One site visitor asked, what would be some suggestions for moving Estes Park forward? If one would read through this diatribe over the past year one would see the numerous suggestions to do just that. The following are the Cliff Notes version of those suggestions.
1. Trustees are elected at large and should be elected by district.
2. Trustees, once elected, get shuffled off to oversee a department and are not able to collectively run the Town. They leave that to staff. This is just wrong and not what they are elected to do. A Trustee, when asked to serve on the Blue Team should say –NO! I came to serve everyone.
3. All committees are appointed by the Mayor. This is wrong. We end up with staff making up the majority of the committee, with votes no less. A committee should have no more than one staff member – ever, with no vote.
4. Home Rule. If we don’t get Home Rule we need a natural disaster to wipe the Town off the map and put us out of our misery. It is idiotic that we don’t have Home Rule. Ninety three percent of the population of Colorado lives under Home Rule. Why? Not just for banning pit bulls, which we currently can’t do, but so we can create a marketing district and tax visitors (as all other resort communities in Colorado do) and use that money to market the area. Currently, the Town uses a percentage of collected tax to market and provide visitor services as well, but it is ILLEGAL for them to do so. And, they aren’t any good at it. Visitation is down, sales tax is down, stores are closing which will further erode sales tax collections and the money that was once used to “market” is spent on salaries for full time staff that are useless. Tom Pickering has a high salary job and is a confirmed back stabbing liar which several Trustees have admitted to. That makes them culpable and makes them as bad as he is because they allow it.
5. Eliminate EPURA! They don’t fulfill the function they were formed for and calling it the planning arm of the Town is obscene. They should have used the money to help, no demand, that downtown buildings be brought up to code for asbestos, electrical, etc. and improve their appearance. Nothing has been done downtown since the flood. That’s more than 20 years ago!
6. Move the municipal building out of our most valuable asset, our downtown. Think of all the parking that is consumed by town employees alone. Some have suggested that store employees park elsewhere. Get a clue. Where would that be? We have no parking!
7. Build a parking garage. Signage does nothing. It is suspected that the Town couldn’t pass an audit and therefore can’t get bonding for a large project. Some say we don’t need parking as it would ruin the small town flavor. They are idiots. They must like traffic jams, people run over in the street by frustrated visitors and visitors unable to shop because THERE IS NO PLACE TO PARK.
8. Perform an independent audit on the Town. Follow the money!
9. Hire a town manager that is experienced in Home Rule. Repola is a friend of a friend of so and so and is further eroding the town with his personnel policies and the control he is gaining over all aspects of Town operations. Trustees should be in charge, not the hired help.
10. Build a performance center. This could really put us on the map as a cultural center and give us more year-round activities. This would be good for everyone.
11. Hold a moratorium on studies. The current (and past) administrations don’t listen to them anyway, so stop wasting time. A good example is the group asked to guide the Town regarding the CVB. They didn’t say to build the CVB but that is what the Town staff wanted so they lied about the study and said “they told us to do it.”
This is easy stuff if people will get involved, which they won’t. Just remember, you have the solution before you. You could follow this blueprint for a better Town that would thrive. But you won’t. Those that have tried to come forward with energy, dedication and great ideas are thought to be rebels, uninformed and bad for the community. It’s a shame. So we’re left with a pathetic little community that offers nothing to anyone, unless you work for the Town.
