Recall accusations false
To the editor: Unfortunately in the State of Colorado, a recall petition does not have to adhere to any standards and is not subject to review. Accusations do not have to be truthful, according to CRS 1-12-103.
1. (a) Violating open meetings laws per Title 24-6-402, 2b - At no time have ever more than two board members met to discuss anything; I am well aware of the laws regarding open meetings. After the board had voted to fire Mr. Saling, Chairman Hren asked if anyone in the audience had a comment. No one chose to do so. This accusation is not true.
(b) Attempt to transfer Pueblo West Metro District funds without meeting of the district board. The only two people who, for years have made investment decisions without informing the board or asking for approval, were the former district manager and the finance director. Once I discovered Resolution 1557 and re-read Article VI of the by-laws which mandate that the treasurer be involved in investment decisions and that the board members select the banks, I directed both the district manager and the finance director to bring all investment decisions to the board so decisions could and would be made in open session. The result of having the past investment decisions done without board approval is that we make twice as much money from CDs as we do from money markets, but we have twice as much money in money markets - which is why, at the last meeting, I directed our finance director to come up with a plan to increase our investment in CDs. There has been a significant amount of money lost to the district because of these past decisions. This accusation is not true.
(c) Obtaining bids for legal services without approval of the district board. The current board does have an RFP out for a board/COA attorney. On Dec. 9, 2008, at a regular board meeting, Mr. Saling said he, "thinks the district's legal counsel should also be legal counsel for COA and retain only one attorney." It took Mr. Saling from Dec. 9 to Feb. 24 to get the RFP ready. On Feb. 24, by unanimous vote, the current metro board requested an RFP be put out for an attorney to represent both COA and the metro board. The accusation is not true.
2. Amending the PWMD Service Plan to make the COA a part of the PWMD. This is true; however, the agreement the district entered into with MCO Properties in 1993 spelled out that the metro district was to be the declarant. Senate Bill 04-221 passed in 2004, mandated the metro board become the declarant if the district chose to enforce the covenants therefore making it necessary to replace Triark. Previous boards have replaced Triark with themselves and at a time when housing starts were at 500 a year. Mr. Mullans said in a memo dated March 25, 2003, that "It is also unknown weather the creation of Triark and the separation of the district from appointment would have stopped lawsuits from being filed and including the district. (After all, the district at that time, was funding the COA and had complete control of COA's purse strings)." Currently, the threat of lawsuits is much slimmer because of the few housing applications that are being submitted to COA. This accusation is not true.
3. Fiscal irresponsibility by taking away COA funds. Because of the building collapse in 2008, the current metro board had funded COA with unbudgeted money so COA could continue to function. For budget year 2009, $82,500 has been budgeted for COA. The current board has given money to COA, not taken it away. Every single board member has publicly stated that Pueblo West needs the COA. This accusation is not true.
4. Settling Wal-Mart lawsuit. In May of 2008 the current board listened to Attorney Norton of Denver on the possibilities of winning the lawsuit. he said at best we wold have a 50-50 chance of winning and the cost would be $50,000 and up, with no guarantees of winning the lawsuit. That was the motivation for settlement. On June 24, 2008, Mr. Van Auken said, "if this (lawsuit) was not settled there would be no winners and cost the district a lot of money and he is happy with the settlement and wants to move forward together with the community for a better community." Mr. Van Auken made the motion to accept the settlement and the board followed his lead with a unanimous decision. I have never been associated with PWCOG or any organization connected with the Wal-Mart issue. I have never spoken for or against the issue. This accusation is not true.
5. Conflicts of interest and general bias. What can a writer, a teacher, a retired pharmacist and a cabinet maker gain from serving on this board and just exactly who can they benefit. if you look at the recall committee, it is almost exclusively developers and realtors, all of whom could directly benefit from decisions made by the district manager, the metro board or the COA.
6. Continually violating laws - This charge is simply unsubstantiated innuendo. Rumor and innuendo are used when there is an intent to deceive the public because there is a lack of factual information. this accusation is not true.
One wonders why this recall was really started - since none of the issues in the petition are true. This recall can cost up to $100,000, according to the county clerk. Next year in May a general election will be held. There will be three board vacancies. That could be another $100,000. What a waste of taxpayer dollars since none of the allegations in the recall petition are true.
William Vickers
Metro board director
Civility sadly lacking
To the editor:
Civility, Please!
The manner in which the four Metro Board members dismissed Mr. Saling was unkind and uncivilized. Their behavior showed no respect nor savoir vivreÊandÊnow a whiff of underhandedness hangs in the air. Is this the Wild West or Pueblo West?
