UNBRIDLED SECRECY POISONS GOOD GOVERNMENT

To the detriment of the public, transparency of government in Colorado is taking a pounding from court interpretations that continue to weaken key elements of the state’s Open Meetings and Open Records laws. Two current examples:

Based on fairly clear-cut evidence, the Longmont Times-Call filed a complaint in Boulder District Court in June alleging that the local city council violated the executive-session provision of the Open Meetings law (i.e., no public policy can be formed or straw votes taken behind closed doors). Five months later, in November, the judge ruled that since the executive session was announced as an attorney-client briefing wherein no tape recordings or written records were required, there was nothing to review and sent the case back to the newspaper, leaving the alleged violation unaddressed.

Obviously, this half-baked ruling invites abuse of the OML by opportunistic public officials who can now hide behind the anonymity and confidentiality of the executive session at will by simply calling it an “attorney-client briefing.”

The Open Records law: In an effort to get some idea of with whom and what our governor might be discussing in the calls he makes when conducting the people’s business on his private telephone, The Denver Post has been rebuffed by the Colorado Court of Appeals which won’t allow the public watchdog to see the records.

Another precedent-setting court decision that, if allowed to stand, will encourage public officials at all levels in Colorado to govern via their private phones and the public be damned.

Secrecy is making serious inroads into our governmental systems; not good news if you believe in freedom.

JOURNALISTS MAY BE SELF-DESTRUCTING

Regarding the alleged need for Congress to enact a federal shield law to protect reporters and their sources, as a retired longtime newsperson I must say beware -- for whatever privilege the Washington politicians bestow, they can easily regulate, license, amend, use for ransom, or snatch it away. Requesting the government to protect a crucial reportorial practice that the watchdog itself indicates it is no longer willing to defend on principle by going to jail if necessary, does not speak well of a fearless free-press and sends the wrong message to the public.

It may well be declared nostalgic, but we in and of the press cannot let the basic idea of freedom of the press die. Freedom of religion, speech and the press are specifically cited in the First Amendment as being protected from government interference. There is nothing in there that says the judicial branch and its occasionally overzealous judges and prosecutors or the legislative or executive branches are free to override this profound protection. The legal profession has no similar exemption. Yet, as we all know, lawyers are free to routinely enjoy impenetrable attorney-client secrecy as they go about their work without requesting a shield law.

Colorado is generally regarded in the news business as having a good shield law and since it’s close to home, there is less danger of it being tweaked on a politically partisan basis. But unlike the simple and direct language of the First Amendment, Colorado’s shield law typically includes caveats, one of which is that a newsperson does not have to disclose a source “unless the information cannot reasonably be obtained by any other means.” New York Times reporter Judith Miller of Libby-trial fame arguably could not have been saved from jail under Colorado’s shield law.

This is not to argue that freedom of the press is absolute. Rather it is a call for media-types to concentrate their time, energy and money toward defending the First Amendment, and doing everything else they can within their own organizations such as publicizing its value to the public and, most important, working to keep from abusing its privileges themselves.

The only answer for the newspersons who believe they must have a shield law would be, I suppose, to amend the U.S. Constitution and embed their own version. But, as the noted contemporary journalist John Seigenthaler is quoted, “The people are not on our side,” indicating that the press stands to come up short even if a Constitutional Convention were to occur, which in itself is not a likely event.

So here is where America’s journalists are, back to the only protection that counts: the First Amendment.

P.

BAL SALVAGES SOME EARLIER PRINTING EQUIPMENT

Members of the Book Arts League deserve kudos for their efforts to establish a collection of outmoded letterpress printing equipment at their home base, the historic Ewing Farm on north 95th street in Lafayette.

BAL held an open house Dec. 5 at the Farm, and what a surprise it was for me to see a hand-fed “snapper” platen press in operation again, after having fed one by the hour upon learning the trade as a printer’s devil over 60 years ago. Unlike the motor-driven commercial presses of the past, the “snapper” on display is hand-powered—probably by choice for safety reasons. But that has no effect on the quality of the printed product it churns out, as evidenced by the group’s nice self-produced souvenir bookmark.

Noticeably missing from this collection is the iron monster that revolutionized the printing industry, the Linotype machine. Rarely found and still in use at only two Colorado newspapers, the Crescent at Saguache and the South Y-W Star at Kirk, surely BAL could find one somewhere to display, if it so desires.

BAL and volunteers have already come a long way in establishing an interesting collection at an equally interesting historic farm, both well worth the visit.
P.

COMMISSIONERS SET LEGISLATIVE AGENDA FOR FELLOW LIBERALS

According to the Longmont Times-Call in an article filed by reporter John Fryer, the Boulder County Commissioners have compiled a wish list for the Colorado Legislature’s 2010 session. The itemized list follows with my comments added in italics.

• Criminal sentencing reforms that promote drug-treatment courts and alternative treatments.
Code words for legalization.

• Allowing local governments to post certain legal notices online rather than requiring them to be published in newspapers.
If they truly believed in transparency, they would publish and post too.

• Limiting the interest rates and other fees charged with “payday” loans, as well as limiting the number of consecutive loans such lenders can make to a consumer.
The county commissioners should be examining their own list of unfair fees.

• Allowing counties and statutory cities and towns — those without home-rule charters — to enact ordinances that could require existing residential and commercial buildings to meet minimum energy-performance standards.
Who’s going to pay for all of this? Oh, see next item.

• Allowing counties and municipalities to impose fees that building owners would be allowed to pay in lieu of meeting “green” building standards for their structures, if those owners cannot make required energy-conservation improvements.
Another tax increase masquerading as a fee.

• Allowing state and local governments to collect sales taxes on items purchased over the Internet.
Our three commissioners might explain why their fellow liberals in Congress and the White House refuse to act on this.

• Providing a “pay-as-you-go” auto insurance option for Colorado vehicle owners, tying insurance premiums to the number of miles driven.
More miles, higher premiums -- just the thing for those rural residents.

• Legislation or administrative changes to improve eligible Coloradans’ access to Medicaid and Children’s Health Plan Plus programs.
No use thinking about this until Congress gets through playing around with healthcare reform.

• Giving counties authority to impose a transportation maintenance fee to help pay for local roads’ maintenance needs.
Yet another tax increase masked as a fee so that even more money can be transferred out of the R&B fund. The people are catching on.

PUBLIC'S RIGHT TO KNOW SUFFERS SETBACK

Preamble to the Colorado Open Meetings law: It is declared to be a matter of statewide concern and the policy of this state that the formation of public policy is public business and may not be conducted in secret.

I’m afraid that these words were taken in vain last week in Boulder County District Court where Judge Roxanne Bailin failed to rule on the crux of a complaint lodged by the Longmont Times-Call and reporter Rachel Carter that a substantial discussion of nonexempt topics and adoption of public policy had unlawfully occurred during a June 23 executive session of the Longmont City Council which, if true, would render any action therein null and void.

The local newspaper, defending the public’s right to know, offered evidence that indicated the council indeed had taken a “straw vote” behind closed doors, was led to believe the session was recorded, and asked the court to review the tapes for verification. But there were no tapes, which is permissible under the attorney-client exemption. City attorney Eugene Mei nonetheless fought to prevent release of the “audio recording” of the June 23 session and referred to it twice later in communications with the court. Knowing all along there was no recording, Mei finally presented to the court a tape that had nothing on it to review except the required pre-secret meeting announcement. Instead of sanctioning the city attorney for playing games, Bailin merely called the city’s position “mystifying” and left the allegation of forming public policy in secrecy hanging in the wind.

Attorney-client communications behind closed doors are exempt; forming public policy is not. Unfortunately this half-baked outcome opens the door wide for all local governments in the state to now declare every executive session attorney-client privileged, with policy-making off limits to the press and public.

CITY BUDGET FOR LEGAL SERVICES SPIRALS UPWARD

Recession-induced revenue problems have forced the Longmont City Council, like other fiscally responsible governments across the nation, to trim spending and allow for only tiny increases, if any, in the 2010 budget. In Longmont City Hall, this tightening of the purse strings seems to have hit almost every department except one: that of the City Attorney, which will get a whopping 11 percent increase of $90,797 next year, according to city budget documents.

