be simple and easy to track. Replacement of water lines, sewer lines, and fire hydrants in the city should be a priority. The funds for these projects should not be used for general or administrative expenses or any other uses.

Walsenburg Style Accounting

Some of us keep asking the same questions in the city council and committee meetings.  This is an indication that we are not getting answers.  The obscurities revolve around the city's accounting system. When a question about the balance of the water department infrastructure fund is raised, the stock answer is to say that it is too complex to answer.

Accounting is not designed to hide facts.  It is to reveal expenditures and revenues so that we can see where our money is and how it is being spent.  A separate account should be established for money held for water line replacement.  Another account would be for sewer line replacement.  This would make it a simple thing just to look at these accounts to see what we have.

Another area that keeps being obscured is money spent on the Northlands projects. To be transparent each transaction involving this project should be included in the budget.  This would include all deposits, fees, and revenues involving the Northlands.  More than one request for expenditure amounts on this project has resulted in different numbers being given. The story that keeps being repeated by proponents of the sewer project  is that everything is free and it won't cost the city anything. This project is being sponsored by Walsenburg. We should be able to track money associated with it.

One of the confusing things about the water and sewer funds is that two items for infrastructure replacement are associated with each fund.  There are two separate items on customer water bills for infrastructure replacement. Another account known as capital improvements contains money for water and sewer replacement.  This is an account which receives money from sales tax.  There is not a clear way to access balances for these accounts.  I was hoping the city treasurer would bring clarity to this problem, but the best solution is probably to set up separate accounts which are easy to access and track.

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