Would someone please explain this behavior to me because the Estes Parkian is very confused with these kinds of politics? These nutty activities seem too rife through this “Valley” as common as the hiccups. Everyone seems so cavalier with this ballsy behavior that would get a politician emasculated in the real world.
Why would the town of Estes Park be repairing the roof of the Holiday Inn?
Tom Pickering’s town department – “Community Development” – is asking for $6,492.00 of our dollars out of the “general fund” to make repairs to the roof of the Conference Center, the Holiday Inns Conference Center.
The “conference center” is a product of EPURA/TIF funding in a joint private/government partnership…we were pleased to build a building for Forever Living Resorts a multi-billion dollar resort conglomerate. Okay…so we built a conference center for those nice folks and we handed them the keys to their new building, aren’t we such nice people to make a three million dollar contribution to those folks in Tucson? So why are we now spending money out of the general fund maintaining this facility? Money that was diverted away from the schools, library, parks and recreation district, and hospital district to build the Conference Center ($3,000,000.00) as a gift to a multi-billion dollar resort conglomerate, I say again. Now we get to maintain it too, how nice!
Why does the Town of Estes Park lease this facility from Forever Living Resorts diverting money away from the police department, fire department, to do so? When sales tax receipts are down, the town wants more tax money for advertising and marketing and they claim there isn’t enough money for the police department and the fire department, but there is enough money to do maintenance for the Holiday Inn and put on a new roof, (I will repeat this because it rings nicely off of the tongue when you actually say it out loud) as a gift to a multi-billion dollar resort conglomerate.
Who else gets free stuff, carpet and roofing? Community Development…hell I could use a new set of curtains!
Additionally, operating and funding a Conference Center puts a town department in direct competition with several other small conference centers in the Valley, but what the heck its only money!
Why doesn’t this piss you off, what kind of irresponsible mooks live here?
Monday, August 25, 2008
Sunday, August 17, 2008
I read a very interesting letter to the editor in the latest edition of the free paper. A citizen wrote addressing the confusion he felt concerning the appointment of Wayne Newsome to the EPURA board and then Wayne’s subsequent and immediate appointment as chairmen.
This individual felt slighted as several Estes Valley citizens applied for the open board position and the Mayor appointed his pal Wayne, over several other interested citizens.
Why Wayne?
Is it because of Wayne’s stellar leadership?
Oh please…one can sum Wayne up first by a statement he made running for his second term as trustee and I quote Wayne, “I know I haven’t done anything in the past four years except vote like the mayor told me!” And second…Wayne is a real-estate broker, Wayne benefits through creating listings for his businesses, how did we benefit from Wayne’s “service”?
Again Wayne has prevented an ethical citizen from providing competent oversight of public funds. How much money did his own employees walk out the door with…over there at Coldwell Banker, while Wayne was volunteering? What kind of management style is that?
It will be interesting to see if Wayne prosecutes his wayward employee. Town staff broke any number of laws concerning our tax dollars while he sat in that trustees chair and Wayne chose to look the other way…with his head up his ass and his mind in East Texas. More importantly how much of our money did town employees walk away with while Wayne snoozed, no telling! The trustees were found guilty of breaking any number of state statues while Wayne led the way, giving his approval through his vote.
EPURA IS A SHAM
This is a resort community at the foot of RMNP; show me blight/slum/health risk in this valley! You cannot and having an ethically challenged real-estate broker as Chairman of the Town’s biggest lie is a perfect fit! After the flood of 1982 EPURA was the right tool for the right job, the continuation of EPURA in 2008 is just theft through deception… because they can. Who do your elected officials really work for? This slice of the local political pie is a wonderful snap shot of the grimy nature of the politics is this Valley. They just want everyones money.
The only reason EPURA exists today is to steal money from the other taxing entities in the valley, so the town has discretionary spending money for stuff like a “kayak course”…“town logos”…“picnic benches for the subway”…and pork barrel real-estate development projects for Willie and Eddy. The school district, the hospital district, the parks and recreation district, and the library district all loose money while the town hires more wives, sons, and daughters.
Blight is Estes Park, how do you demand premium commercial and residential prices for real-estate in a blighted area? Wayne has no problem with this conundrum, buyer beware ethics be damned, we want to borrow a lot of money without a public vote and we will lie our asses off to do it.
