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 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.

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.

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.

Sunday, February 22, 2009

Back to Politics — BRPoCG - 2

Additional thoughts on the first meeting of the Blue Ribbon Panel of City Government (BRPoCG).

Maybe I should have said, “In a day or two,” instead of “later today”. I was OBE (Overcome By Events) after posting that initial item of similar title. At any rate, here is an additional thought on the initial meeting of the BRPoCG.

There was mention that the panel might want to hear from the Right Honorable Mayor of Denver, Colorado, John Hickenlooper.

I’m not sure WHY someone thinks this might be a good idea, other than the fact that Denver is the largest city in Colorado. But Denver is an ‘odd bird’ in terms of governance. Why? Because Denver’s government combines both city AND county government into one entity. They are not like Pueblo where the city and county government are separate. So whatever he would have to say would not bear too much on whatever form of government Pueblo might want to adopt. It is impossible for the city and county of Pueblo to be united into one entity. This is especially true with the other metropolitan districts in the county, i.e., Beulah, Rye, Colorado City, Pueblo West. Each of them has their own identity and governance and I have doubts that they’d like to join with the city of Pueblo in a monolithic system. They would likely look upon Pueblo having an overwhelming say in their local governance as Puebloans would look upon Denver telling it’s citizens how to deal with their fireplaces or using augmented mobility fuels and get their auto emissions checked.

So why this interest in Hickenlooper? Why not get a mayor of a city who has a similar situation as we have here in Pueblo city-county to speak?

Saturday, July 12, 2008

Speaking of Initiatives

Going pro-active.

I have to admit that Chris Nicoll’s initiative has been an inspiration. So much so that the Pueblo Neighborhood Partnership (PNP) is going to emulate it as part of its efforts to improve the quality of living in the city and county of Pueblo.

Last Tuesday, I proposed five possible items to put forward as citizens’ initiatives for the city ordinances on the 2009 odd-year City-County election. These were:

[1] Require the city to provide public notices and publish all documentation relating to a proposed action 45 days prior to any hearing on such actions on their web-site.
[2] Establish a sidewalk utility for the regular maintenance of sidewalks in the city limits.
[3] City recognition and work with organized neighborhood associations, requiring that changes in statutes or zoning or other activities that impacted on neighborhoods would have to have said neighborhoods input.
[4] Oaths at Meetings would require Staff as well as citizens to swear to the honesty of their report under pain of perjury at meetings where witnesses are required to swear or affirm such.
[5] That the city’s legal department should be employees of the city government and not a private firm contracted to do such work for the city.

This list is not locked in concrete. I invite any other possible ideas to modify the City Ordinances or City Charter that would improve our governance by making it more open to the citizens and/or provide better service to them. If you think you have a good idea, let’s hear it. Just click on the word Comments in the box immediately below and say your piece.

Over the course of the next few months we’ll discuss each of the options provided to thrash out their advantages and disadvantages.

Thursday, July 03, 2008

Pueblo Springs Ranch — Part 1

Why?

Ever since the suggestion that Pueblo annex a large chunk of land north of the CSU-P campus and east of I-25, people have been making comments, questioning the ‘why’ of this effort.

Sitting on the City Planning and Zoning Commission, ALL of the ‘pros’ and ‘cons’ of the issue intrigue me. Therefore, I open this thread to solicit the opinions of anyone who cares to comment about the project.

I’ll provide more information, from my perspective, on this effort as time goes on. But after touring the area of the proposed annex I think it’s time we began serious public discussion of this idea.

All you need to do is click on the word “Comments”, in the block below, and enter what you think. You don’t need to be registered. You don’t even need to use your REAL name. But we would like to hear from you if you live in Pueblo or El Paso counties. And…maybe…if you live in the Denver metroplex, as it is impacting on this matter as well, vis-a-vis water.

Friday, June 20, 2008

Of Floods and Levees — 2

Others are taking notice.

With the increasing number of levees that are failing along the Mississippi, it is become more and more apparent that someone has grossly underestimated the potential for disaster. Even our own Pueblo Chieftain has noticed.

What’s caught our notice is that some levees built along the Mississippi River and its tributaries have been breached, letting floodwaters pour into areas that otherwise might have been considered safe. And we’ve heard an echo of this right here in Pueblo.

Considering what we’ve witnessed of late vis-a-vis the disasters in Peppersauce Bottoms, we look at the Fountain and have to wonder just how safe our system is.

This is especially true when we look at the I-25 overpass at 13th Street, as the Fountain flows by a few yards to the east. There is NO levee there. Just as there was no levee on the road running beside a river as it flowed past Cedar Rapids. I captured a photo from the Fox News article. I wish I could provide it here, but I’m concerned about copyright violations. Suffice it to say that someone piled up heaps of dirt and some sandbags at a low point in the highway, in an act of desperation, to keep the river within it’s banks. The photograph shows the river having breached the makeshift levee and flowing across the road.

It’s pathetic. It’s the quintessential example of the Six Ps; Army Staff puke axiom about Piss Poor Planning.

This brings me to my forthcoming query to the Pueblo County Emergency Management Department. As a member of the Pueblo Area Council Of Governments (PACOG) Environmental Policy Advisory Committee (EPAC), at their next regular meeting I will call for the County emergency management people to explain the following:

[1] What are the levees along the Arkansas and Fountain rated to withstand?
[2] What data and/or parameters were used in the formulation of the 100-year and 500-year flood estimates?
[3] How do those parameters match up against the event in Iowa and Illinois of the last few weeks?
[4] What were the levees that failed in Iowa and Illinois rated to withstand?
[5] What are the written plans to deal with flooding in the Arkansas and Fountain?