The total budget for the city’s legal department in 2008, under attorney Clay Douglas, was $813,271. In 2009, it was even a tad less, at $812,166. And, yes, Douglas was busy with litigation too.

The 2010 budget for this department, under the direction of newly hired attorney Eugene Mei, has skyrocketed to $902,963.

Details in the city’s 2010 budget document show all of the $90,797 increase is allocated to “Professional and Contracted Services.” This indicates that despite the fact that the city already hires a legal staff of five (city attorney, deputy city attorney, plus three assistant city attorneys), the city plans to allow Mei to step up the hiring of outside counsel in 2010. What for, other than to harass a church’s development project, is a relevant question from taxpayers whose budgets are also thin.

An example of bringing in expensive “outside counsel” when there appeared no pressing reason to do so, was the hiring of an attorney to oversee the Longmont Fair Campaign Practices Act hearings. Surely, someone from the City Attorney’s department should have been able, and available, to offer advice to the city election committee, if need be.

If Longmont is going to become dependant on hiring outside counsel, as seems to be the trend, then the city might consider outsourcing its entire legal department services, as other cities have done, by inviting law firms to bid for the contract and appointing the winner.

LONGMONT'S ELECTION COMMITTEE MAY BE ON SHAKY GROUND

The people of Longmont changed their form of city government from statutory to home rule in 1961. Under Article XX of the Colorado Constitution, which authorizes home rule in local government, they also wrote and adopted the Longmont Municipal Charter.

The Longmont Municipal Code derives most of its power and authority from the Longmont Municipal Charter.

Because of their constitutional quality, home-rule charters are intentionally hard to amend. Consequently, in order for any material to be added or subtracted, or any change be made to the Longmont City Charter, all such proposals must go to a vote of the people. For council to merely pass an ordinance is insufficient.

Which brings us to the forming of the city’s new Election Committee. The City Council may have erred in expanding this committee to seven members from three without first amending the charter, thus conceivably rendering the committee’s work moot. (And please, this may seem trivial unless we’re interested in the Rule of Law. Also, this is no reflection on the individual committee members.) Here’s what the Longmont Municipal Charter says:

2.2 REGISTRATIONS, JUDGES, CLERKS AND ELECTION COMMISSION
The Council shall by ordinance establish the method for the registration of electors; the qualifications and compensation of election judges and clerks, and the boundaries of election precincts. The Council may by ordinance establish an election commission consisting of the city clerk as chairman; and two additional members to be appointed by the Council with such powers, duties, terms and qualifications as provided by ordinance.

ARE THE GUNS OF THE BIG-CITY PRESS AIMED AT LONGMONT?

Judging from the outbreak of newspaper racks planted around Longmont by his Denver News Agency to accommodate the remade version of their failed freebie YourHub.com, henceforth to be known as the Longmont Ledger, Denver newspaper magnate Dean Singleton clearly has his eye on the Longmont market. Singleton owns or controls at least 60 dailies and 97 non-dailies and adding another one probably wouldn't hurt. Operating through DNA’s Daily Camera of Boulder, Longmont resident Clay Evans of that newspaper will be in charge of the reconstituted Longmont Ledger.

Some speculation has risen as to the DNA’s right to use the title of a longtime Longmont newspaper of the same name, which ceased publication years ago, the Longmont Ledger. It's been my experience that there would probably be no barrier to reusing the title unless some publisher of the Ledger at some time or other had registered the name as a trademark or printed a copyright symbol in the masthead. Either of those acts might complicate things.

A brief rundown on some of Longmont’s newspaper history as gleaned from the extensive works of the late Walter Stewart, who was a professor of journalism at UNC, and his wife Elma St. John Stewart:

Longmont Times founded in 1871 by Elmer Beckwith.

Longmont Ledger founded in 1879 by Charles Boynton and J.J. Jilson; name changed to Boulder County Commercial Ledger in 1970.

Longmont Call founded in 1898 by George W. Johnson.

Longmont Times and Longmont Call merged in 1931 to become the Longmont Times-Call. The Lehman family became owners in 1957.

Longmont Scene founded in 1970 by Agnes Roberts bought and merged the Boulder County Commercial Ledger in 1971.

Longmont Scene suspended publication in 1978.

A NOVEL WAY TO GET EVEN WITH YOUR POLITICAL ENEMIES

Politics in Longmont are getting more political by the minute. Latest example is the work of the City Council’s handpicked Election Committee, which met for the first time on Oct. 12 to determine which complaints out of several filed by a disgruntled councilwoman against her political enemies were worthy of pursuit. They accepted two for further action. Unfortunately, by the committee’s lawyer telling the committee members--who at the next step will serve as both judge and jury--that they should assume “that all facts stated in the written complaints are true,” this quasi-judicial process takes on the markings of a kangaroo court. Bolstering that assumption are two more items: the committee’s willingness to accept amendments to complaints already filed (where do the accusations end?); and the possible prejudice of an Election Committee member who intimated that she may have already made up her mind about one of the complaints, a complicated political issue involving a poll, saying the complainant’s name was used “as many as five times.” Keep in mind that the Longmont citizens who are defendants in this process are presumed innocent until proven guilty. The complainant promises to keep using this special committee to file even more charges. Who’s the next victim of Longmont’s repressive Fair Campaign Practices ordinance?

ROBBING PETER TO PAY PAUL

One way to balance the city budget amidst a recession is to switch the funds around? According to the 9/20/09 Times-Call, Longmont city officials are pursuing a plan to spend 8.5 million dollars to add to the city’s open space inventory, but upon going to the cupboard old Mother Hubbard found not nearly enough cash in the open-space jar to pull off the deal. Only about half enough, the report said. So the city is thinking of tapping three allied funds to help make up the difference.

The city water fund
The city streets fund
The city storm drainage fund

Funding open space purchases out of the water fund? What a marvelous source of revenue with which to buy land – just raise everybody’s water bill over and over and watch the money roll in.

And the streets fund? Once the bleeding starts, it will never stop.

Same for the storm drainage fund, which may be even more sensitive because it involves voter-approved bonds. Was there language in the ballot proposal that would allow this fund to be used for land purchases beyond the minimum amount needed for completing the projects?

It's not good business to be raiding funds in non-emergencies.

Letter to editor
Longmont-Times-Call, 9/15/09

CONDUCT BUSINESS IN PUBLIC

I don’t know about you, but I don’t have much confidence in public officials who duck behind closed doors whenever a sensitive issue arises. First a disclosure: As a longtime newspaper publisher now retired, I have served on both sides of this issue. I’m anti-secrecy; only rarely should it be necessary. While serving years ago as mayor in a different Colorado town, I forbade executive sessions. Despite land deals, personnel issues, lawsuits and attorney-client briefings, we functioned just fine. (SENTENCE REDACTED by Times-Call opinion pages editor: The same openness seems to be working in Boulder where secrecy is banned by the city charter.)
Operating apparently on the assumption that what we constituents don’t know won’t hurt us, the Longmont council’s use of “executive sessions” has become so prevalent that the Times-Call (smoke ‘em out, I say) finally exercised its watchdog role by seeking a court review of the latest episode. A brief history shows that this move is warranted: During 2001, Longmont City Council met secretly four times; in 2006, six; in 2007, seven. But in 2008, the first year of the new majority, the number spiked to 16 and, up until June of this year, there were 11 executive sessions.
This appetite for secrecy also tells me that those in power who act this way are capable of doing everything else they can to control the flow of information, like (I hear) attempting to pull all of the city’s legal notices out of the community newspaper to punish it for what it does or does not write about them. Do you suppose the scheme is to kill the private messenger and then filter city-spawned information through a journal published by city staff? Is that partly what the council’s recently launched newspaper called “Longmont Life” is about?
Secrecy should be a lively item in the upcoming election.
P.

Letter published 7/26/09
in the Boulder Daily Camera

LET THE STATE STATUTES WORK

Does the Town of Superior need home rule? Here are a few things that voters there might consider:

There's nothing under the statutory system that keeps people from participating in their local government, neither is there anything that prevents a municipality from determining its own destiny.

