Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Looking for a Few Good….

....Men....er….People.

The Pueblo Area Council Of Government (PACOG) Environmental Policy Advisory Committee (EPAC) is looking for five people to join the committee.

Here is the advertisement that appeared recently in the Pueblo Chieftain…

ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY ADVISORY COMMITTEE

PUBLIC NOTICE

The Pueblo Area Council of Governments (PACOG) is seeking applications from Pueblo County residents (i.e., City of Pueblo or the unincorporated area of Pueblo County) interested in serving on its Environmental Policy Advisory Committee (EPAC). EPAC is a twelve-member advisory group which may advise PACOG regarding environmental issues, including air quality, water quality, noise abatement, solid waste, and hazardous waste. EPAC meets on the 1st Thursday of each month at 5:15 p.m.

Members are appointed by PACOG to serve three-year terms, and reflect a balance of interests in the Pueblo area. EPAC consists of substantially equivalent proportions from the following four groups:

• Public Interest—Any member of a nonprofit organization which reflects a general, civic, social, recreational, environmental, or public health perspective in the Pueblo region, and which group does not directly reflect the economic interests of its membership. Excluded from membership in this category shall be any member eligible for the economic interest or public official category.

• Organizations with Substantial Economic Interest—Any person and/or company who is likely to incur financial gain or loss greater than that of an average homeowner, taxpayer, or consumer as a result of any action likely to be taken by PACOG. Included in, but not limited to, this group shall be: representatives of companies inspected by the City-County Health Department for possible pollution; farmers and/or representatives of ditch companies; persons involved in supplying for profit recreation programs or equipment; large water consumers; manufacturers; commercial establishments; and nongovernmental professional with substantial economic interest.

• Public Officials—Any office holder who has been selected by a vote of the residents, any commission or agency member who has been appointed by a group of elected officials, and any employee of local, State, or Federal government.

• Private Citizens—Those persons who are not eligible for any other category. In addition, no person may be included in this category that is likely to incur a financial gain or loss greater than that of an average homeowner, taxpayer, or consumer as a result of any action likely to be taken by PACOG.

At this particular time, applications are being requested for persons to serve from the Organizations with Substantial Economic Interest and Public Officials groups. If you are interested in applying for appointment, you may secure an application form from the Pueblo County Department of Planning and Development, 229 West 12th Street, Pueblo, CO 81003 or telephone 583-6100. The deadline for receipt of applications is November 20, 2009 by 5:00 p.m.

If you have a heart for Pueblo and improving the quality of life therein, seriously consider (1) applying yourself or (2) passing this information on to someone you think would serve us all well.

Here is the APPLICATION for you to download, fill out and submit by COB (5 pm) 20 November 2009, to the Pueblo County Department of Planning and Development.

Get in the game!

 

 

Monday, November 09, 2009

Why the ‘Y’ Isn’t Serving Pueblo

Or, the chickens ARE coming home to ‘roost’.

Another item in Saturday’s Chieftain. This one about the perception that the YMCA isn’t REALLY serving all of Pueblo as it claimed it would during the run up to the decision by the City Council to subsidize their project.

I have a simple question for the Y….

Where they say….

Terry Lockwood, president and CEO of the Y, notes that the organization provides scholarships for kids who cannot afford Y membership. No requests for scholarships have been rejected, he said, and requests for them have risen by 20 percent since the new complex opened.

....I’d like to know how many such scholarships have been issued, compared to requests and to number of under-privileged children in Pueblo that would benefit from such.

Also, I seem to recall comments that the Y would be providing bus service to facilitate children on the East side getting to their new campus. I’d like to know the status on THAT service, too.

Sunday, November 08, 2009

As If….

....I hadn’t been expecting THIS!

Our good Congressperson voted FOR this Obama-PelosiCare.

NOW….maybe just….now….