Are property values in this Valley determined by EPURA projects or by the proximity to RMNP or by the advertising and marketing the town does…. it depends on the liar you are talking to at the moment.
If you are talking to Will Smith he will tell you the whole town revolves around EPURA, in fact the ex mayor claimed EPURA was the planning arm of town hall. I guess the planning commission does nothing?
Will Smith told the community that he spends more money on donuts than legal fees (more like the legal advice we all pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for isn’t worth a donut hole). Blight / slums in Estes Park thats a sham!!!
The town is spending thousands on legal fees in an attempt to keep you from voting on the renewal of EPURA, a right the Constitution of the State of Colorado allows you. The town contends that because Estes Park is a statutory town…the laws of the State of Colorado do not apply. That would qualify as a “stupid drunkards lie”. Some one qualifies for tar and feathers.
On the other hand, Eric and Susan Blackhurst would tell you the wealth of the community has to do with the salary Susan receives for whatever it is her and Peter Marsh do. And Tom Pickering…well when his lips are moving….you got it, he is hatching a big fat lie.
So who is responsible for the wealth of the community? EPURA and Will Smith or Tom Pickering and the Town’s illegal advertising and Marketing efforts…or the developers who EPURA has supported with our money?
They all make the claim… ,someone is deceiving us!
Is it you Wayne….Wayne….Wayne…..wake up Wayne, the mayor needs your vote Wayne.
This individual felt slighted as several Estes Valley citizens applied for the open board position and the Mayor appointed his pal Wayne, over several other interested citizens.
Why Wayne?
Is it because of Wayne’s stellar leadership?
Oh please…one can sum Wayne up first by a statement he made running for his second term as trustee and I quote Wayne, “I know I haven’t done anything in the past four years except vote like the mayor told me!” And second…Wayne is a real-estate broker, Wayne benefits through creating listings for his businesses, how did we benefit from Wayne’s “service”?
Again Wayne has prevented an ethical citizen from providing competent oversight of public funds. How much money did his own employees walk out the door with…over there at Coldwell Banker, while Wayne was volunteering? What kind of management style is that?
It will be interesting to see if Wayne prosecutes his wayward employee. Town staff broke any number of laws concerning our tax dollars while he sat in that trustees chair and Wayne chose to look the other way…with his head up his ass and his mind in East Texas. More importantly how much of our money did town employees walk away with while Wayne snoozed, no telling! The trustees were found guilty of breaking any number of state statues while Wayne led the way, giving his approval through his vote.
EPURA IS A SHAM
This is a resort community at the foot of RMNP; show me blight/slum/health risk in this valley! You cannot and having an ethically challenged real-estate broker as Chairman of the Town’s biggest lie is a perfect fit! After the flood of 1982 EPURA was the right tool for the right job, the continuation of EPURA in 2008 is just theft through deception… because they can. Who do your elected officials really work for? This slice of the local political pie is a wonderful snap shot of the grimy nature of the politics is this Valley. They just want everyones money.
The only reason EPURA exists today is to steal money from the other taxing entities in the valley, so the town has discretionary spending money for stuff like a “kayak course”…“town logos”…“picnic benches for the subway”…and pork barrel real-estate development projects for Willie and Eddy. The school district, the hospital district, the parks and recreation district, and the library district all loose money while the town hires more wives, sons, and daughters.
Blight is Estes Park, how do you demand premium commercial and residential prices for real-estate in a blighted area? Wayne has no problem with this conundrum, buyer beware ethics be damned, we want to borrow a lot of money without a public vote and we will lie our asses off to do it.
Are property values in this Valley determined by EPURA projects or by the proximity to RMNP or by the advertising and marketing the town does…. it depends on the liar you are talking to at the moment.
If you are talking to Will Smith he will tell you the whole town revolves around EPURA, in fact the ex mayor claimed EPURA was the planning arm of town hall. I guess the planning commission does nothing?
Will Smith told the community that he spends more money on donuts than legal fees (more like the legal advice we all pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for isn’t worth a donut hole). Blight / slums in Estes Park thats a sham!!!