Getting out from under the protection of the state statutes is not always good for the ordinary citizen-taxpayer. For example, the state specifies a debt limit that home-rule municipalities can simply ignore.

Home rule opens the door to proposing many new taxes on the people, such as occupational taxes and privilege taxes that cannot even be considered in a statutory municipality.

Home rule tends to transfer power away from elected officials who can be held accountable directly by the voters into the hands of bureaucrats who, of course, are not elected.

One of the supposed virtues of home rule is that it allows a municipality to collect sales taxes directly instead of through the Colorado Department of Revenue. What is not mentioned, however, is the offsetting cost to local taxpayers of hiring additional personnel in city hall to take on this extra burden of collection and enforcement already performed by the state for free. To say the state makes mistakes but town halls do not, is being disingenuous.

As more people in towns across Colorado find out more about home rule, they are saying "no" and sticking with the state statutes. Recent examples: Erie, population 13,441, soundly rejected home rule not once but twice; Frederick, population 7,370, said no to home rule in 2005; Estes Park, population 5,921, is the latest community to reject home rule. And they all seem to be functioning quite nicely without it.

I have no dog in this fight. My only interest here is in good government.

P,

Letters submitted, not published.
To The Denver Post, 6/24/09:

A STRANGE SENSE OF ECONOMIC PRIORITIES

After giving the cold shoulder to the U.S. Military’s desire to expand its remote Pinon Canyon maneuver site to keep its significant contributions flowing into our state’s economy, most notably that of Colorado Springs, it’s shocking to see Colorado’s congressional delegation endorsing Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s “Over the River” project, which calls for draping plastic fabric over the Arkansas River for six miles between Canon City and Salida for a two-week show.

They make their millions selling duplicate miniatures of their projects.

This is the second “hanging” in our state for this artistic couple. Their first, in 1972 near Rifle, literally blew up when wind tore into the Valley Curtain’s 437 yards of plastic, and it had to be taken down prematurely. Over 200 tons of concrete were poured to anchor the curtain and most of it was left there, reportedly at the landowner’s request. Some legacy, eh?

There simply is no reason to further deface this beautiful segment of the Arkansas River canyon for private gain. Shame on our politicians.

Percy Conarroe

Letter published in
the Longmont Times-Call, 7-06-09

ON CML AND COSTS TO MUNICIPALITIES

Another summer outing of the Colorado Municipal League is history. Eight Longmont officials attended this year’s event in Vail at a total cost of $5,840: Mayor Lange, three nights; Councilmember McCoy, four; City Attorneys, Mei, three, Rourke and Friedland, two; City Clerk Skitt, one; assistants Seader, four, and Hinz, one.

The city paid registration fees of $190 each except for Skitt, Seader and Hinz, who were presenters. All apparently qualified for the city’s $159 per night lodging allowance, meals of $46 per day, and those who drove their own vehicle could be reimbursed $.505 per mile for the 230 mi. roundtrip (230x$.505=$116.15).

On the upside, congratulations to Mayor Lange for being elected to the CML executive board. On the downside, I’m a longtime critic of this lobbying/partying organization because it lives almost entirely off the taxpayers through dues collected annually from 263 of Colorado’s 271 municipalities, this year totaling about $1,765,000. And for what? CML offers training for elected and appointed office personnel. In addition to this year’s dues, Longmont has apparently budgeted another $38,613 for that purpose.

Longmont’s population is listed at 82,904 with dues this year of $45,647 or 55 cents per capita. Denver’s population is listed at 530,223 with dues of $153,117 or only 26 cents per capita. How nice.

But it’s really the poor, small towns that I feel sorry for: places like Campo, Bonanza City, Haswell, and Hooper, that cannot even afford to hire a dogcatcher, yet each is expected to contribute upwards of $200 a year to the CML for dues.

In 1998, CML constructed its own deluxe headquarters buildng at 1144 Sherman Street in downtown Denver, close to the Golden Dome. But you won’t find CML paying ad valorem taxes to help fund the public education system – their property is tax exempt.

Two personal anecdotes that I omitted prior to submitting letter to meet T-C’s 300-word limit:

Item 1: As mayor of Simla, Colorado. in 1960, upon finding how CML was funded, I pulled the town’s membership; it eventually rejoined.

Item 2: As publisher of the Louisville Times, the newspaper told of how renown city administrator Leon Wurl (now deceased) got fired in midsummer of 1984, mostly because he was away attending a CML summer conference in the mountains and Louisville ran out of water when the main supply line broke.

P.

Letter to The Denver Post,
published 6/25/09

BENEVOLENT SUCKERS END UP PAYING TAXES TWICE

Letter-writer Bill Blomberg, 6/15/09, “Don’t extend stadium tax . . .” has it right. We taxpayers are benevolent suckers, not only for helping fund these grandiose professional sports arenas through public-private partnerships, but we usually get hit in the pocketbook again by having to make up for the lost property-tax revenues that would have flown into the public education system had these properties been privately owned.

With commercial property assessed at double the household rate (under the Gallagher Amendment), the amount of tax loss over the years appears staggering. Perhaps a law calling for some sort of an in-lieu fee to make up for the loss in ad valorem tax revenue would be fair and appropriate.

(Redacted: That same idea could be extended to require tort lawyers to pony up a realistic portion of their court winnings as a rental fee for using the elaborate public facilities we taxpayers provide to them to pursue their profession.)

But instead of providing leadership and innovation to plug these holes and tap the wealth where it is, the tax-and-spend Democrats who control our state government waste their time and ours trying to gut TABOR.
What folly.

P.

STATE SENATOR PLAYS FAST AND LOOSE WITH OPEN MEETINGS LAW

The press is asleep at the switch. Oh no, not again!

Yes, I’m afraid so, as all of the reporters, editors and editorial writers who covered the recent dust-up over Colorado Senate President Brandon Shaffer (of Longmont) meeting with fellow Democrats unannounced and behind closed doors at the state capitol seem to have missed the most important point: This was an egregious violation of the Colorado Open Meetings law.

Briefly, this how the law is explained:

“Legislative Policy: It is declared to be a matter of statewide concern and the policy of this state that the formation of public policy is public business and may not be conducted in secret.

“Who is covered? All boards, committees, commissions, authorities or other advisory, policy-making, rule-making or other formally constituted bodies and any public or private entity which has been delegated a governmental decision-making function by a body or official are included under the law.

“State Public Body includes General Assembly, governing boards of institutions of higher education, state agencies, boards, commissions, etc.

“Local Public Body includes all political subdivisions of the state, such as counties, municipalities, home rule cities, school districts, special districts, metropolitan districts and RTD. (Generally, meetings between staff members are not considered open.)

“Executive Sessions: An executive session is permitted only during a regular or special meeting (a certain formula must be followed). State Public Body (in this case the Legislature) can go into executive session only after two-thirds of the entire body vote in favor. Local Public Body can go into executive session only after two-thirds of the quorum present vote in favor.”

The Denver Post published an editorial mildly chastising Shaffer, referring to the closed-door retreat as merely “a Democratic workshop.” To its credit, however, the Post had earlier requested Shaffer to hold the Democratic Party responsible for reimbursing the taxpayers $4,300 for expenses involved.

We either have open government or we don’t and open is best. Most people outside government understand this truism. What makes so many of them change after we elect them to office? Is Sen. Shaffer above the law?

Longmont voters have made two serious mistakes in recent elections by putting Progressives (neo-liberals) in office. First, sending tax-and-spend Shaffer to the State Senate was bad enough, but after supporting Betsy Markey's election to the U.S. House of Representatives in the 4th Congressional District, she "rewards" the people of Longmont by closing the local contact office, a very valuable service that Representative Marilyn Musgrave maintained throughout her tenure in office.

The Progressives are moving Longmont backwards, even in City Hall.

Letter submitted to the editor, The Denver Post, not published:

NO HELP IN LETTING IN THE SUNSHINE

The headline on your editorial (Perspective, 5/10/09) relating to Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke’s recent visit to Denver, “Why was public locked out of census meeting?” held promise but the content was about as meek and tame as the reaction of the reporter(s) who failed to challenge the closed-door segment when confronted with it—hardly a whimper. I feel sorry for the dozens of small-town editors who look to the big papers for leadership in forcing open the closed doors of official secrecy. The Post has let them down.

