EDITORIAL: A Lack of Shared Love at the ACRW Luncheon, Part Five

Read Part One

The Archuleta Board of County Commissioners took the first official step in ignoring the will of the voters, at their regular meeting yesterday, when they approved a contract to purchase a five-acre parcel in Harman Park for $45,000. The plan for a new 54-bed jail on the property is still fairly vague, but it promises to be expensive for the county’s taxpayers.

The other day, Daily Post contributor Cynda Green was listening to FOX News commentator Neil Cavuto, and was impressed with how well Mr. Cavuto’s commentary aligned with what we seem to be experiencing here locally with our Archuleta BOCC: a seemingly unbridled urge to place the taxpayers ever deeper into debt.

Ms. Green began writing an op-ed piece for the Daily Post:

Managing Business Editor Neil Cavuto is the one guy I listen to — and pay attention to — on FOX News. Doing so in 2008 saved me thousands of dollars when I got out of the stock market just prior to the crash. He’s savvy-smart, and has a self-deprecating sense of humor that makes me laugh out loud — and makes his financial show palatable.

I happened to listen to Cavuto’s January 2 ‘Common Sense’ segment, ‘No math, no reason, no logic in Dem and GOP spending’, and it reminded me of what the Archuleta County Commissioners have planned for us, regarding a new county jail. Debt that the taxpayers never approved, to the tune of $857,000 per year for 20 years.

FOX News commentator Neil Cavuto.

Here’s an excerpt from Mr. Cavuto’s segment. (You can watch the whole segment here, online.)

[GOP and Dem] goals might be different, but not the math they share to get them. Which is to say no math. No reason, no logic, and now no hope. Both parties share a desire to spend money we do not have.

But here’s what really is the problem. Neither party cares, and they both conclude that you don’t care either. That’s why they keep doing it. What else could explain Democrats tripping over each other promising everything free college for all, free government checks for life… or Republicans pushing money for defense because they say our security is at risk, while they dig a financial hole deeper that puts, well, everyone’s security at even greater risk.

Priorities are one thing. Refusing to think how you’ll pay for those priorities, that is quite another. No one really cares any more. That’s the problem.

Ms. Green imagined that her op-ed would juxtapose Mr. Cavuto’s January 2 commentary with the presentation by County Commissioner Ronnie Maez at the Archuleta County Republican Women’s luncheon on January 8. It’s pretty obvious, to some of us, that our local BOCC is currently exhibiting the same attitude towards the taxpayers as the Democratic and Republican leaders in Washington.

Spend, and keep on spending. Who really cares?

Ms. Green and I had attended the ACRW luncheon together, and I made an audio recording of Commissioner Maez, and Sheriff Valdez, and the audience. Ms. Green made the mistake of listening back to the ACRW recording while working on her article. She ended up so upset by what she heard (the second time around) that she felt unable to continue writing her op-ed.

So it’s left to me to share a few quotes from Mr. Cavuto, and from Mr. Maez.

Neil Cavuto:

Spending is sexy… and vision is just another word for ‘put it on my tab…’ My friends, [debt] is the real wall. But good luck finding any politician willing to climb it, or even acknowledge it.

If you really want to stand out today as a politician, you have to separate yourself from a crowded field when it comes to spenders in both parties… I’m betting such moxie will actually help you. You’ll stand out saying that the buck stops here, and so does the bull. That logic matters. That honesty matters. Math matters.

And concern for generations to come — that matters more than anything. Spending only what you have, matters. Setting your priorities and how you pay for those priorities, matters. What is sad is that politicians refuse to level with us. Because it’s not on them — it’s on us. They’re not paying for those promises. We are.

Commissioner Ronnie Maez:

“And me, myself — speaking for myself — I don’t think there’s an answer for us to delay this any longer. I’d like to see our County move forward, and see us move toward a Certificate of Participation… and we’re looking at the documents and deciding what is going to be the best and the right and most safest financial avenue that we can take.”

The best avenue for putting the taxpayers $17 million in debt, for 20 years, with no dedicated funding stream to repay the debt.

County Commissioner Ronnie Maez, speaking at the Archuleta County Republican Women luncheon, January 8, 2019.

Commissioner Maez:

“I’m sticking with what we’ve been advised to do. And it’s going to be a debt that we’re going to have to incur, for a long time. Other suggestions are that there are ways that we can cash-flow this [jail project.] And I don’t see that there’s any way to do that…

“What I want for us to do is find the right Certificate of Participation… I don’t think we have another choice.”

Actually, the BOCC has a wonderful array of choices. All of the choices have their advantages and disadvantages, and some of the choices would likely avoid debt altogether.

At the BOCC’s regular meeting yesterday, local activist Rob Keating addressed the Commissioners during public comment:

“You’re planning to fund this project by borrowing money — a Certificate of Participation with a yearly expense in excess of $850,000 for 20 years.”

Mr. Keating shared a quote from one of our Founding Fathers, Thomas Jefferson.

“…To preserve our independence, we must not allow our rulers to load us down with perpetual debt. I am for a government rigorously frugal, and simple.”

Mr. Keating told the BOCC their jail plan was unethical and undemocratic. “Putting the people of Archuleta County in debt for 20 years is very short-sighted, considering all the other needs we have that are in the very near future… You have told us, for two years, that the current facility that you have in front of us is the only thing you can settle for. I say: rubbish. There are other alternatives, and they must be investigated. The possibilities are almost endless…

“Don’t follow our Washington DC leaders who stand so set and firm, that they continue to push us down the rabbit hole.”

Bill Hudson

Bill Hudson

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.