I want a class act leading my community. There are tacky ways to achieve results and then there are civilized ways. Please let civility be the guideline for Pueblo West!
Marilyn Lyman
Pueblo West
We need better leaders
To the editor:
The PW Metro board meeting April 14 was another validation of the concerns I have with our current board members.
The board denied Mr. McDowell’s request to release the right of reverter on his property due to the economy. The board stated they did not want to set a precedence. However, at the board meeting on August 25, 2008, when Mr. Shreder made a similar request to remove the reversionary clause on his two lots due to the economy, the board voted unanimously (Resolution No. 1801) to release the right of reverter for him. So much for not wanting to set precedence.
Then there was the discussion related to the budgeted cost of living adjustment for the district employees. The finance director provided information related to the budget and explained that city and county employees received raises this year. Unfortunately, this subject was again pushed to the next meeting. I find it interesting that when the meeting proceeded with requests for vehicles and various equipment the consistent answer from the board was, “It’s in the budget, so proceed." Why do the board members put more value on the budgeted trucks and equipment then they do on the employees that drive and operate them? If the cost of living adjustment is in the budget then why are the employees still without it?
Unfortunately for the board, our community has much better recall skills. The board’s actions, or lack of action, have not gone unnoticed. We need to elect better representatives for our community.
Tamala Sammons
Pueblo West
Metro board doing good job
To the editor:
Occasionally The Pueblo Chieftain is a source for some really good journalism. Case in point: Juan Espinosa’s article on April 11 titled “What a Concept: More with less." The gist of the article has to do with Pueblo’s inability to decide what form of government will work for it, either politically or financially. Government costs. It is paid for in time and money. If not enough time is invested it costs the taxpayers by allowing important issues to slide into oblivion. If not enough money is invested, the same thing happens. He says near the end of the article, “Taxpayers elect public officials to do a job. When they are elected, public officials should roll up their sleeves and do the job, rather than delegate that to professional managers. Maybe the solution is to elect managers rather than politicians.”
We have elected five gentlemen to oversee the management of our district. They aren’t politicians looking to further their careers politically. They did what they were elected to do. They rolled up their sleeves. They asked some pretty tough and detailed questions and expected truthful and complete answers. Unfortunately those truthful and complete answers were not forthcoming and to do the jobs they were elected to do they took the only alternative offered to them. They chose to create a new pathway. Our community will be better off because of the decision they made. Already we are learning from Mr. Harrison that it’s possible from Day 1 we were misled by Colorado Springs Utilities about how much we, the taxpayers, will be impacted financially by the SDS plan that was being pushed since 2004 by our former district manager. It wasn’t our fine board members who allowed this plan to be rubber stamped. It was former board members who said, “Whatever you want Mr. District Manager.” This board has stood firm, asked unpopular questions and started a controversy that hasn’t polarized our community so much since the violations of the open meetings law that began in 2004. Isn’t that strange, the negotiations for the SDS and the Wal-Mart distribution center all beginning in 2004?
And ... these fine Board Members weren’t involved in either one.
Mr. Hren, you stated in a Chieftain article on Monday that you didn’t want to be micromanagers, but that’s exactly what we elected all of you to do. We needed you to protect our interests and our tax money from people who would spend first and ask questions later. Thank you, all of you, for your questions, your investments of time and energy and for being more community minded than political.
Linda Freeman
Pueblo West
Triark, COA need fixing
To the editor: I would like to respond to a comment made by Ms. Linda Lowry in Monday's edition of The Pueblo Chieftain. Ms. Lowry, spokesperson for the recall committee, said "the metro board also has placed people on the COA that in the past had been removed form it."
One new member of COA was indeed fired by Triark after not supporting a sign variance request. A member of Triark, who was a developer, had a lucrative direct financial interest in the passage of that sign variance and wanted it approved. To that end, Triark delayed its reappointment schedule to ensure a favorable majority would still be in place for the vote. The variance passed without this COA member's vote. The COA member then had the temerity to suggest that perhaps a "conflict of interest" policy might be adopted by Triark. He was then fired by Triark.
This is not an isolated instance but typical of most Triark behavior over the years up to and including the most recent Triark board. Apparently the recall committee still wants COA to consist only of residents who are "pro development" at any cost, rather than citizens who have the courage and integrity to actually want to protect the homeowners and the general public, and who will make sure that all developers are treated equally.
The change in putting COA under the direction of the district manager and the metro board will bring openness and accountability too long missing in both Triark and the COA board.
One last comment: the recall committee is made up almost exclusively of developers and realtors - all of whom can directly financially benefit from decisions made by the district manager, the metro board and COA - so who really is guilty of special interests here?