....they’ll let us READ the legislation. Considering that Pelosi broke her ‘promise’ {snicker} to let US see it 72 hours before the vote and our Congressperson’s staffers were saying we’d see the verbiage….but apparently not BEFORE the vote….

...let’s see what our Congressperson voted for. I’ll provide the text once I can find it.

UPDATE: An interesting observation on what it means.

UPDATE: And THIS probably explains why they did it at night….

....men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.—John 3:19

Wednesday, November 04, 2009

And the Decision IS…..

....NO MAYOR!!!

People in Pueblo are slow to accept change. Cautious is probably a better word for it.

And whereas the people who advocated for a ‘strong mayor’ think that it was their being out-spent by the opposition camp, I have my doubts. Rather, I think the people of Pueblo were thinking along the lines of that old proverb….

Happier with the ‘devil’ they know than with the one they don’t know.

And, as is always said, “The ‘devil’ is in the details.” And the people of Pueblo were totally unfamiliar with the details of how either a ‘strong mayor’ or a ‘weak mayor’ would work out. In the first place. The ‘strong mayor’ camp didn’t really provide evidence enough to convince the people their plan was a good one. Nor did they do a good job of countering the arguments of the ‘no mayor’ camp.

As for the ‘weak mayor’. Nobody gave that camp much opportunity to express their arguments. Especially the Pueblo Chieftain which did not include them in the debate at PCC.

There are many more reasons to why this came down the way it did. And I invite the advocates of the ‘strong mayor’ camp to express their opinions about that in the comments section of this thread. Click on the word “Comments” in the box, below.

Tuesday, November 03, 2009

Looking Into the Future

Albeit indirectly…..

Ya gotta LOVE it….

THE YEAR was 1787. The Constitutional Convention had just wrapped up in Philadelphia. Benjamin Franklin, one of the delegates, was leaving the hall when he was asked, famously, “Sir, what kind of government have you given us?” To which the wizened Franklin replied, “A republic, if you can keep it.”—Editorial in Pueblo Chieftain

Republics of the representative form are the very best we’ve experienced in all of history. All the others, including the democracies, tend to fail for one reason or another.

The article goes on to say….

Mr. Franklin knew that the few true republics in history had their day, then sank from inattention to their core values. He was telling his interlocutor it was imperative that the citizenry be responsible to keep the new republic.—Editorial in Pueblo Chieftain

Of late….actually over the last one hundred years, we’ve been rather ‘inattentive’.

Examples of this being the 17th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States which mandated the popular election of Senators to the US Congress. Therein a huge break in the voices and powers of the states was broken.

More recently, the Supreme Court rulings of Baker v. Carr (1962) and Reynolds v. Simms (1964) destroyed the balance of legislative and judicial power at the state level that we enjoy at the federal level. How so? By making the state senate nothing more than an overpaid version of the state house of representatives.

As a result of these actions, the people of the rural regions have much less authority in political activities as they had before those decisions.

The challenge for those of US who live outside of the Denver metropolitan area, which holds 17 of the 35 seats in the Colorado State Senate, is how to reverse this slide towards ‘true democracy’.

Why is that important? 

Well, if you study history, as many military officers do, you can see this trend. And if you read the writings of the Founding Fathers, you understand the truth of THIS statement….

Democracy… while it lasts is more bloody than either aristocracy or monarchy. Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There is never a democracy that did not commit suicide.—John Adams

I think the editorial in today’s Pueblo Chieftain speaks more than they realized.

Monday, November 02, 2009

Mail-In Voter Fraud, Anyone?

They’re anticipating it in New Jersey tomorrow.

Let US hope it’s not as bad here as we suspect it will be there.

Sunday, November 01, 2009

What To Do about Pueblo

Thoughts on the problems of our City.

Up front, I’m not voting for the ‘Strong Mayor’ in this Tuesday’s referendum.

I don’t think having a strong mayor will solve the current problems we experience in Pueblo.

And I commented as much in reply to a one-over-the-world e-mail from one of the advocates of such a change in our city government.