Percy Conarroe

TWIN PEAKS MALL: TAX SUBSIDIES COULD BE FOR NAUGHT

Should Longmont’s taxpayers help bail out the ailing Twin Peaks Mall and, if so, then why not extend that favor to every business in town? This gnawing question of fairness weighs heavily on the minds of many locals, as city officials continue to negotiate a “partnership” deal with the mall owner.

Let’s face it: Shopping malls across America are losing their oomph, no matter their location, status or upgrading. The sagging economy and inflated gasoline prices played a part, but the word “anachronism” might better fit the declining shopping-mall era. Fickle shoppers, famous for flitting from mall to mall, are fleeing to the stand-alone big boxes and, ominously, to the matchless variety and convenience of the Internet where, of course, they don’t even have to pay sales taxes.

On April 16 the nation’s second largest mall owner, General Growth Properties Inc. of Chicago, filed for bankruptcy. Of the 200 malls GGP owns, four are in Colorado: Park Meadows in Lone Tree (south Denver), Foothills in Fort Collins, Southwest Plaza in Littleton, and Chapel Hills in north Colorado Springs. All of these four are considered upper tier. Chapel Hills, one of the newer malls in Colorado Springs, lured shoppers from the Citadel Mall in east Colorado Springs, which earlier had plundered the Sears-anchored Southgate Mall on that city’s south side. City officials naturally don’t care who wins the dizzying mall game, just so the tax revenues keep flowing.

Having lived in Colorado all my life and being casually observant of shopping malls around the state, very few of the once-flourishing malls are left. Although not the oldest, Denver’s Cherry Creek is probably still the classiest. Louisville tried valiantly to get into the mall game in 1980 but developer Jacobs-Kahan of Chicago had no luck signing an anchor store and finally gave up.

Retail outlet stores were popular for a while. Clusters sprouted up at places like Frisco and Castle Rock. Probably the most successful was at Loveland -- until the Centerra strip mall opened nearby.

Even Urban Renewal with its eminent domain power and tax increment financing “partnering” with local taxpayers could not save Englewood’s charming Cinderella City Mall, which opened in 1968 to compete with the nearby Villa Italia Mall, built in 1965. Despite the investment of millions of TIF tax dollars to renovate it mid-term, Cinderella City, an elaborate, covered complex, was demolished in 1999.

Villa Italia, despite a $120 million infusion of cash by the City of Lakewood in converting it to a “sustainable” mixed-use housing/stores complex, and after changing the mall’s name to Belmar, it still lost anchor stores Dillard’s and J.C. Penney and has never recovered. Shoppers complained that the “village feeling” of the mixed-use concept was confusing and made the mall hard to navigate.

Boulder’s Crossroads Mall, funded almost entirely with huge amounts of Urban Renewal TIF money--those who know will not reveal the total indebtedness--ran into trouble when the Westminster Mall just down the road (both opened in the early 1960s) began expanding. But of course, the Westminster Mall had diverted shoppers from the once-prosperous Northglenn Mall, helping shut it down. Then, with Broomfield’s bold, new Flatiron Mall arriving on the scene in 1999, the City of Westminster spent $7.5 million helping its mall owner renovate, but to little avail. Flatiron had lured shoppers away from both the Westminster Mall and the Crossroads Mall (refurbished in 1983; closed in 2004 and renamed Twenty Ninth Street) and neither has recovered. All the Crossroads stores except Foley’s were demolished.

The onus is now on Flatiron and its age and vulnerability are showing. The new Event Center nearby is struggling. Looking ahead, no doubt, Broomfield officials, in reconfiguring the city’s boundary into a county, made sure to secure, yes, a viable mall site at the junction of Colo. 7 and I-25, pretty far afield. But upscale anchor stores are scarcer than ever, and discount retailers, disdaining the stiff mall rent, find they can operate just as well on the periphery – in Longmont, that’s just west across the street.

Mixed-use or not, the Longmont City Council has no business diverting tax revenue through TIF into this privately owned mall project -- “on the come” or for any other concocted reason, such as “infrastructure.” Obviously, if TIF availability is a deal killer, then that should raise some red flags.

“Blight” is a term that, unfortunately, reflects negatively on both the property-owner, for letting his holdings deteriorate and doing nothing about it, and the City Council and manager for allowing it to continue. A further example of the city's inaction is the truly blighted, burn-scarred flour mill, in my opinion an eyesore.

The city should get down to business: shut off the sales pitch, fire the high-priced consultants, tell the Twin Peaks mall owner to present his financial capability, submit his plan for review, and whenever he is ready, let’s see the renovating start--without leaning on the taxpayers.

Letter to editor, Longmont Times-Call
published 5/9/09

APPEAL IN ROCKY MOUNTAIN CHRISTIAN CHURCH CASE TROUBLING

“I sought for the key to the greatness and genius of America in her harbors, fertile fields and boundless forests, in her rich mines and vast world commerce, in her public school system and institutions of learning. I sought for it in her democratic Congress and in her matchless Constitution. Not until I went into her churches … did I understand the secret of her genius and power.” — Alexis de Tocqueville (1805-1859).

Too bad this historic observation by the famous French statesman who toured America in the 1830s escaped Boulder County commissioners Will Toor, Ben Pearlman and Cindy Domenico as they decided to appeal their courtroom setback in trying to keep Rocky Mountain Christian Church at Niwot from expanding to better serve its flock.

A U.S. District Court jury found that the commissioners treated the church on “less than equal terms,” imposed a “substantial burden” on its religious exercise, and unreasonably limited the church. The judge agreed and ordered the commissioners to issue a building permit. They refused.

Unaccustomed to having their authoritarianism blunted, commissioner Toor found all of this “very troubling, from a constitutional perspective,” quoted in 5/1/09 Times-Call.

But it’s also very troubling to many of us that when the government becomes overzealous in regulating religious activities, it is difficult to discern where official bigotry begins and ends.

The commissioners have already sunk $250,000 of our tax money into this $1.13 million save-face exercise, so the economic recession must not be affecting Boulder County.

Let’s hope that if this fight reaches the Supreme Court it will have narrowed into a First Amendment test: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free expression thereof.”

That’s really what this power-play is all about. The commissioners through their land-use code think they can do what Congress cannot.

May God bless America.

Letter to editor, Longmont Times-Call
Published 4-24-09

SEN. SHAFFER CO-OPTS REPUBLICAN VALUES

Regarding state Sen. Brandon Shaffer’s “Colorado’s guiding values,” 4/19/09 Times-Call opinion page: Nowhere identifying himself as a Democrat, he co-opts for his own purposes long-held principles of the Republican Party, such as “putting people above the pressures of special interest groups” and “creating a (state) budget process that is strong and stable … based on the beliefs and the values that guide us.” Sound familiar? That’s right, Republican principles are based on moral and family values.

Recently chosen as president of the upper house of the Colorado Legislature by his fellow Democrats, undeniably an honor, one might think Shaffer ascended to the governorship instead by immediately promising to convene an interim commission of legislators and community leaders “to craft a state budget process.” How this would differ from similar “bipartisan” budget studies underway or already performed by committees appointed by either Gov. Ritter or the Legislature is not clear.

Of course, Shaffer exemplifies the historic role of tax-and-spend Democrats: expand government at every level and control peoples’ lives. That’s all they know how to do. The only difference currently is that the progressive liberals who now run the party think they can outflank the Republicans by hijacking the GOP’s long-held moral principles (e.g., thou shall not steal from Pinnacol) just long enough to form a bipartisan coalition to go about dismantling TABOR –- the only barrier that protects the common people of Colorado from confiscatory taxation.

Do not be fooled.

Voters in states teetering on bankruptcy today such as California, New Jersey, Kentucky and Missouri had the opportunity to adopt their own version of TABOR but failed to act. In all good conscience, we who believe in financial integrity in government cannot let Shaffer and his gang push Colorado into that abyss.

Longmont deserves better representation than this.
P.

