Develop The Courage to Change

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.

50 will get ya 18

Estes Park should end EPURA and look to the other tools available to the community that are not as obtrusive as urban renewal.

Reasons to end EPURA:

Estes Park is not an urban slum, our trustees have no business artificially effecting building and land prices. If a property owner does not care for their property allow the market to determine property worth not town hall. Someone who can afford to make improvements will purchase the property. Example:Trenz.

There are very good reasons urban renewal authorities have sun set clauses. The authority has extraordinary powers to solve problems during extraordinary circumstances. For example the 1982 flood, that event is a prime example of the proper use of an urban renewal authority. Problem solved good night EPURA thank you for your exceptional service, time to move on.

In 2008 there exists no real EPURA project only a TIF money addiction. Someone please define the “project” (a blight study is not a project). An urban renewal authority is a project authority and to exist must define their project to the community, EPURA does not have a project.

The blight study is shallow and pointless; the definitions of “blight” are so ambiguous and ripe for abuse,by ethically challenged politicians all over the state, the legislature is on the verge of significant changes to that particular law. Communities are “blighting” farm ground to put in Wal-Mart’s, super highways and the like. Confusing, exactly like the current EPURA “blight” study, TIF funding in general, all sad excuses to divert money into the general fund. Urban renewal needs urban renewal, urban renewal needs urban renewal, and we simply cannot afford to pay 50 million for 18 million in urban renewal projects, like a hamster on a wheel.

Urban renewal authorities are an excuse for elected officials to “play” developer. As long as they keep developing retail square footage they keep getting TIF sales tax. Property owners had better wise up sales tax are being diverted from the downtown business district and invested in retail and condo “sprawl” and proposed bypasses. If town hall can develop enough sales tax away from downtown your store front will be “blighted” and turned into state highway. We are saturated with traffic now, today. A better alternative is a downtown improvement authority, more on that later, if you want to save the Downtown area.

The town diverted 50 million dollars to make 18 million dollars in improvements over twenty five years. That would include the Holiday Inn Convention Center (never touched by the flood) the sidewalks, river walk, Performance Park and a new logo for town hall. It stimulates my imagination to think what could have been if the remaining 32 million would have been spent in the downtown business district. I will not speculate where that money went.

Finally this is an ethical dilemma for your elected officials should they allow the money to be properly allocated to the proper taxing entities in Estes Park, the hospital, the library, the parks district?Or is the attraction to playing developer stronger than their moral compass? Can we afford "50 will get ya 18" andmore empty undersized convention centers? More empty retail space?

Tune in tonight on channel twelve and see if this current board saddles the next board with dealing with one more petition or will they do the right and moral thing?

M.A.S.H. or Mess?

Again, I go back to the issue of the Estes Park Medical Center. Don't you people value your life and health? Who really cares about the candidates personal lives? Do you not care about your REAL LIFE? We have ALL made mistakes. The issues at EMPC are real. Please,Please listen to me. Quit being so self-rightous about certain personal issues with your candidates. Who among them is going to hold YOUR medical center accountable. Wait until YOUR loved one suffers because of incompitence of the so called "staff". I am not kidding, the quality of care is suffering. All our nurses, who have been there 15+ years have LEFT. Our second OPERATING ROOM is not functional, yet the Trail Gazette touted all the perks of EPMC. Wake up Estes Park, for your own safety and the safety of your family. Get a grip. This is truth not hostility. Again, as a nurse, I only want to help and SAVE LIVES. God Bless.
8:04 PM

Okay Estes Park you be the judge, you floated a 30 million dollar loan against your property, the Estes Parkian was critical of the "lobby" we got and every one poo pooed the Estes Parkian.

This appears to be a health care professional shouting a message we could not ignore, will you?

ACCOUNTABILITY?

Open Mic For The Candidates

These are the questions contributed by our readers. Candidates, feel free to answer them here at the Estes Parkian at our expense. We have a much larger circulation and daily readership of any media in the Valley. So if you want your story out, embrace that keyboard and tell us what you know what you think and earn our vote. The World Wide Web is at your beck and call available to all the candidates equally.