I think we need to see how our County government is prepared to deal with this sort of crisis. After all….we’re getting into the range of another 100-year event. The flood of 1921’s 100-year anniversary is not that far off.

Saturday, June 14, 2008

Of Floods and Levees

How safe are our levees?

Over the last few years, we’ve heard some reports of serious problems with our system of levees. We have the disaster in New Orleans where the levees—which had not been properly upgraded—were demolished by Hurricane Katrina. Now we see Cedar Rapids and Des Moines experiencing similar disasters because the levees were not up to the task.

In the former, it was a major storm lashing the works. In this iteration, it’s just an awful lot of water that is higher than the Corps of Engineers seem to have anticipated. And this is supposedly the proverbial 500-year flood.

It makes me wonder whether or not our levees, along the Fountain are up to this sort of flood. Or are they, as appears in Iowa, only built for the 100-year sort of flood.

There’s a picture up on Fox News showing where one of the two ‘breaks’ in levees occurred in Des Moines. And guess what….there WAS no levee there. Except for the few piles of pathetic dirt someone tried to shove on the edge of the road. Personally, I’m seeing what local Emergency Management might attempt at the I25 overpass at 13th Street, vis-a-vis the Fountain. Some dirt piled up to face a 100-year flood and it not holding up to the challenge of the moment. Let alone a 500-year deluge. And it makes me wonder….what would happen to the Northside neighborhoods and businesses. Or downtown business for that matter.

I’d like to see the Pueblo County Emergency Management Department plans to deal with such an emergency.

Hopefully, they’re a bit more comprehensive than sending the police through the neighborhood telling people to get out over a bullhorn pointed out the window of their cruiser…..

UPDATE Another One Busted [141616 Jun 08]: Fox News reports another levee, this one on the Mississippi River as it passes Illinois, has busted.

Tuesday, May 06, 2008

City-Wide Leadership Development Conference

Getting involved once more. This time with feeling!

This Friday evening and Saturday, the Colorado State University—Pueblo Center for Leadership and Community Development will be hosting a city-wide conference on the issues confronting the neighborhoods of Pueblo. The purpose of which is to develop neighborhood leaders to the point that they can become active players in the community politics; engaging the City, and where applicable the County, government in efforts to deal with the issues facing each of them in a more effective manner.

Friday evening’s activities begin at 7 pm in the Life Science Building Auditorium on the CSU-P campus. It will focus on the studies of the Pueblo Poverty Study Group. Members of that group will explain their evaluation of the situations faced by people living in Pueblo, based on their series of articles published in the Pueblo Chieftain. To read their consolidated efforts, you can download their monograph. It’s PDF formated.

Saturday, all day, will begin at 9 am and run til 5 pm. It will be held in the Occhiato Center. This days activities will be to provide useful information on how the city government is organized and how neighborhoods can work within the system to get things done. Or, that having failed, work AROUND the system, to get where they feel they need to be.

If you have already registered, great.

If you have not already registered, please contact Dr. Gayle Berardi (.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)) or Dr. Colette Carter (.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)) to make a reservation. TODAY!!!!! Especially if you’re going to be there all-day Saturday.

Thursday, April 24, 2008

The ‘Virtue’ of Unintended Consequences

Selling one’s ‘birthright’ to Aurora.

Interesting report in the Chieftain today.

It seems that the recent fire out in Ordway—the one that claimed the lives of firefighters and destroyed a number of buildings—it appears that one of the contributing factors was that some farmers and/or ranchers had been selling their water to Aurora. Raking in the the cash while their fields withered from lack of water.

Then…some how a fire started and raced through the parched land causing the loss of property and life.

I hope these farmers are on good terms with forgiving neighbors.

However, I’ve seen a larger problem looming on the horizon….

More...

Monday, February 04, 2008

Is It Just ME?

Or who else….

....is aware that the County Clerk/Recorder’s on-line Voter Registration Search system is DOWN????!?

I stumbled upon this odd freak of information management systems by virtue of the fact that I’m co-chair of my party’s county precinct.

We were looking for a back-up system to validate attendees at tomorrow nights state-wide county caucus….if they showed up at our door and their name was NOT on the print-out list provided by Mr. Ortiz on/or-about December 19, 2007.

Oddly enough the Colorado Secretary of State’s Election Division says the data should be based on a point in time 28 days prior to the ‘event’; in this case the caucus of February 5, 2008.

That would make the data on the printout considerably older than the Colorado Revised Statutes require.

So….WHY the change-over to a new system—blacking out the current system—over the time-frame of the County Caucuses?

Is someone ‘stupid’ or what? And if the former….or the latter….or, worse, BOTH….why the heck are they holding office?

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

I’m SOOOO Confused!

Is it too much to ask that it make sense?

An article in the Pueblo Chieftain today says that a developer is going to get a tax break for remodeling some apartments.

The Pueblo City Council and County Board of Commissioners both approved a measure this week that will give a private developer a break on property taxes in exchange for remodeling the Bethlehem Square apartments.

On Monday, council approved an agreement with Lucky Star LLLP that allows the company to make payments to the city and county in lieu of property taxes.

How, exactly, are “payments” different from property tax payments?

More...