In Part One, yesterday, we heard from local activist Jane Davison, and from Archuleta County Commissioner Warren Brown, at a public meeting held at the Sisson Library last week.
The topic: gasoline prices in Pagosa Springs, which have consistently been higher than in surrounding communities.
Price gouging?
During her slide show presentation, Ms. Davison suggested that, as of November 29, a vehicle with an average 13-gallon tank was paying $8.32 more in Pagosa, per fill-up, than in nearby Durango… and almost $11.00 more than in Chama, NM, just over the border.
Commissioner Brown had related a couple of his conversations with Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser, and his conclusion that the Archuleta County government is limited in its legal ability to address the issue.
But can the community itself address the issue?
Commissioner Brown related another conversation he’d had with Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser at a recent conference:
“He asked if we had any questions… and I raised my hand and said, ‘It’s me again.’
“And I told him that I’d had the opportunity to speak with one of the managers of what I believe to be the largest fuel outlet in Pagosa Springs. And the manager said, ‘Well, yeah, we do a price survey every day. We don’t want to be the highest and we don’t want to be the lowest.” They were very honest, very open. And the reason I topped by there was to say, ‘Look, there may be some impending bad press coming to you, to your business. Why don’t we just work together and avoid that?’ Because I don’t think anybody is opposed to paying a fair price, but we’re not happy about being singled out as the second highest gas prices in the state of Colorado — second only to Pitkin County, which is Aspen.
“And I said, ‘If you look at the median income, we’re $50,000 below Aspen…’ ”
(Actually, according to the Colorado Housing and Finance Authority, the median income limit for a two-person household in Archuleta County is $69,600… and $91,000 in Pitkin County. Not as big a disparity as one might expect…)
Commissioner Brown:
“The Attorney General said, “Okay, I hear you. I’d like you to contact my rep, and I ask that you provide the documentation that is being produced.’ So Jane has agreed to allow me to access this information, to send it to AG Weiser’s office, and to have them review it.
“It’s always easy to get angry and point the finger an say, ‘It’s this’ or ‘It’s that’. I know the nuances of the law; it’s not generally that straight forward… but it sure sounds to me — not as an attorney, because I’m not an attorney, thank God — it sounds to me like this meets the elements of anti-trust. But I don’t know…
“My wish is not to get these business owners in a bind… but just, be fair.”
He addressed the small audience in the room.
“You have the ability to change these things. And you are.”
One of the audience members:
“We’re locals. They should take care of the locals… The local live here year round. Why punish us? Help us out a little bit. There’s so many people below the poverty line. There’s so many people who use their vehicles to haul water. To get firewood. We’re one of them…”
But what can a rural community do?
Jane Davison:
“One of the things we can do is develop a petition. I’ve looked at a couple of different online sites, where I can publish a petition and get it out to everyone. I think what we need to get, on that petition — and Warren, help me here; I don’t know if you’ve ever had petitions be submitted to the County — but I suspect we need their name, their mailing address, their email address, and then I think we’d want to ask a couple of questions. ‘Where do you buy gas?’ and ‘What factors play into where you buy gas?’ What’s driving their decision to purchase gas at a specific place?”
Ms. Davison imagined the petition being sent to the Attorney General.
Some additional actions that could be taken by a group of citizens concerned about gas prices, per Ms. Davison:
- A letter submitted to gas station owners or managers.
- Creation of a website.
- Formation of a team to track which gas stations have the lowest prices.
- A citizens’ appeal to the Colorado Attorney General.
- Articles published in local media outlets.
- Schedule future citizen meetings.
And, as mentioned, a ‘petition’. Ms. Davison suggested the petition might be submitted to the County. But is that the best choice?
Petitions come in various flavors. Many are legal documents that require a certain number of voter signatures and, with those signatures in place, require a state or local government to place specific options before the voters at an upcoming election.
I can’t say I’ve ever heard of a local group sending a petition to the Attorney General.
A very different flavor of petition is simply a public statement by the signers, with no clear legal effect, but merely a reflection of public sentiments. Should it then be presented to the Board of County Commissioners… who would forward it to the AG’s office?…
…or perhaps, the recipients of the petition should be the owners of our local gas stations?
Since Commissioner Brown had given us the impression that Archuleta County has limited legal authority to challenge gasoline pricing, perhaps a petition submitted to gas station owners would be the most effective choice… attached to the letter recommended by Ms. Davison?
The group is planning to hold another meeting at the Sisson Library on January 18 at noon. The public is invited.
Bill Hudson began sharing his opinions in the Pagosa Daily Post in 2004 and can’t seem to break the habit. He claims that, in Pagosa Springs, opinions are like pickup trucks: everybody has one.