We got into a discussion in a back-and-forth exchange via e-mails. But I thought this discussion should be brought out into the open, the better to educate others on what is going wrong in our city and allow them more information with which to reach the best possible decision.

I realize that many people have made up their minds already, lacking more information, and have sent in their ‘mail-in’ ballots. But nevertheless, here is the discussion….

More...

Thoughts on Public Discussion

A Less Than Satisfactory Experience on the Web

As promised to someone in the media, here is an item on the bane of censorship on civil discourse in the media.

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Friday, October 30, 2009

Your Federal Government at ‘Work’ — 091030

If ONLY they’d come up to the third millennium.

So, yesterday, the latest version of Congress’ House of Representatives bill for health care reform hit the proverbial ‘floor’. All 1990 pages of it.

And yet, the Government Printing Office and the Library of Congress, the fine people who are supposed to provide information on what a bill looks like STILL don’t have it available for US folk here in the ‘fly-over country’.

The text of H.R.3962 has not yet been received from GPO.

This is, in my honestly held opinion, ‘stupid’. This is the 21st Century people. One HOUR after the bill hit the floor of the House of Representatives, the Library of Congress should have had it available to the Government Printing Office for the rest of US to see. And I have to wonder if these people are still using manual typewriters.

Also, for those wondering WHY I think this an issue for Pueblo….

....look around you at all the retirees living here. Myself included.

Thursday, October 29, 2009

As I Was Saying….

....about those mail-in ballots…..

....I wonder if we’ll see see this sort of thing right here in River City…..

This year, New Jersey’s registered voters can request a mail-in ballot for any reason. (Before 2005, voters needed to provide a reason for why they needed an absentee ballot.) The state received about 150,000 absentee-ballot applications this year.

On about 2,300 of those applications so far, the signature on the request form does not match the signature on the voter’s registration forms with the state.

That’s Better

The County Clerk does it better….

....than he had in the earlier instance.

I’m glad to see that ‘Bo’ has established several drop-off points where people who want to gather as much information as possible can WAIT before casting their ballots this coming Tuesday.

As I said earlier here, it’s his place to facilitate the voters. Not the other way around.

Personally, I think this ‘mail-in’ form of voting is rife with opportunities for voting fraud. There are just SO MANY WAYS one can do it using the mail. We’ve witnessed how soldiers serving outside of their registered state of residence have THEIR mail-in ballots ‘lost’ or fouled-up in some manner as to be disenfranchised. The same is true with what can happen right here in Pueblo County. And don’t get me started on the fiasco the THEN county clerk facilitated during the 2006 election. There is no legitimate reason why valid election judges and/or observers should not be allowed into counting facilities because of their political party….which is what I understand happened.

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Dining with the ‘Kids’

A great lunch and maybe a lot more.

The distaff invited me to dine with her over lunch yesterday. A place called GPA.

Not your usual diner in Pueblo. Rather, a place where people who are SERIOUS about cooking go to learn and practice the craft. Or maybe it is better described as an ‘art form’.

Good food has been a passion of mine since I came out of that ‘spa’ the Army operates, a.k.a., the Ranger Course. Nowadays, after that particular ‘diet plan’, I pay close attention to food. Maybe TOO ‘close’. But I do appreciate a great dish. And I have to tell you that these people at the Pueblo Community College Culinary program are learning a LOT of great things. Indeed, after the Steel City Diner shut down….much to my dismay….these people are close contenders for the best dining experience in town. AND THEY’RE JUST LEARNING!!!

Look at this for lunch….

And THAT’S just ‘looking’. The flavor was EXCELLENT!

And THEN….

...there was desert as well.

And that for only $5 per place setting.

Tom Rose….

....does an excellent job instructing these aspiring chefs in how to make the best impression.

I highly recommend anyone wanting a top-quality lunch to consider going to the GPA to enjoy themselves and give these students an opportunity to refine their skills in pleasing their customers.

