Issues, what issues? Does Estes Park have issues?
When The Estes Parkian first went on the air one of our main community concerns was public involvement, no one would run for office, in fact Sue Doylen obtained her first seat as trustee as an appointed member…because no one would run. Look at this slate of people running for office. We have not had this many people running for a trustee position since the Eisenhower administration. Are we claiming this as a victory? Well yes and no…we bring more issues to light than anyone or any media; you may not like it, you may not agree, but you do tune in repeatedly and in larger numbers than ever before…so as a community service forum we are very effective.
As has been our habit we have our opinions, and we speak them, and this year’s election is no different. Our methodology this year is a little more unusual than what we have used in the past in selecting our candidate, the person, or persons we would vote for. This is what we did:
We took all the responses that appeared in the “Chipmunk News,” cut them out and laid them in front of us on the table. We took our yellow highlighter and started striking through all the political answers, the…“Miss America answers.” Stuff like…“We live in a beautiful place,”…“Everyone should work together,”…“I am a trained facilitator,”…“I want a transparent government,”…“I volunteer for everything under the sun,”…“ I am a retired nice guy,”…“I am a team player,”…“ We should be environmentally something and I am green to the bone.” Of course this is all political fodder, kind of marketing to the masses of gullible serfs that need my guidance, elect me, and then go away don’t bother us. The bullshit that binds us all together and we all seem to be comfortable with the “Miss America” I love the mountains, and I love this place man! After we highlighted all the filler, there was nothing of substance left to read!
Here are the issues as we see it.
Community planners love the phrase “Community by Intent”; communities where everyone in the population understands what the community is about, and there is community wide participation, and buy off on short and long term goals. A community by intent has cultural connections with the generations of the past, and current stewards, and future generations…all figured in to the amalgam. There are three pillars to any community and they are: The government (all the government agencies; School, Town Government, Parks, Library, and the Hospital, all on the same page…working in unison), the Business Community (source of community wealth), and the Private Non Profit which includes the citizens. If any of these pillars do not have their brains wrapped around the community identity, goals and purpose, the community becomes seriously out of step, rowing in a circle not falling behind, but a headless horseman with no where to go and no way to get there. We rely on leaders to understand civics well enough to know these fundamentals. We have issues and the biggest issue off all is, Estes Park is a here today…gone tomorrow community, a community by accident with no real intent. We all want a better Estes Park. We need to be a “Community by Intent.”
Limited seasonal economy, three months long (do not bore me with shoulder season development nonsense; the numbers do not support that argument).
Communities strive for economic diversity and year around cash flow; Estes Park is spending money to “save the peak season”. Estes Park is not an attraction, Rocky Mountain National Park is the attraction, and Estes Park has never had the foresight to develop anything on its own. Loose the Gateway description, become a destination unto yourself. Trust me RMNP will no go away. Develop the courage to Change.
Community polarization, division, lack of cultural heritage, no identity, transit population, that’s not a community…that is a gypsy camp…where every dog fights over every bone.
Open your eyes to the possibilities, not the limitations; do not look to Town Hall for the answers they have not produced yet. They are anti home rule, because they do not want your participation…just vote me in and go away. Town Hall is only one part of one pillar in this community.
You must identify your issues, before you can create solutions.
The town is loosing law suit after law suit; something had better change, we cannot run this community by community initiated ordinances. That does not mean stop the law suits, it means Town Hall stop breaking the law!
Change isn’t easy…lots of kicking, screaming, and crying associated with change.
There is only one person we endorse and would vote for personally, and that is Larry Pesses.
Why?
Simple really, as the president of the BOE he found a problem, and he solved the problem, and the school district is better off for it. He handled the heat professionally, and has come back to run for mayor. He will tell you what you need to know, not what you want to hear. Again he is the right guy, at the right time, for Estes Park. Do not tell me…show me, and Larry showed us, sometimes doing the right thing is not always the popular thing. There seems to be many people afraid of Larry Pesses in Town Hall…is that a bad thing? Develop the courage to Change.
Every other candidate is a crap shoot, no one really better than the other. No one really had one interesting relative thing to say.
Oh! One last thing…Hizzoner Baudec…turned out to be the horse’s ass we always told you he was, didn’t he? It is a Chicago politics thing.
