Lots of requests for money are being asked this election season. It is important to review the money grab requests and make a decision on what to do when it is time to cast our ballots. First, whatever you decide, it is important that you vote. Recent elections have had dismal turnouts and how can we expect to govern ourselves if we don’t vote.
School funding. The Board has suddenly discovered that nothing has been done on school maintenance in nearly 40 years. Gosh, what a shock. How did that happen? Their proposal to bond $20 million plus isn’t realistic. First, they state that the drawings would be done in the winter months and all the actual work would be completed by the start of school in late August 2007. How stupid do you think the voters are? Any project of this magnitude would take at least 2 years, and by then much of it wouldn’t be needed. If we have an enrollment of 1,000 students, by the 2008 school year that could easily drop to 800 or fewer if the illegal’s are forced to move out of state. This is not a condemnation of the illegals; it’s just a reality if the new Colorado law has any teeth in it when it is enacted on January 1, 2007. If the change in enrollment does take place that would eliminate the need for approximately 8 of the classrooms that are proposed with this bond request. That is just one reason that the Estesparkian is saying – Vote NO! The school board should go back to the drawing board with this one and come up with a better thought out plan. It may be better to take smaller steps until the enrollment stabilizes at a new number.
Fire District. The Town is always looking for ways to increase the general fund. The fire district is not the way to go in this form. If the out-of-towners start paying, they should have more say in how the district is run. The Town should not have the last and final say in all the decisions. Who in their right mind would trust this Town government to have final say? If we are to have a valley wide fire district the town should simply have a seat on the district board, nothing more. Once again, back to the drawing board with this proposal. In truth it is a request that the out-of-towners pay money that supports the district and the Town then takes money they now put into the fund and pay themselves into the general fund. They then would use this money for do-good projects (with no voter choice) to pay for such things as $400,000 for Hermit Park or for sidewalks to nowhere paid by locals to the benefit of the out-of-towners.
Each of these proposals requires payment of about $150 per household (with a $300,000 house) and 3 times that for those with vacant land. This is real money folks. Accountability and responsibility is the key here. Neither of the proposals passes the sniff test. Vote NO.