ONE OF THE BIGGEST SCANDALS IN OUR MIDST

As suggested in the Longmont Times-Call’s call-in, one way to solve the prairie dog problem at Longmont’s Vance Brand Municipal Airport without exterminating them might be to trap them and see how many of the caring people who show up at these public hearings step forward to take them home to keep in their own backyards.

But because these cute little rodents are known carriers of the dreaded bubonic plague through infestation of fleas, that’s not a good idea. And due to their tunneling ability, of course, building fences and putting up plastic barriers to control them are usually a waste of time and money. Prairie dogs not only attract coyotes, which feed on them, but share their burrows with rattlesnakes.

So what can be done to negate their deleterious effect on properties such as public golf courses, park lawns, public airports and the like? You don’t see prairie dog burrows next to DIA runways, do you, or on the County Courthouse lawn.

Relocation is problematic if not impossible, and public officials must share the blame for neglecting this humane option. While it is true that mankind is encroaching on their habitat, it is also true that Boulder County has accumulated almost 94,000 acres of open space (the city of Longmont also owns hundreds of acres) without setting aside any part of it for relocating and accommodating these unwanted rodents. This is a public scandal in itself, a governmental flaw that the press simply ignores.

Early-on, metro-area counties tried exporting their prairie dogs to rural counties and got away with it for a while – until farmers and ranchers finally rose up and said no, we already have too many and we do not want yours too. Not only do these rapidly multiplying rodents feed on cash crops, they destroy scarce ground-covering by pulling grass out by the roots when they feed (much like grazing sheep do, a practice that triggered early Colorado settlers to gunfights between cattlemen and sheepmen).

There are places for these eco-important rodents to exist in peace in Boulder County, and I think people who hammer officials such as those at Longmont’s airport who find that they do not have much choice except extermination need to take their harassing complaints directly to the Boulder County Commissioners and the Longmont City Council, whose members do have the power and authority to set aside some open space land to mitigate this aggravating problem. Fair enough?
P.

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PUBLIC AND PRIVATE INSTITUTIONS

The taxpayers might as well throw in the towel because whatever authority they once held over the public institutions that enjoy their forced contributions is disappearing at an astonishing rate and the Ward Churchill case is only the latest example. The University of Colorado is not a private institution. It depends a great deal on taxpayer funding and therefore is governed by an elected Board of Regents. After due diligence these regents, who represent all the people of Colorado, found that employee Professor Churchill’s work was not up to standard, so they fired him. Along comes an accomplished tort lawyer who smells money and knows how to play a tune on journalists’ butts, sues the University, overwhelms a fumbling defense lawyer who no one has ever heard of, succeeds in making a First Amendment case out of it, which it is not, and he and his client prevail.

THEY ARE PUSHING HARD FOR SOCIALISM, ARE YOU READY?

Abraham Lincoln, where are you? A government of the people, by the people, and for special interest groups is now what we have in Washington D.C., as over 100 of America’s most powerful and influential leftist-liberal organizations have formed a new coalition called Rebuild and Renew to boost President Barack Obama’s socialistic program to redistribute the nation’s wealth, starting with his current $3.6 trillion budget. Most of the members of this group are already supping at the public trough, while others either intend to, or will act as cheerleaders or even strong-arm enforcers. Government largesse manufactures votes, they know it, and that’s what this game is about.

R&R’s roster is loaded with familiar names. Heading the list is ACORN. A few more at random: the AFL-CIO, AFSCME (American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees), Americans for Democratic Action, AAUW (American Association of University Women), Common Cause, Greenpeace, MoveOn Action Fund, National Education Association, People for the American Way, Sierra Club, and ProgressNow. The American Civil Liberties Union reportedly joined but for reasons not disclosed withdrew.

More about ProgressNow: Based in Washington D.C., it has a Denver affiliate called ProgressNowColorado, which has played and continues to play a significant role in Longmont city politics, such as fighting a church expansion project and electing key council members. Its Denver website has deleted a video of Longmont team leader Jen Gartner extolling the success of a petition drive she and her teammates engineered, but still posts a list of 80 Longmont members, most of whom are anonymous.

I lived through it: Franklin Delano Roosevelt introduced socialism in 1933 with his New Deal and it did not work (the unemployment rate in 1939 was still at 17%), Lyndon Baines Johnson tried it in 1964 with his Great Society and it did not work, now Barack Hussein Obama thinks he is smart enough to make it work. Abraham Lincoln, where are you?
P.

SOME OBSERVATIONS ON CURRENT NEWS COVERAGE

The Denver Post, going all-out to reinstate former University of Colorado professor Ward Churchill and line his attorney’s pockets, ran today (3/25/09) a front-page story by reporter Kevin Vaughan that could easily have been juxtaposed with leftist-liberal columnist Mike Littwin’s views, on page two. Not until we reach page 13B or 29 pages later do we get a different look at this issue in an opinion column by Vincent Carroll. Also, we all know that Bibles are nixed in the courtroom, yet Churchill was able to display a sacred symbol (feather and red cloth) at will. In my opinion, this inconsistency, along with the generous amount of hearsay evidence allowed in this case have been ignored by the media.

The Times-Call (3/25/09) ran a front-page story on the as-expected discovery of blight around the Twin Peaks Mall. This finding, of course, means that the city fully intends to partner financially with the mall company that owns both of Longmont’s shopping malls by diverting tax revenue into the Twin Peaks project through Tax Increment Financing, otherwise this expansion study would not have been needed. Unclear in this story: “The expanded area would bring in an additional $11.8 million in property tax value and $1.6 million in sales tax revenue for a total of more than $32 million.” How’s that again?

The Denver Post, now that the Rocky Mountain News is defunct, is having a field day promoting big government. In a 3/25/09 story headlined “Health care plan gains,” the Post breathlessly tells of a Democratic bill just passed by the Colorado House designed to snatch away $600 million a year from hospitals to pay for government-mandated health insurance. (Where in the Constitution does it provide for that?) Do the Post and these politicians really think that most hospitals are going to surrender that kind of cash meekly and not try to replace it through increased fees placed on all patients? Welcome to the land of make believe –- and price controls.

MORE MANIPULATION BY THE MEDIA

“Trillion-dollar trouble” screamed The Denver Post’s 60-point front-page headline over a two-and-one-half page presentation by reporter David Olinger on 3/20/09, followed by “Hazards in the water,” another two pages of near hysteria two days later -- all detailing how laggard we are for letting Colorado’s infrastructure just fall apart and it’s going to cost $2.2 trillion in the next five years to fix it.

Thusly the Post’s stern lecture series gets off to a feeble start by trying to pin the blame on you and me for somehow failing to address every conceivable infrastructure problem our state faces (where have all the politicians and their comforting press gone?) and forcing people to live in conditions of their own making, such as having to toss dishwater out the back door. No mention is made of governmental foibles such as misdirecting highway funds statewide or the bottomless FasTracks money pit or lack of personal responsibility.

Whose fault is it that our roads and bridges are crumbling? Never mind that the railroads used to build roadbeds and bridges that lasted a long time and did not crumble under the pounding of extraordinarily heavy loads and stress. And oh, they were maintained at a negligible cost, a must factor in the private sector.

Issue: Safe water, sanitary sewers. Haven’t those who choose to live in a rural setting ever heard of caveat emptor? (As most people should know, Colorado abounds in rocky soil, impervious adobe and shale deposits.) Olinger tells of the expensive sewage pumping and exporting necessary in a rural neighborhood but offers no clue as to why installing a modern disposal system would not be cheaper and safer in the long run.

The city of Alamosa’s water problems sound even more devastating (not good news for the local chamber of commerce), but because Colorado municipalities possess the unique authority to issue bonds to provide reasonably safe water and sanitary sewer services without a vote of the people, there is simply no excuse outside of an emergency for Alamosa to be distributing unsafe water. What has happened to the once state law that required domestic water providers in Colorado to publish frequent purity test results in the local newspaper so the people may know?

Not only do these rural and city “victims” apparently refuse to pony up for the most basic of services and repairs or replacements like the rest of us do, they expect us to pay for theirs too.

Unfortunately, this same blame-game is permeating Colorado’s primary and secondary educational system as well, as more and more people look to the state and now the federal government to pay for constructing and repairing their local school facilities. Why not? No use paying for something yourself if you can find someone else to pay for it.