The town is spending thousands on legal fees in an attempt to keep you from voting on the renewal of EPURA, a right the Constitution of the State of Colorado allows you. The town contends that because Estes Park is a statutory town…the laws of the State of Colorado do not apply. That would qualify as a “stupid drunkards lie”. Some one qualifies for tar and feathers.
On the other hand, Eric and Susan Blackhurst would tell you the wealth of the community has to do with the salary Susan receives for whatever it is her and Peter Marsh do. And Tom Pickering…well when his lips are moving….you got it, he is hatching a big fat lie.
So who is responsible for the wealth of the community? EPURA and Will Smith or Tom Pickering and the Town’s illegal advertising and Marketing efforts…or the developers who EPURA has supported with our money?
They all make the claim… ,someone is deceiving us!
Is it you Wayne….Wayne….Wayne…..wake up Wayne, the mayor needs your vote Wayne.
Wednesday, August 06, 2008
THE NIGHT SHIFT
Here is a bit of zoological journalistic mush that will cause the hair on the back of your neck to stand on end, it got my attention.
JEFFERSON COUNTY, COLORADO - A family was stunned when a mountain lion entered their home early Monday morning, killing one of their dogs right beside their bed, and carried the pet off into the night. The dog was a 12-year-old yellow lab .
This lion entered the home to snatch a family pet for dinner, exiting an open patio door where it had entered the house actually caring off the 72-pound dog.
Wildlife officers found the dog's body about 300 yards from the home and set a trap for the lion. Early Tuesday morning, the lion returned and went into the trap. Wildlife officers then euthanized the lion.
The lion was so bold that it was entirely capable of coming into a house to kill a child.
"We had no choice," said a spokesperson for the DOW. "This animal was dangerous."
Townspeople in Idledale agree this lion was getting more aggressive and had no fear of people. Many people have seen the animal and several have had very close encounters.
Wildlife officers say the foothills along the Front Range are lion country, and a large number of big cats live there.
There are more than a dozen lions with GPS tracking collars in and around Estes Park that make frequent kills in the Estes Park area
JEFFERSON COUNTY, COLORADO - A family was stunned when a mountain lion entered their home early Monday morning, killing one of their dogs right beside their bed, and carried the pet off into the night. The dog was a 12-year-old yellow lab .
This lion entered the home to snatch a family pet for dinner, exiting an open patio door where it had entered the house actually caring off the 72-pound dog.
Wildlife officers found the dog's body about 300 yards from the home and set a trap for the lion. Early Tuesday morning, the lion returned and went into the trap. Wildlife officers then euthanized the lion.
The lion was so bold that it was entirely capable of coming into a house to kill a child.
"We had no choice," said a spokesperson for the DOW. "This animal was dangerous."
Townspeople in Idledale agree this lion was getting more aggressive and had no fear of people. Many people have seen the animal and several have had very close encounters.
Wildlife officers say the foothills along the Front Range are lion country, and a large number of big cats live there.
There are more than a dozen lions with GPS tracking collars in and around Estes Park that make frequent kills in the Estes Park area
Saturday, August 02, 2008
Raising A Stink !
Twice in the last month the Upper Thompson Sewer district has discharged large amounts of raw sewage into our pristine environment.
That’s thousands of gallons of raw sewage plopped directly into the receiving waters of the big Thompson, why is this going on?
The powers that be haven’t even bothered to publish excuses in the local happy rag.
We are pushing this issue with the State Health Department directly. The stink from the facility below the Olympic dam is intolerable.
As we have pointed out several times the basic services in this community are shabby and unprofessional. We must demand a higher standard, this is intolerable. Several local politicians made big noise about the Greening of Estes Park, where are they now, the publics health is in danger.
That’s thousands of gallons of raw sewage plopped directly into the receiving waters of the big Thompson, why is this going on?
The powers that be haven’t even bothered to publish excuses in the local happy rag.
We are pushing this issue with the State Health Department directly. The stink from the facility below the Olympic dam is intolerable.
As we have pointed out several times the basic services in this community are shabby and unprofessional. We must demand a higher standard, this is intolerable. Several local politicians made big noise about the Greening of Estes Park, where are they now, the publics health is in danger.