UPDATE: GPA is open for lunch, T-F, 11:30 am to 1:00 pm and for dinner on Wednesdays at 6:00 pm, during Spring and Fall semesters. Reservations recommended for dinner. 549-3326 for reservations.

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Shut Up and ‘Soldier’

The Pueblo County Clerk is whining about his job.

The ballots have been mailed to voters . . . and Pueblo County Clerk Gilbert “Bo” Ortiz is encouraging voters to mail them back, or hand deliver them earlier than Election Day on Nov. 3.—Chieftain Article

It’s not Gilbert’s place to whine about doing his job. His place is to DO his job.

If he doesn’t like the fact that smart people hold out on voting until they’ve had all the possible information they need to make a good decision, he should drop this mail-in ballot garbage, instead of whining about the situation he established.

As one First Sergeant put it to some whining troop….

Shut up and soldier.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Recycling In Pueblo

An interesting ‘engagement’.

Yesterday, I had an interesting exchange with a lady, I’ll refer to as M———. It was over the matter of recycling in Pueblo. It may well have boiled down to a matter of misunderstanding—something all too common amongst speakers of the English language. However, it may also be something more insidious in nature. It’s hard to say….

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Monday, September 21, 2009

The Pueblo Sales Dilemma

If you want it, you can’t buy it in Pueblo.

At least that’s MY personal experience with purchasing things in town of late. I mean anything more than bread, eggs, gasoline, toilet paper, etc., etc., etc.

More and more I find that things I need are either not available in town or they are over-priced.

And the city wonders at THIS…..

Sales tax is the Pueblo city government’s biggest source of revenue and the city’s August tax report brought more bad news for City Council - revenue was down 8 percent when compared with the same month last year.

That marks the eighth month in a row that sales tax receipts were lower than in 2008, unwelcome news as the city prepares to adopt a 2010 budget to cover next year’s operations. Currently the city is reporting a total decline in revenue of more than 7 percent for the year thus far.—Article in Pueblo Chieftain

The point being that more and more people are turning to the web in order to make purchases. And here’s something that came out today….

Fifteen years after Jeffrey P. Bezos founded the company [Amazon.Com] as an online bookstore, Amazon is set to cross a significant threshold. Sometime later this year, if current trends continue, worldwide sales of media products – the books, movies, and music that Amazon started with – will be surpassed by sales of other merchandise on the site. (That already occurred this year in its North American business.) In other words, in an increasingly digital age, Amazon is quickly becoming the world’s general store.—Article cited @ Instapundit

I have to admit that I do a LOT of purchasing on-line. Why? Because I can’t FIND what I need in Pueblo. Other than light bulbs, fresh veggies, toilet paper and such. And even the light bulbs may have to be purchased over the internet if this fiasco about CFL’s continues.

Why is this happening?

You Can’t Find It In Pueblo

That includes not being able to find a high-tech, programmable, blue-tooth mouse. I tried to find such here. I looked all over. Even the most well-stocked store for business electronics didn’t have it. They DID have several racks of the same product, which didn’t meet my needs. And it was a rather ‘slow-moving’ product too. Why their corporate HQ thinks they need to be ‘overstocked’ on such a product while not carrying other products is a mystery. And that’s happened MORE THAN ONCE and in more stores of different venues than that. To include mens clothing, as in suits. Have to go to C’Springs to get a good suit I like.

Where does the sales tax revenue come from if people have to go out of town to buy what they need?

The retailers in town are digging a hole for themselves. It will become a grave. Not only for their business activities, but also for public activities of the government.

And the answer is not to tax sales made on the internet. That would only exacerbate the problem. Why? Because whereas the city would benefit from relief, the local businesses would STILL be going down the hole to oblivion. And THAT would mean even MORE trouble for the city.

What IS the answer?

Maybe the local businesses ought to get more competitive.

Seriously…..why should I pay $138+ for something from a local retail outfit when I can get it for half that price (including shipping and handling) if I buy it over the internet?