It used to be called sustainability; now the politically correct code words are bailout or stimulus, the obvious reason for this series. I can scarcely wait to see the Post’s next episode to find out what else is my fault. All I can say is, I’ve done my best to try to be a responsible citizen.

WANNA RUN FOR OFFICE IN LONGMONT?
FIRST HIRE A LAWYER AND ACCOUNTANT

As if it isn’t difficult enough already to find qualified people to run for city offices, I wonder if it’s a mistake to keep adding to the red tape that we expect them to cut through in order to be elected. Is it reaching the point of having to hire a lawyer and an accountant in order to run for the office of dog catcher?

Upon volunteering to serve as mayor or councilperson, who wants to risk being fined up to $4,000 by an “election committee” for failing to promptly file some sort of a report required under the city’s convoluted Longmont Fair Campaign Practices Act? That’s right, listed in the newly revised version just adopted by this council is a penalty calling for a fine of $400 per day for up to 10 days. However, a candidate can accept coin or currency (contributions) in excess of the limits set by this Act and escape with a $50 fine. “Encouraging withdrawal from a campaign,” whatever that is, calls for a fine of $499. Beware of misuse of the city’s indicia (official insignia which you may or may not need), that’s a $499 fine. And get this: “Any violation of this Act not otherwise set forth herein, $100.” That covers an awful lot of possibilities. Read this legalese for yourself in Ordinance O-2009-12; I’m not kidding.

Also: If the current Longmont City Council members are serious about keeping partisanship out of city politics -- as stipulated in the City Charter -- then they should have deferred to us (the electorate) the right to choose who we think is suitable to serve on their newly created “election committee.” This panel is being endowed with awesome power and authority over our elections and processes, including conducting a court of law, and each member should be voted on by the people. I do not want to see it packed with the usual ideological activists from either side of the aisle.
That will be hard to avoid, and that’s why the council should stay out of it. Take applications, let the people decide.

LETTERS THAT DO NOT GET PUBLISHED IN THE PAPER

To: Denver Post sports columnist Mark Kiszla, 3/10/09

Carmelo Anthony has great potential but for some reason -– and I’m getting tired of reading and hearing about it –- he is unable to bridge the gap between being a young star and taking over the leadership role that the Nuggets so desperately need. His maturation here has not yielded the hoped-for result and he should be traded, for his benefit and the team’s. I don’t believe the coaching at Cleveland or Utah is superior to Denver’s, yet LeBron James and Deron Williams seem to have no trouble fulfilling their take-charge duties big-time, to which their teammates respond and the fans love every moment.

Thank you Mark Kiszla for not continually blaming fatigue when the Nuggets lose. TV-caster Scott Hastings should be arrested for not coming up with a better excuse. A “tired” Houston bunch came to town and sacked our Nuggets, even though they missed what, 15 free throws?

And oh, I hope Dean Singleton hustles you guys up some advertising so we can continue reading your stuff. Lots of copy and skimpy ads in a 10-page section is an ominous sign but I don’t have to tell you that.
P.

MANIPULATIVE MEDIA

AURORA, the essence of Colorado’s once high-flying cities, is experiencing a budget shortfall (isn’t everybody?), so the Denver Post comes up with a story on 3/12/09 headlined “Hard times for Aurora libraries.” Unfortunately, the Post falls for the same old formula used by politicians to get what they want (more money) by threatening immediate cuts in popular services such as libraries (and filling potholes in the streets.) And like good little boys and girls the taxpayers will probably open their pocketbooks wide.

SPEAKING OF good little boys and girls, Ward Churchill’s tort lawyer has lots of so-called journalists in the region’s print and electronic news media pretty much wrapped around his finger. This case may have to go through the U.S. Supreme Court before we ordinary citizens find out if it is possible for a college professor to hide behind the First Amendment for committing academic violations for which he was duly tried and found guilty by his own peers.

TALKING ABOUT M&M (manipulative media), it looks like we’ve got a suspect ahead. Suddenly blossoming out with their own taxpayer-funded newspaper (isn’t that nice?), could it be that the members of Longmont City Council see an election lurking on the horizon? Possibly, but there may be something else going on here: the growing tendency of those who govern us, even at the local level, of wanting us to believe that we cannot exist or even live our lives correctly without their voluminous official information being poked down our throats in one way or another. As everyone knows, the City already has numerous communication avenues (most of which we can take or leave) including person-to-person, a Web site (which could stand some upgrading), utility-bill enclosures, two exclusive TV channels, weekly meetings, a local daily newspaper that's legitimate, and local FM and AM radio stations. But what better way to attract favorable attention than to control the content of and periodically distribute a newspaper to every mailbox in the city. Who is next to enter this costly publicity game? Will the Boulder County Commissioners soon be publishing their own newspaper, courtesy of the taxpayers and distributing it to us? How about the St. Vrain Valley school district? Shouldn’t RTD be putting out a newspaper also to communicate with us about FasTracks? Oh, and DRCOG and Gov. Ritter and the state Legislature, wow! Just think of all the possibilities. First thing you know our mailboxes will be stuffed with government propaganda -- just like the turkeys that we are.
P.

Commentary

TOO LITTLE WE KNOW, TOO LATE

“Tree thinning at Heil Valley Ranch.” The Longmont Times-Call reported in its 3/6/09 edition that contractors have been brought in to “thin” (clear-cut, as the excellent and disturbing accompanying photo shows) 163 acres of trees on this taxpayer-owned property. Just how Boulder County’s open-space czar can unleash mayhem such as this on the environment without the public knowing about it until after we see a gigantic machine actually chewing up the forest and destroying habitat, is beyond the pale.

There are excuses all over the place, of course. Those responsible call it “healthy destruction.” But what sense does it make, especially in Colorado where it’s so terribly hard to grow anything green because of the thin air, short season and lack of moisture, to deliberately defeat natural replacement? There is nothing new about insect infestations and fires. If the county Open Space bureaucrats were truly interested in saving the forest from insect infestations, they would use insecticides and be done with it. Cutting the infected trees may slow, but it is not going to stop the offending beetles which will simply move on to infect and kill more trees. Likewise, if these county bureaucrats were truly interested in preventing forest fires, they would allow the careful, commercial harvesting of timber and underbrush to create breaks so that the taxpayers would at least not have to shell out $250,000 for periodical “thinning” – an amount that more appropriately should have gone toward repaying the huge $192,000,000 debt run up on us taxpayers by the unelected officials running the Boulder County Open Space department. Relevantly, was this quarter-million dollar job put out for bid?

“This project will make the forest resemble the ones settlers saw when they first arrived in Colorado … a mosaic of uneven-aged forest,” the news story said. Well, who knows what they actually saw? To try to replicate the past is a nice dream but there are many things about Colorado that no amount of money or good intentions can ever bring back. (Note: My great-grandparents settled on the east-central prairie of Colorado in 1888. I’ve lived here all my life. Gone from that region where I grew up is most all of the “tall grass”; but buffalo grass, a sturdy, nutritious drought-resistant variety has survived and taken over, naturally.)

The message? Rather than tinkering, sometimes it’s better to do nothing.
P.

Letter to Longmont Times-Call
Published 3/5/09

IMPROVING PROPOSED CAMPAIGN RULES

I see that Longmont’s Fair Campaign Practices Act is being revised by our City Council. For some of us who occasionally get interested in what goes into the sausage as it’s being made, here are a few ingredients that I think might be added to make it better (if not already included.) For example:

To be fair, powerful outside political influences such as the Denver branch of a national organization known as ProgressNowColorado.org, which has been very active here, should be barred from local politics. We’re supposed to have a city law against playing partisan politics, but by identifying themselves merely as a “think tank” they’re home free. If City Council truly intends for our city elections to be “local and nonpartisan,” then it should clearly define what that means and enforce it.

Likewise, If the genuine goal is to keep Longmont elections in the hands of bona fide Longmont residents, then something has to be done about people who live outside the city limits but insist on becoming quite involved in city politics anyway, even though they are ineligible to vote here.

