Photo: Town Council member Leonard Martinez — center — brings up a concerning issue at the conclusion of the Tuesday, February 25 joint meeting between the Archuleta Board of County Commissioners and the Pagosa Springs Town Council.
Leonard Martinez grew up in Pagosa Springs and attended high school here, then moved away to attend the university, and went on to pursue an impressive professional career elsewhere. Upon his retirement, he returned to Pagosa and now lives in the house his grandfather built.
Based on those experiences, he has perhaps a unique view of Pagosa and its history, and the possibilities for its future.
He was appointed to the Pagosa Springs Town Council a couple of years ago when a Council seat became vacant, which is how he came to be sitting at the work table on Tuesday evening, with the rest of the Council and across from our three County Commissioners, during a two-hour work session.
On the agenda were a number of important issues that the Town government and the County government have been attempting to address, separately or together. The theme of the meeting seemed to be, “We will accomplish more if we work together.”
Easier said than done, sometimes.
I. US Hwy 160 Construction
II. Housing Needs Assessment Update
III. Pagosa Area Recreation Coalition Update
IV. Potholes at City Market Center
V. Other Items of Mutual Interest
I will be providing a summary of some of the other issues discussed at the Tuesday meeting, later on. But while we’re on the subject of ‘Economic Development’… I’d like to share a few comments made by Council member Martinez at the conclusion of the meeting, when BOCC Chair Veronica Medina asked if anyone wanted to bring up “other ideas of mutual interest.”
Council member Martinez began by explaining that he’s a participant in the ‘Master Plan Advisory Committee’ (MPAC) process, organized by the Archuleta School District. The committee’s charge is to deliver recommendations to the School Board, related to the creation of a new Facilities Master Plan. The MPAC discussions, thus far, have focused mainly on the condition of Pagosa Springs Elementary School and Pagosa Springs Middle School. Both schools could use some TLC. Or maybe, total replacement?
Should these buildings be abandoned and replaced with new buildings, within the next few years? Or should they instead be thoroughly repaired and upgraded?
It would appear that either course of action will require an amount of money the School District does not currently have. Is the community willing to increase their property taxes?
Disclosure: I also serve as a volunteer on the MPAC.
Mr. Martinez:
“We’re sitting here in the county with 14,000 people. The median income is $54,000 a year. The ‘Livable Wage’ index for Archuleta County is $92,000 for a family of four. [The School District] is putting in place plans to have this done within four years. And my concern is — with an economy that’s based on tourism — I don’t think we have the right [economic] base to be dealing with the kinds of questions they’re looking at.
“So, it occurs to me, the thing we need to look at is diversifying the incomes and have some way to fund some of these things. So, today I’m just saying, ‘Hey listen, the numbers don’t feel right, here.’ But it is something that is basically really important to us. The only thing I could say about last night’s [MPAC meeting] is: whatever we do for the school, they need to be part of helping us diversify our economy. Because, how else are we going to pay for this thing?
“I don’t think the tourism industry can do it.”
“So, just a heads-up…”
Of course, Council member Martinez was sitting across the table from three commissioners who are planning to build a multi-million-dollar administration building, for which they don’t currently have the money.
What tax burdens do we want to put on working families and individuals, in a community where many of the jobs are low-wage tourist industry jobs?
What tax burdens do we want to put on our tourists?
And if we are looking at tax-funded facilities funded by 30-year bonds or 30-year tax subsidies, what burdens do we want to put on our grandchildren?
Following the issue posed to the joint Town-County meeting by Mr. Martinez, some of the other elected officials offered related suggestions. Here’s County Commissioner John Ranson, suggesting that the Town and County need to do a better job of subsidizing development.
“We’ve got to start investing in this community. This idea that development has to pay their own way is just not going to work.
“They’re talking about a $3 million substation to develop the property on South pagosa Boulevard. The developer can’t make that pencil. The County is right now talking about investing in Cloman Park, to get three-phase electric out there. You can’t expect a business owner to spend $400,000 to get three phase electric.
“We’ve got to step up and make those investments, because we will get the money back. We’ll get jobs, we’ll get money back in property taxes.
“We’ve got to stop this policy of telling developers they have to pay for all the growth…”
Mr. Ranson’s comments might seem to be at odds with what Council member Martinez was talking about. As I understood Mr. Martinez, he was suggesting that our low-wage community — the workers working in the tourism industry rather than in government — cannot afford to fund the investments that our local governments seemingly want to make.
Mr. Ranson seemed to be suggesting just the opposite: that our local governments need to spend even more tax money subsidizing private development.
But in a sense, they were both saying essentially the same thing, coming from slightly different angles. Both feel that ‘economic development’… whether coming from better education and, from that, more job diversity… or from installing three-phase electricity in Cloman Park… can lead the community towards more affluence.
In my view, ‘Economic Development’ in Pagosa has been a double-edged sword. As with the U.S. as a whole, the increased affluence in Pagosa Springs has skewed towards those who were already well-off. Meanwhile, it has become ever harder for employers to find willing, qualified workers.
Some preliminary data from the ongoing ‘Housing Needs Assessment’ for Archuleta County:
Are we headed in the wrong direction?
Read Part Six, tomorrow…