Sharon Hill
Pueblo West
Legislators used deception
To the editor: The most heinous act by the Colorado State Legislature in many years has been rammed through. SB108 nearly triples car registration fees on 1 million owners of less-than-new cars and adds $41 to all car registrations (more for heavier vehicles). This happens over adding $3 a few years ago, so what will happen now? That extra $3 went to license bureaus, not road safety, which is the present excuse.
SB108 had publicity but moved too fast to stop. It used deception to avoid legislator scrutiny, hid the big dollars deep inside, and did not name all relevant committees. During critical months "our" Sen. Able Tapia was unreachable and unresponsive. Non-representative McFadyen, who has never served Pueblo West or citizen interests, was a key committee chair and is said to never respond to calls and mail. Sponsors of SB108 promised to respond on answering machines but did not, and same for the leadership. The House was absent in final days and stopped letting 800-number phone calls reach legislators thereafter.
Thus, no key legislators could learn of many defects in this way of doing things, nor of other revenue approaches. They failed to notice severe recession when many people with precarious or no jobs, or with fixed income, cannot absorb any tax or fee increases. They hoped to get away with evading laws on tax increases. They did not look first at prices they pay for road and bridge work and ask this rich industry to accept less money as is occurring in other states. They pushed SB108 as a "jobs program," whereby the working poor and retired are forced to support contractors. They were oblivious of daily news that $400 million-plus was coming to Colorado for this very purpose, and billions more to "stimulate" state government and economy. (None landed in the Pueblo area).
Much more unfairness occurred: Cars at home damage no roads. Small cars do negligible damage compared to big trucks, which do thousands times more yet pay only $71 more. Many vehicles are stored or used little. Typical legislator inconsideration of people's lives puts the burden on everyone equally, as if that were ethical.
Hidden in SB108 are plans to devise a tracking system for car-use to tax by the mile. This might be good for low-users, but letting government have a new way to track what people do is very worrisome. Legislators quietly joined a move by other states to institute this form of taxing and to pressure carmakers to put transponders in cars. Many citizens believe in paying for what one uses, but small efficient cars (which should be encouraged) do negligible damage, and big trucks already keep logs of travel. SB108 also takes much more money than the taxes per mile considered in other states would, on average.
Pushers of huge car fees blame TABOR as usual, but ways exist to fix the fuel tax problem, and the hit on drivers would be much less than these fees. Legislators did not answer phones and mail to get citizen help and so risk big political repercussions. Note that proponents are largely immune from being voted out, which one might call cowardice. Citizens will not put with fees for everything creeping into everything forever.
Citizen action to fix or repeal SB108 can occur, but massive help is needed. This, and unelecting legislators, are places to direct that Pueblo West recall furor, not at our local board, which cares deeply about our future and about solving present problems sensibly.
John H. Mauldin
Pueblo West
Board has done lot of damage
To the editor: I attended the April 14 Pueblo West Metro District board meeting when the four board members spoke from their bully pulpits and defended themselves concerning the recall effort. The citizens in attendance were treated to everything from quiet denials to whining and included our board president losing control and shouting at the audience to grow up!
This last exhortation is in line with his March 3, 2008, comment: "There seems to exist some sort of psychological dysfunction among the residents of our community with regard to the relative importance of exercising their civic responsibility."
I think I got it! Mr. Hren doesn't like our citizens very much. I have lived and worked in this community for 30 years, and to my knowledge there has never been an effort to unseat any board member until now. I think these directors are worthy of recall effort. We can't afford to wait until the next election to vote these people out of office as one board member suggested. They have already done too much damage.
Dennis Holmgren
Pueblo West
Unhappy few forcing recall
To the editor: A recent letter from one of the supporters of the recall effort said that these new Board members had been elected in a low turnout election. The facts are that in May 2004, 680 voters elected the board that preceded all of the current members except John Van Auken. In May 2006, 771 voters elected Jeff Sloan and Stan Hren and in May 2008, 1,086 voters, the highest turnout ever in Pueblo West, elected the newest members of the board, Bill Vickers and Steve Abel. In political terms, the message was clear; the majority of Pueblo West voters wanted a change. The "voice of Pueblo West" has spoken already. I would guess that the 300-400 signers of the recall petition did not vote for these new members. And now, unhappy with the changes the new board is making, these unhappy few are forcing a recall vote. Now, there will be a waste of taxpaying voters' money and time to once again make it clear that a change was needed.
