Sunday, November 30, 2008

Reorganizing City Govrnment: Time to Get a Mayor for Pueblo

Reasons why the Pueblo City Government should be changed from a Council/City Manager to a Mayor form of government.

Testimony to Pueblo City Council
Reorganizing City Government:
Time to Get a Mayor for Pueblo
November 24, 2008

Madame President Barbara Vidmar and Distinguished Council Members,

My name is Dr. Alvin Rivera. My topic is “Reorganizing City Government.” I want to offer suggestions concerning why it is necessary to entertain the idea of having a mayor of Pueblo and what you can do to help.

A few years ago I made a suggestion to many people in Pueblo about what city government could do to be improved. Then, I asked if they believed a Pueblo Mayor was a good idea? The answer was yes, but the timing was bad. Well, with a new day in Pueblo, and in the nation, I believe it is just the “change” Pueblo may need to return the city government back to the people. You may recall I discussed this topic with you a couple years ago.

Since the timing has improved, the first question to ask in earnest is: “Why is it necessary to change the city manager type government?”

Without getting into the all the complexities of the different types of government, this is what our city manager type government has yielded:

1)  There is an increased number of Executive Sessions outside of the public view compared with previous years. This is occurring in spite of public concerns to make government more transparent. Pueblo city government is on the wrong page and moving in the wrong direction. There is no leadership coming out of the City Council or the City Manager’s office to change the status quo;

2)  The city government priorities and its budgets are not addressing the real needs of the public and the results have been under-staffing in many city departments including human resources, police and fire; and

3)  There is a lack of accountability and indifference of elected officials to be responsive to the will of the public. The best evidence of this is the apparent uniform decision of the council to remove the “Public Forum” from the television audience, and it was another council decision that was made behind closed doors and announced to the public without public input or comment. Moreover,  in this past election the fact that the public voted by a 59% to 41%, a 19% point landslide victory in favor to return the TV cameras to cover the Public Forum is some indication of how out of touch this council is from the will of the public. Likewise, the council gave its blessing to the third failure of the 2B initiative to expand the Pueblo Convention Center against the will of the public. It lost by a 12% vote, another large margin of victory for the public by any political definition.

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Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Election Outcome: City Council Policies and Oversight

Remarks thanking the public in their support for defeating the 2B intiative and returning the public comments to television.

Testimony to Pueblo City Council

Election Outcome:
City Council Policies and Oversight
November 10, 2008

Madame President Barbara Vidmar and Distinguished Council Members,

My name is Dr. Alvin Rivera. My topic is “City Council Policies and Oversight.”  First, however, I want to speak directly to the TV audience out there.

I want to thank you, the viewing public who called upon the City Council officials to reinstitute the television camera for coverage of this “Public Forum.” In this election, YOUR voice was surely heard in a resounding political landslide victory of 59% to 41%, to return the TV cameras so the public at large can hear the issues raised by the citizens about their concerns. By the City Council ruling to discontinue the coverage, it forced citizens to put the issue on the ballot, at their own expense. I wish to commend the leadership effort of Chris Nichol in that effort.

YOU, the public, were correct in your vote and your voice to ensure the First Amendment of Free Speech is safeguarded. There continues to be too many city government decisions made out of the public’s eye, and this Public Forum will go a long way to ensure that everyone in the public hears the concerns raised by civic activists and any other person with an issue or concern in which government officials can offer helping hands, insights or referrals.

Also, in the election, I worked to oppose the 2B initiative calling for expansion of the Convention Center. Once again, the public is way ahead of our elected officials who uniformly supported it and made generous donations. The public was correct to oppose it, for the Third Time!  YOU, the public, knew that their was no justification for such expansion and your over 56-44% victory, or 12% defeat, must have been embarrassing to the elected officials and proponents who sought to win this issue through the many daily stories in the Pueblo Chieftain, including its editorial endorsement and to bank roll the measure by contributing nearly $40,000, to our merger $400. It goes to show that YOU, the public, are very good at discerning the actual needs of Pueblo. I am grateful to YOU for standing up to misguided government officials—including the City Council members and the three Pueblo County Commissioners, wealthy developers and the unprofessional Urban Renewal Authority staff and consultants.

If this sounds more like a “victory lap” than public policy issue, you may well be correct. There is no doubt that these two policy changes voted upon by the public, are every bit as important in directing a future course of the City Council deliberations. Because the Council was wrong on both issues, it has raised serious questions if the Council is out of touch with the public. I would argue it is indeed.

Finally, the Council needs to take its role more seriously regarding oversight duties and be more open to opinions offered by the public. This will be a tall order for this Council given its track record in the past few years and based upon this election. Thank you.

Alvin Rivera
566-0069

 

Tuesday, November 04, 2008

Pueblo Citizens for Positive Change(PCPC) meeting

November meeting to discuss outcome of Convention Center expansion and competitive bidding procecures as outlined in city charter.

Pueblo Citizens for Positive Change(PCPC)
PCPC will hold their monthly meeting on Wednesday, November 12th, at 6:30PM.
The location is the: Barkman Library
                        1300 Jerry Murphy and Bonforte
The outcome of the Convention Center expansion issue and the Competitive
Bidding procedures as described in the city charter will be discussed. 
The Public is welcome.
For more information contact;
Ted Freeman, 544-4479 or 369-4469