Also, I’m not sure it’s wise to be putting the City Clerk into the role of accuser, judge, prosecutor and jury, all at the same time, when it comes to allegations of violating provisions of the Fair Campaign Practices Act.

I’m not challenging her ability to engage in all of those roles, but I think in a smaller city such as Longmont the executive function should be kept separate from the judiciary. That one or one-thousand former candidates may not have liked the decision a city judge handed out, is no reason to bypass the courts –- if, indeed, that’s what this specific revision is about.

And please, we’re debating policy here. So keep your cool.
P.

Letter to Erie (CO) Review
Published 3/4/09

DON’T TAKE HONOR AWAY FROM LEON A. WURL

No, no, no! That’s my response to the Erie Town Board’s apparent decision to rename the Leon A. Wurl Parkway. To rob this man of his legacy is to dishonor his unselfish contributions to the town. (Number one on my list in that regard is Erie’s Safeway Shopping Center, which he landed almost single-handedly right away.) After all, it was the town’s leaders who hired him in 1994 to come in and spur Erie’s growth, and did he ever comply -- perhaps too fast, some of us who lived there thought. But that’s not the point.

If the current Erie Town Board seeks uniformity in street names, why not simply change the name of the entire route of this arterial between U.S. 287 and I-25 to Wurl Parkway?

Despite the criticisms leveled by me (and others) at Leon Wurl regarding some of his administrative policies over the years, he was an outstanding leader in his profession and deserves the quasi-permanent recognition that a street name offers. Buildings, unlike streets, as you know, can come and go.

Give this man his just dues.
P.

Letters that don't get published:
3/3/09 to The Denver Post

Re “Legislature 2009 - Senate debate turns ugly,” news story in the emerged Denver Post, 3/3/09, bylined Tim Hoover.

Attaway, Denver Post: The conservatives are always the bad guys and the liberals know exactly what’s best for us. It’s this sort of crapola woven into the news columns that drove me away from the Post to the News years ago.

If Greg Moore cannot or will not sanitize the Post’s news columns, which seems apparent, then I have no desire as a transferee to stick around.

Sell your ideology on your editorial pages where it won’t stand in the way of disinterested reporting. Please.

–Percy Conarroe

Published 2/26/09
in the Old Berthoud (CO) Bulletin

ANOTHER LANDMARK BITES THE DUST

I appreciated Melanie Crane’s letter of 2/11/09. Although I do not live in Berthoud, I will miss the Wayside Inn. My wife and I discovered its delicious fried chicken over 50 years ago, while motoring from Simla where we published the local newspaper (1952-65) to Fort Collins to attend a football game. I’m wondering if rerouting U.S. 287 (while probably virtuous in many respects) had anything to do with the closing of the Wayside or other businesses.

Ms. Crane also mentions the eternal problem faced by many a small town: that of preserving its unique ambiance while at the same time trying to modernize. Apparently Berthoud is no exception.

I can only say that, in Louisville where we lived (1965-98), the city, despite my editorial protestations went ahead and installed decorative “elephant ears” to modernize Main Street. Later, when parking problems arose, business owners asked the city to please remove the protruding concrete obstacles to open up more spaces -- but the city said no, it would cost too much. They’re still there.

As for business owners everywhere, I believe that they can do a lot to help themselves by advertising regularly in the hometown newspaper(s). Thank you for letting an “outsider” comment.
P.

A REPUBLICAN, REALLY?

By co-sponsoring liberal legislation to remove a cap on state spending, Rep. Don Marostica of Loveland is abandoning a basic tenet of his own party: limited government.

If Marostica is unable to uphold and defend his party’s principles at crunch-time, then he should personally repay every dollar that the Republicans spent on electing him to the Colorado Legislature.

The quicker the GOP rids itself of the Snowes, the Collinses, the Specters and now the Marosticas, the stronger –- and more reliable -- the party will be.

Wasn't it Benjamin Franklin who said that if we don't hang together, we will all hang together?
P.

LETTERS THAT DO NOT
GET PUBLISHED

Re: The Denver Post’s Perspective, 2-15-09, “Newspapers: The press will survive …”

Of all the foolish ways to try to preserve America’s freedom of the press, Mark Eddy’s government bailout proposal is the worst. The only fair way is to let the marketplace decide.

He uses the popular Thomas Jefferson quote of preferring newspapers to government (1787), but fails to note that Jefferson came to loathe the press, e.g.: “As for what is not true, you will always find abundance in the newspapers,” 1806; “Nothing can now be believed which is seen in a newspaper,” 1807, and “Advertisements contain the only truths to be relied on in a newspaper,” 1819.

But, of course, we journalists do not want the public to hear about that.

Eddy says, and I agree, “We need newspapers in every community.” He should go out and buy a small-town newspaper operation where he can help preserve freedom of the press the voluntary way. If people appreciate the contents of his publication, they will subscribe; advertisers will notice, and he is likely to succeed. If they do not like it, he will fail – as he should.

Starting out flat broke, I was there for 50 years –- without a bailout, and somehow I managed.
P.

Submitted to the Rocky Mountain News
Not published

HARDLY A CHOICE POLITICALLY WHEN
COMPETING PAPERS EMBRACE LIBERALISM

I do not know how publisher John Temple expects the Rocky Mountain News to continue to be known as the loyal opposition newspaper when he allows his opinion pages to reflect the same anti-conservatism as that of The Denver Post. Some examples from the Rocky’s opinion pages, Saturday (2/14/09) combined edition:

--“Presidents on a pedestal.” Many of us who lived in the FDR era know he was not a great president. One of the biggest liars ever, he promised to never send American boys overseas to fight on foreign soil, only to see 292,131 Americans die in battle. The authors’ list of bad presidents omitted the only two who were ever impeached: Democrats Andrew Johnson and William Clinton, then they fawn over liberal icon Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. who, with Eleanor Roosevelt, helped found Americans for Democratic Action.

--Garrison Keillor. A talented entertainer he is, but the anti-conservative bigotry he so deftly weaves into his writing should either be edited out or the column itself dropped.

--Mike Littwin. The reigning liberals will apparently escape his mad-dog style of writing; he has ignored several juicy opportunities. To be fair, Mr. Temple should now hire a replacement to write slash-to-the-bone commentaries about the Democrats.
P.

CUT LEGAL EXPENSES, CONFERENCES, CONSULTANTS

By Percy Conarroe
Special to the Times-Call
Published 2/17/09

Budget problems. How serious can the Longmont City Council be about running short of money when it went out and hired a pricey law firm to try to keep the town of Firestone from annexing the LifeBridge Christian Church project? The bill to the taxpayers “so far” for pursuing this anti-church mischief is $68,000, we’re told, and it isn’t over yet. Don’t we already have on staff lawyers who are supposed to be well versed in municipal law and litigation, including annexations? If this council does not have a savvy lead-attorney aboard by now who can plead these cases, after sending the last one packing, why not? Or, better yet, drop this costly, frivolous lawsuit.

My, oh my. Does anyone keep track of how many thousands of dollars this “progressive” council is spending on consultants to do studies and give advice? It’s hard to tell which consultants are necessary and which ones are hired to have somebody to blame if things go wrong. If that happens though, they’re usually long gone.

And what is this council doing to improve its relationship with the business community, especially the retail businesses that collect and forward the city’s sales taxes to City Hall? Believe it or not, it has lowered the vendor’s fee, the amount the businesses affected would ordinarily get to keep for collecting the sales tax, keeping track of it and periodically remitting the total to the city with a report under penalty of law, reducing the fee from $100 to $25. So businesses that already pay double the property-tax rate for the joy of doing business get no break, and scarcely anyone notices or cares. Then the council majority (and their cheerleaders who march redundantly to the podium at City Hall, often causing long meetings; where’s that 3-minute gavel, Mr. Mayor?) wonder why more people don’t go into business to generate more sales tax revenue.

If this council is serious about reducing expenses, it could take serious steps, e.g.: quit paying the over $40,000 a year into the Colorado Municipal League for banquets for city officials and lobbying; skip the trip to Washington D.C. (congratulations to those who’ve seen the light but why is the unelected manager going?); cancel the Portland trip; if applicable, stop paying personal membership dues of city employees into professional organizations; and revoke all but the most critically needed city-issued credit cards. But no, instead, in the face of Longmont’s crime wave, two additional police officers will not be hired, the City Library budget may be slashed by $25,000, and who knows what else will be cut to emphasize the shortfall.