Ann Ladd
Pueblo West
Recall effort is unjustified
To the editor: It is time that the citizens of the Pueblo West Community understand what this recall process is about. Sure there is a time and place for recall elections. That time and place occurs when an elected individual or group of individuals is conducting public business in a manner that is illegal, unethical or immoral. The recall process was never intended to be a process whereby any particular group of people can thwart the normal election process by recalling elected officials until they get the ones that will best serve their personal wants and wishes.
The fact there is a group that is currently protesting the dismissal action by attempts to recall the Pueblo West Metro Board is of significant concern to me. For many years, the metro was run by a group of people that were close friends of and appeared to operate exclusively in favor of a select group of local individuals, several of which are participating in the recall attempt. Over the last two elections, the general population let it be known that they had enough of the favoritism and under-handed dealings.
While the "recall committee" has claimed numerous grievances against the current board, none of the grievances have been substantiated. Because the committee has chosen to initiate recall against only four of the five members, the four that voted to dismiss Mr. Saling, it is obvious that their grievance is focused on said dismissal. This board of directors has the right to hire and fire management that will work with them to achieve the goals that they feel will lead to successful completion of the goals they have established for the community, just like the previous boards had that right.
This action is completely out of line and should be opposed at every step. This is America!! And this is the Democratic Process by which we choose to run our nation and all governmental functions. It is called an election process and "to the winners go the spoils" as the saying goes. We, that is we the people of Pueblo West, elected a group of people to run this community for a stated period of time. These individuals deserve the right and respect of being allowed to perform those duties to the best of their abilities for that entire period. Anything less is a display of disrespect for these elected individuals, for the election process, as well as for the people that elected them. To those initiating the petition, I ask you - what makes you think your position is more important, more correct or even more acceptable than my position or anyone elseâs. Why do you thing it should be your way all the time? Perhaps we all might gain a little benefit by allowing others some room to succeed. Or to fail!
These unjustified recall drives are slowly but surely driving qualified participants from our public system. The election process is horrible in terms of demands of time, financial costs and blows to ego, self worth and personal insult.
Why would any one want to take on a job under threat of having to go through that process every time a group of cry babies decided things just didn'tât go their way. Especially in a volunteer unpaid position. And this does not even address the issues of cost to the community to process a recall....the cost in terms of money, lost focus, and loss of community.
No one will win with a recall election. It is time to stand back and allow our elected board to perform the duties with which they have been entrusted. The money and energy is direly needed elsewhere in our community.
Edward E. Lumpee
Pueblo West
Realtors wrong on golf course
To the editor:
Unlike the realtors who wrote to the View about Desert Hawk Golf Course, I prefer to tell the entire truth. First let me assert that Desert Hawk Golf Course is going to be in Pueblo West for many years. Suggesting anything else is ludicrous.
The realtors took one sentence from my blog that was written early in 2008. What they neglected to say is that I have always maintained that a golf course enhances the appeal of most major communities, increases residential property values, and attracts visitors from outside the community.
I recognized that Desert Hawk would have to increase the number of rounds played if it were ever to become a viable business; therefore, as a current member of the Desert Hawk Board, I have encouraged the management of Desert Hawk to intensify their marketing efforts and to improve their web page. Hopefully, these efforts will continual to improve each year.
Last year, for the first time, Desert Hawk Golf Course had the highest number of rounds played in Pueblo County. Marketing efforts and an excellently groomed golf course are showing Colorado that Desert Hawk is not only a fun, but challenging course to play. We now know that once the debt is paid, that Desert Hawk can indeed be a viable business.
Today, April 16,2009, I met with the county to finalize plans to totally reconstruct the entrance road and associated drainage structures at Desert Hawk. This is hardly something that I would encourage if I did not recognize that Desert Hawk was an integral part of Pueblo West. Several years ago the board promised the community that the golf course entrance would be improved. It took this board to get the job done.
Several items that people may not know about the golf course: Junior golfers are always welcome at Desert Hawk and many youth tournaments are played here. Both the high school girls and boys teams use the course for their practice and to host their home tournament. We host many tournaments at Desert Hawk that draw people from the City of Pueblo as well as surrounding areas. Desert Hawk is always open to hosting any type of charity tournament. Classes are given to the Pueblo West women; couples evening golf is encouraged; and new programs are tried as the public requests them. As our community grows, there are more people of all ages who are using the golf course, again helping the golf course to become a viable and profitable business.
I do believe that Pueblo West needs amenities to attract business, homemowners, and visitors to our area. Once people have visited Pueblo West and sampled what we have to offer, they may well decide to move here so they also can enjoy clear skies, beautiful sunsets, recreation, and a wonderful place to raise families or to retire. The community can rest assured that Desert Hawk Golf Course will always be a part of Pueblo West.
Stan Hren
Metro board chairman
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