We all see things through the lens of our personal experiences, as adjusted to fit our ‘job description’… and whatever approval we might seek from our friends and colleagues.
And we all set our priorities. No one can do everything. We don’t have the time, nor the money. What’s most important? That varies from person to person. And from organization to organization.
The Archuleta Board of County Commissioners held two public meetings on Tuesday, July 17 — one, a work session, and one, a regular meeting where final decisions were voted upon. This article series focuses on one particular discussion that took place at the morning work session — about the proposal to increase the community’s sales tax to allow the County government to permanently abandon its existing jail facility… (to be used someday for something else, we presume.)
But first we can touch very briefly on a few actual decisions that were reached by the BOCC on Tuesday. These other decisions were covered pretty efficiently in the weekly Pagosa Springs SUN yesterday morning.
Here we find four front page articles about our Archuleta County government, written by SUN reporter Avery Martinez.
1. The appointment of Sheriff’s Deputy Brandon Bishop to fill the vacant County Coroner position. (Mr. Bishop says he will resign from the Sheriff’s Office to assume this new job — a good, ethical decision.)
2. The settlement of the County’s lawsuit with Hart Construction over a roof leak in April 2015 that temporarily flooded the old County jail. (Outgoing County Attorney Todd Starr called the $450,000 agreement “a pretty darn good settlement for the County.”)
3. The BOCC’s decision to downgrade County fire restrictions from ‘Stage 2’ down to ‘Stage 1.’ (Certain types of open fires are still prohibited.)
4. A contract award for some paving on Piedra Road.
The BOCC discussed many other items on Tuesday, about which the SUN has not yet reported.
We all have to set priorities — even the objective, unbiased media.
The SUN did not report, for example, on the approval of new County regulations that will allow residents and visitors to ride Off Highway Vehicles (OHVs) on a few County roads, including all of the roads in the Aspen Springs subdivision, and all of the roads in the Loma Linda subdivision. The new rules also establish some new requirements, such as registration of the vehicle with Colorado Parks & Wildlife and the requirement that drivers must have a valid drivers license and be 16 or older. (You can download the new regulations here.)
You can click the map above, to view a larger version.
My personal priority, as a media reporter and columnist, currently relates to the discussion that took place Tuesday morning at the BOCC work session, when the ‘Citizens for a New Jail’ committee explained their frustrations and requirements to the elected County Commissioners.
As we mentioned yesterday in Part One, the three commissioners have never officially voted to place a sales tax increase (or other type of debt financing model) on the November ballot. The three commissioners have never officially voted on the size or design of the proposed jail, even though they’ve suggested that the design is similar to what was rejected by the voters last November. The three commissioners have never officially voted on the size of the tax increase, or which type of tax should be increased, although they’ve hinted at a sales tax increase in the neighborhood of 1 percent.
Because the BOCC has never officially decided any of these important issues, the commissioners apparently believe that they can therefore donate taxpayer revenues to a campaign committee that they officially appointed, and that the committee they appointed can then spend those taxpayer revenues to convince the voters to approve whatever tax increase and jail design the BOCC officially decides upon.
Here’s part of the Tuesday morning discussion between ‘Citizens for a New Jail’ representative Richard Vihel and the three County commissioners.
Mr. Vihel:
“The next thing that we would need is related to the campaign funds. The [BOCC] has previously indicated you’re willing to allocate $5,000. We just want to confirm that that’s… that that can be done. We would like a formal authorization of that, so that there’s no question that those funds are available, and we would like some accounting system set up so the funds can be tracked.”
County Attorney Todd Starr addressed the next comments to County Administrator Bentley Henderson:
“I just occurred to me, Bentley. You can spend $5,000 in your sleep. Why can’t you just write [the ‘Citizens for a New Jail’ committee] a letter, that as County Administrator and pursuant to the authority that has been invested in you by the BOCC, that you’ve set aside $5,000 for the campaign purposes, or for their purposes, provided that it all must be spent… er… that we comply with the law… and then they will have that letter.
“And then Larry is going to be accounting for this, under a separate code anyway…”
Commissioner Steve Wadley:
“The Board doesn’t have to take official action. Bentley has spending authority up to $50,000.”
Adoministrator Bentley Henderson:
“And what Todd is explaining, is that it’s really easy, Richard. All we do is add a three digit code onto an invoice that comes in, and it goes specifically to that use.”
Translation: It’s a violation of Colorado law for a Board of County Commissioners to spend taxpayer money to support a tax increase proposal they’ve officially placed on the ballot. The Archuleta BOCC intends to put a tax increase proposal on the ballot, but they’ve not officially voted to do so. Yet.
The BOCC want to spend taxpayer money on their own campaign, via the officially appointed ‘Citizens for a New Jail’ committee… and the County Attorney is proposing that those expenditures should be facilitated by two County employees — Administrator Bentley Henderson and Finance Director Larry Walton — who are earning taxpayer-funded salaries and benefits.
The County Attorney is suggesting that this process “complies with the law.”
It’s really easy, Richard.
If our Daily Post readers feel (as I do) that the BOCC is acting unethically by dedicating — in July — taxpayer funds to promote only one side of a County tax increase proposal that will appear on the November ballot, I encourage you to let your commissioners know of your displeasure.