· Do you favor or oppose the Ballot Question, and why?

· Would you be in favor of an independent forensic audit? If not, why not?

· What would you do to address the mistrust the public has of "The Town"?

· Would you favor opening the town's auditing and banking services up for bid? If not, why not ?

· Do you favor or oppose renewal of EPURA, and why?

· Are you a proponent of Home Rule" for Estes Park why or why not?

· Are the offenses listed in Patrick Cipolla's CBI report true?

· Describe your vision for Estes Park. How will you lead this community in realizing that vision?

· Other than tourism, what type of economic development do you see in the future that Estes Park can sustain.

· What would you have the town do to make Estes Park more attractive to tourist in the Fall-Winter-Spring time of the year?

· What do you see as the town’s plans for development in 1, 3 and 5 years other than more condos?

· Starbucks is not about selling coffee. It is about selling the Starbucks experience. The Estes Park experience is changing and perhaps not for the good. How do you see the Estes Park experience and how should it be developed for the future?

· My question - How do you feel about the Performing Arts Center? What do you see as its possibilities for success or failure? What part should the town play in it's completion?

· Describe the singular mission/identity that guides our community unity, pulling all the sectors in the same direction. What is that mission the entire community agrees on pulling the Valley together?

· Which department of the town do you feel qualified to oversee and why? How will you represent me?

· Chuck Levine, you ran on a platform, four years ago, that you intend to “heal this town” it is my impression that we are embroiled in more turmoil more law suits, more distrust of town hall than before you took office four years ago. Give us one example of one thing you healed.

· Sue Doylen, as a trustee you were quoted in the Trail Gazette as describing the businessmen / women in Estes Park as “stupid” and lacking “moxey.” Your are also quoted in a letter to the editor that the school board are a group of petulant children. Do you feel that as mayor you exude the qualities of a community leader capable of unifying this community?

· Rocky Mountain National Park is soon to be a wilderness area, how does Estes Park compliment that? How do we stack up as a neighbor to a wilderness?

· What would you do as trustee or mayor if you found corruption, misuse of funds, or you felt the town was breaking the law? Do you use your own judgment or do you listen to the town attorney’s interpretation?

· What is your thinking on the following proposal:1. Draft of comprehensive 2, 5, and 10 year strategic plans for the entire valley community. Authors selected by valid random methods, NOT APPOINTED BY THE MAYOR!2. Publish the plan and hold a series of OPEN community wide discussions chaired by a professional, outside, disinterested party. 3. Finalize the plan and publish.4. Review and update the plan annually. 5. Include accountability metrics as well as course correction methods.

· According to the Park Service most of the trees in Rocky (east side) and the Estes Park Valley will be dead in 3 to 5 years due to the beetle infestation. With that, the tourist will be gone. What will you do shrink the size (cost) of government to match the reduced revenues?

· Sue Doylen - Other than Case# 1999CV001054, Filed 09/15/1999, how many times have you been named as a defendant in a lawsuit while serving on the Town Board?

Community Questions Bank

The greatest threat to our community is apathy; differing opinions and vigorous healthy debate are necessary and key to a healthy community.

With an important vote coming up we would like to assist all of our many regular readers prepare to get to know our candidates. What we decided to do in an effort to encourage attendance, at real time forums, was compile a bank of questions our readers would like to see asked trustee candidates. You supply the questions for our question bank.

Many of our readers feel free to post comments on topics of their own choosing whenever the impulse moves them. We see this as a community service. This time we are afraid we will be editing those folks that do not stay on task or choose to be off color. After all this is our blog.

Comment a question or your effort will go into the trash can.

We always have the option to 86 all comments, it is rarely done.

Please comment the question you would like answered.

Questions for candidates only this time.

THANK YOU

Before the games begin, we would like to thank all of the citizens of Estes Park that care enough to run for office. The Estes Parkian has opinions and we intend to share those opinions but for now kudos to the candidates.


Candidates for Mayor

Larry Pesses
Bill Pinkham

Susan Doylen

Candidates for trustee

Jerry Miller

Art Blume

Patrick Cipolla

Paul Fishman

Chuck Levine

John Ericson