When The Estes Parkian first went on the air one of our main community concerns was public involvement, no one would run for office, in fact Sue Doylen obtained her first seat as trustee as an appointed member…because no one would run. Look at this slate of people running for office. We have not had this many people running for a trustee position since the Eisenhower administration. Are we claiming this as a victory? Well yes and no…we bring more issues to light than anyone or any media; you may not like it, you may not agree, but you do tune in repeatedly and in larger numbers than ever before…so as a community service forum we are very effective.
As has been our habit we have our opinions, and we speak them, and this year’s election is no different. Our methodology this year is a little more unusual than what we have used in the past in selecting our candidate, the person, or persons we would vote for. This is what we did:
We took all the responses that appeared in the “Chipmunk News,” cut them out and laid them in front of us on the table. We took our yellow highlighter and started striking through all the political answers, the…“Miss America answers.” Stuff like…“We live in a beautiful place,”…“Everyone should work together,”…“I am a trained facilitator,”…“I want a transparent government,”…“I volunteer for everything under the sun,”…“ I am a retired nice guy,”…“I am a team player,”…“ We should be environmentally something and I am green to the bone.” Of course this is all political fodder, kind of marketing to the masses of gullible serfs that need my guidance, elect me, and then go away don’t bother us. The bullshit that binds us all together and we all seem to be comfortable with the “Miss America” I love the mountains, and I love this place man! After we highlighted all the filler, there was nothing of substance left to read!
Here are the issues as we see it.
Community planners love the phrase “Community by Intent”; communities where everyone in the population understands what the community is about, and there is community wide participation, and buy off on short and long term goals. A community by intent has cultural connections with the generations of the past, and current stewards, and future generations…all figured in to the amalgam. There are three pillars to any community and they are: The government (all the government agencies; School, Town Government, Parks, Library, and the Hospital, all on the same page…working in unison), the Business Community (source of community wealth), and the Private Non Profit which includes the citizens. If any of these pillars do not have their brains wrapped around the community identity, goals and purpose, the community becomes seriously out of step, rowing in a circle not falling behind, but a headless horseman with no where to go and no way to get there. We rely on leaders to understand civics well enough to know these fundamentals. We have issues and the biggest issue off all is, Estes Park is a here today…gone tomorrow community, a community by accident with no real intent. We all want a better Estes Park. We need to be a “Community by Intent.”
Limited seasonal economy, three months long (do not bore me with shoulder season development nonsense; the numbers do not support that argument).
Communities strive for economic diversity and year around cash flow; Estes Park is spending money to “save the peak season”. Estes Park is not an attraction, Rocky Mountain National Park is the attraction, and Estes Park has never had the foresight to develop anything on its own. Loose the Gateway description, become a destination unto yourself. Trust me RMNP will no go away. Develop the courage to Change.
Community polarization, division, lack of cultural heritage, no identity, transit population, that’s not a community…that is a gypsy camp…where every dog fights over every bone.
Open your eyes to the possibilities, not the limitations; do not look to Town Hall for the answers they have not produced yet. They are anti home rule, because they do not want your participation…just vote me in and go away. Town Hall is only one part of one pillar in this community.
You must identify your issues, before you can create solutions.
The town is loosing law suit after law suit; something had better change, we cannot run this community by community initiated ordinances. That does not mean stop the law suits, it means Town Hall stop breaking the law!
Change isn’t easy…lots of kicking, screaming, and crying associated with change.
There is only one person we endorse and would vote for personally, and that is Larry Pesses.
Why?
Simple really, as the president of the BOE he found a problem, and he solved the problem, and the school district is better off for it. He handled the heat professionally, and has come back to run for mayor. He will tell you what you need to know, not what you want to hear. Again he is the right guy, at the right time, for Estes Park. Do not tell me…show me, and Larry showed us, sometimes doing the right thing is not always the popular thing. There seems to be many people afraid of Larry Pesses in Town Hall…is that a bad thing? Develop the courage to Change.
Every other candidate is a crap shoot, no one really better than the other. No one really had one interesting relative thing to say.
Oh! One last thing…Hizzoner Baudec…turned out to be the horse’s ass we always told you he was, didn’t he? It is a Chicago politics thing.
