As a Town we had better start exploring dramatically different options for our community, the myopic focus on local power politics is backing all of us into a corner as our collective economy slowly heads for the crapper. Can the few that benefit from the current political environment sustain our economy? The average citizen in Estes Park has become so flustered with the goof ball politics, town says one thing and does an other, out and out lies, or selectively enforces their own ordinances, that wehave thrown up our hands in frustration.
For years the political attitude has been fostered that going to the citizens of Estes Park for direction is not necessary and down right inconvenient. Do you know, for example, how many times the trustees declare an emergency and create an emergency ordinance expressly to avoid public input? Example: how can the renewal of the Convention Center lease be considered an emergency, how would selling water rights be an emergency? The bold arrogance of your town trustees is dramatically highlighted by their belief that if your money is spent in $500,000.00 increments no one seems to notice. The Community Reinvestment Fund, statutory town status, and Tax Increment Financing has created just enough money wiggle-room for the town to keep their private political sand box full, but not enough money to keep the community moving forward.
Senate Bill 06-169 is a necessary bit of legislation that will become law state wide, because of the abuse of “Blight” not just in Estes Park, but around Colorado.
Several Front Range communities that foresaw development annexed in the area of anticipated growth, by creating Urban Renewal Authorities and “Blighting” farm ground prior to development assuring a TIF windfall for years to come, a gross misuse of the laws intent. Arvada blighted a productive shopping area with the intent to condemn the property and “give” it to Wal-Mart, all in the name of economic development. Economic development and business nurturing programs are vastly different approaches than the sledge hammer condemnation practices of urban renewal. The alteration of the Urban Renewal laws in Colorado will have an incalculable political impact here in Estes Park.
It was only a couple years ago that EPURA attempted to condemn a large property downtown with the loose plan to convert it into non-profit space – a brainless – political plot. With the loss of EPURA, and the odds are stacking up against EPURA’s continued longevity, what then? We have an electorate that has been effectively eliminated from the equation, and no slum areas. To top all that off the downtown business district urban renewal plan that we all approved was never completed, in fact the surface of what was to be done was hardly scratched. The town staff politically opted for their own plan, like a Convention Center, new CVB Visitors Center, and sprawl. In 1999 the town went to the citizens of the community (ballot box) to ask permission to build a new visitors center and the voters said NO. What the voters did not say is “no do not borrow the money - go find a cheaper project and alternative source of financing” – the voters said very clearly “NO we do not want this project”. In the intervening six years, town staff using EPURA (professor Blight) hung the “blight” designation on the Visitor’s Center and then spent $2,000,000,000.00 + of our tax dollars to build the Visitors Center anyway. NO means NO – NO doesn’t mean yes. NO you cannot come through the front door - but - yes you can come through the back door if you walk in backwards. NO means NO – NO today – NO tomorrow – NO in six years – or until you reeducate the electorate and revisit the ballot box and the citizens approve it. Why was it necessary to go to the ballot six years ago, but it wasn’t necessary last year? Because you were duped, flimflammed, tricked, and deceived.
What your town staff doesn’t seem to understand is, just because a wad of money is available does not mean they can spend it anyway they personally see fit, like it was theirs, like they were a private corporation. Our money can be accumulated in a bundle – community reinvestment & TIF funds - but the authority to spend it on pet projects is a horse of another color. When elected officials and town staff spend public money inappropriately there are personal liabilities involved. It’s the citizens money not town staffs (counting EPURA and the trustees as town staff here). Too many people in this community are accustomed to political hand outs, “give me” hand out contracts from town staff for sitting on boards, looking the other way, making the appropriate recommendation etc.. When these funds are no longer available, things will get real goofy around here because who will be willing to serve on boards without the “perks”?
