To think there will be 3 or 4 requests for loans from fellow Estesparkians come the fall. We will be asked to support one or more of the following:
1. Performance Center
2. Swimming Pool
3. School Auditorium
4. Fire District
We’ll sure have our plate full if we have to tackle all of these important issues. Let’s look at them singly.
1. Performance Center –
The arts groups in Estes Park, in their various forms, have about 200 performances throughout the year, perhaps more. A few years ago they tried to create a public/private relationship between the Stanley Hotel, the Town and the Arts group. The beneficiary of this plan was the Stanley Hotel and the Town. The Stanley got a re-modeled building with a new heating system thanks to the Town, and the Town got $600,000, thanks to the Arts Community. Public private partnerships don’t work, unless you are Forever Resorts, then you get a free convention center and lots of guaranteed bookings. Should this project move forward? We should ask ourselves how we personally benefit. Would we enjoy performances there? Will new groups of performers be attracted to a tiny little theater? How much will each of us pay and who will pay long term.
2. Swimming Pool – This is a current venue that is used by students and seniors, an important year-round activity center for all of us. Those families that use the pool have raised considerable money that seems to disappear. Is that just more of the Towns shenanigans? Or is it Park & Rec? Why do we continually have budget crises in a Town this size with a budget of over $33,000,000?
3. School Auditorium- In a school system that is declining in student enrollment, is on the recovery from recent failures from a criminal superintendent and a crooked office worker (both convicted), and a huge turnover in staff year after year, does it really seem the most important thing is to have an auditorium?
4. Fire District – Ho Humm. No, No, No! Home Rule first, then maybe a fire district where we can bill they Y and everyone else that benefits. The first thing they would do is build a station near the Y, even though they don’t pay for anything. Ill advised, not the right political structure, NO, NO, NO!
In the second place, what is the deal with promotions for each of these handouts? There aren’t any. No one will support something they don’t know about. This Town is famous for creating failed programs and plans and the Estesparkian predicts that each of these plans will go down in flames.
Third, these are programs that seem to be hand-outs, not hand-ups. A successful program should be one in which the beneficiary gains some advantage. They should be able to increase revenue, provide more services and sustain themselves over the long term. Not be a profit center, but have a very controlled plan that doesn’t require constant hand-outs from their members or from the Town. The problem is that in this Town the money gets morphed from one project back into the Town general fund so they can increase their ridiculous staff and pay more and more benefits. This leads the voters to one logical conclusion, one that they practice time and time again. They vote no.