Wait and see is not good enough. In addition to other actions, it is my opinion that one critical choice must be made by this city council immediately: Does it intend for the city of Longmont to be a welfare agency or not? I submit that our local city budget simply cannot support the additional financial needs of federal and state entitlement programs, for which we already pay taxes at higher levels of government (federal, state and county), and at the same time provide here in Longmont adequate police and fire protection (the basic purpose of government), fix the streets (examples, the east-bound lane of 9th Ave. from Francis to Gay is crumbling and Hover Street’s concrete is cracking), and have a decent parks system, a modern library, recreation center, and so forth.

Thus, the potential “Thistle” involvement in the downtown parking garage project bears watching. Some see “employee housing” as an attractive part of this project, but just how conducive a parking-garage environment is to the rearing of small children is questionable. Mixing housing with business in the heart of downtown Longmont is a poor plan, best suited to big cities and expensive lofts. Also, am I to believe that Longmont’s historic downtown ambiance will be enhanced by adding a massive urban parking garage? If somebody has $16 million to spend (plus interest) on the “parking problem,” why not purchase rundown close-in business properties as they come on the market, scrape off the improvements and use the land for employee parking? There are several sites that meet this criterion today. And please, I’m for a viable downtown.

Oh, you say, I’m a naysayer and the best, long-term answer is to simply “raise taxes and fees” or wait for a bailout. Sure. Unfortunately, in all of government, adaptability is an underestimated and misunderstood word. We need to see more of it in Longmont City Hall.

THE LIBERAL WINDS ARE BLOWING
IN OUR COLORADO LEGISLATURE

In a propaganda "special” to Sunday’s 2/1/09 Longmont Times-Call titled “Mounting an offensive drive for Colorado’s economy,” Democratic state Sen. Brandon C. Shaffer who represents Longmont points to several “innovative and creative” programs that he and his liberal colleagues are working on, but in no case does he mention who is going to pay for them and in most cases the details are as thin as rarified air. Let’s take a look at the programs Shaffer cites.

--Sen. Dan Gibbs(D) and Rep. Joe Rice(D) introduced a bill called FASTER that allegedly will create thousands of jobs fixing structurally deficient roads and bridges without raising fees and/or taxes?

--Sen. Rollie Heath(D) and Rep. Jim Riesburg(D) have a plan to “improve and expand the development of clean technology discoveries” at our colleges and universities. Fine, but Shaffer should explain how this is going to be accomplished without raising taxes and/or tuition amidst a recession, and what about the private educational institutions of higher learning that are not supping at the public trough?

--Sen. Gail Schwartz(D) has a plan “to put hundreds of Emergency Technicians to work almost immediately” after they relocate to Colorado. She actually wants the state to issue provisional licenses allowing them to compete for existing EMT jobs immediately upon moving here? How do we know that the state they came from has adequate rules governing EMT qualifications?

--Democratic Gov. Bill Ritter has a nice-sounding plan, which Shaffer endorses, “to increase the availability of credit” to small businesses throughout the state. How this can be done without expanding the federal and state bureaucracies and dealing with their endless red tape, which already hinders most small businesses, would be a miracle indeed.

And lastly, where is the bipartisanship in all of this? They are all designed by tax-and-spend liberals.
P.

Published 1/31/09 in
the Longmont Times-Call

T-C LINE CALLERS SHOULD NOT BE
ALLOWED TO BREAK THE RULES

The Times-Call’s rules for the T-C Line say that calls that are highly critical of local individuals or organizations or that disagree with opinions stated in signed letters to the editor will not be used. But what about using calls that AGREE with the derogatory opinions expressed in a signed letter that were personally directed at another letter writer?

Such seems to be the fate of Ida Mae Ray, whose letter stating some of her religious beliefs was published on 1/23/09. On 1/25/09, a rebuttal letter extremely critical of Ray from Vicki Mead appeared.

What adds salt to the wound in this episode is the cleverly devised attack on Ray, without even mentioning her name, that followed in Monday’s (1/26/09) T-C Line, “Hear, Hear, to Letter Writer” -- four responses which seem to have turned the signed-letters limitation on its head. Either that, or maybe the T-C rules need tightening to assure fairness to all open-forum contributors. Any discussion on this?

Disclosure: I do not know either person named here.

P.

LETTERS SUBMITTED THAT DO NOT
GET PRINTED IN THE NEWSPAPER

Reference: "American Tale," p. 19, 1/24/09 Rocky Mountain News.

By devoting nearly two broadsheet pages (a whopping 164.5 col. Inches of news space) to glorify Gov. Bill Ritter’s appointment to the U.S. Senate, the Rocky Mountain News confirms that Denver may need only one major newspaper, after all.

Two supposedly opposing publications with both using their news columns to further the new liberal Progressive political machine in Colorado is one too many. About the only distinction now between the News and The Denver Post is in their editorial pages, but that too at the News is being overrun with Progressive-minded columnists, e.g. instead of Tom Sowell, we get a C.U. professor of law.

That Michael Bennet comes from a notable background is touching, but what he does not know about Colorado would probably fill a book. This handicap was made embarrassingly clear when Ritter had to take him around the state to introduce him. At whose expense will he gain experience?

Promoting political ideology in the news columns is not an honorable journalistic mission. Small wonder the press is going down the tubes.

(s) Percy Conarroe

NEIGHBOR HELPED LOUISVILLE (COLO.) RESIDENTS ENJOY LIBRARY SERVICE
IN EARLY DAYS, IS IT TIME NOW TO RECIPROCATE AND SHARE WITH SUPERIOR?

Typical of small mining towns, Louisville had to struggle for its economic sustenance during its heyday and even more so, after the coal mines closed down in the 1950s. There were not many amenities, such as a well-stocked public library, that these settlements could afford.

Having lived there while publishing the Louisville Times for 33 years (1965-98), I watched the Louisville Public Library evolve from a meager collection of mostly resident-contributed books in a backroom at City Hall, into a wing of Leon Wurl’s renovated on-site structure in the mid-1970s, then into the spacious two-story Fischer Building a half-block down the street in 1989, purchased for $660,000 through the same $5.3 million bond issue that built the Louisville Recreation Center. Thanks to a recent bond issue, the library has expanded into custom-built quarters just across the street -- a splendid achievement.

A long time before the Conarroes came to town, the Saturday Study Club, a plucky group of local women, helped fund the Louisville Public Library to keep it operating. Vera Taylor was a mainstay of this group. Townspeople I recall who served as librarians at a very modest salary included Marian Thirlaway, Larella Stout, Emmajane Enrietto, Pam Ferris, Eileen Schmidt, and my wife Carolyn.

The point here is that, for decades, had it not been for dedicated volunteers, plus access to the Colorado State Library system and the gracious cooperation of the Boulder Public Library in lending its books without charge to the Louisville Library for circulation to its patrons, the local library service would have been severely handicapped indeed.

Remembering the unfettered sharing by Boulder’s main library for the benefit of Louisville residents, I was ashamed to see the brouhaha develop between the town of Superior and city of Louisville over the use of the new Louisville Public Library, dissension that unfortunately ended in mutual disgust and mistrust.

The Louisville City Council is in command, no doubt about that. And yes, it costs a lot of money to build, stock, maintain and operate a modern library, but isn’t it the purpose of a public library to distribute information and incidentals to everyone at the lowest fee possible? I wonder, what kind of a society is it that would deliberately deny books to children?

Superior’s offer of $100,000 a year seemed fair; any figure beyond that looked like blackmail to me. In lieu of a direct subsidy, it is perfectly fair to charge outsiders a user’s fee; but unless that fee is uniform and applied equally to all outsiders, it is clearly discriminatory. Where is the ACLU on this issue?

Yet another factor figures into this equation: Because of a favor that the developer of the new Superior, Larry Mizel, once did for Louisville, I’m surprised that anyone in Louisville could now claim “they (Superior) have never done anything for us, so why should we (Louisville) accommodate them?”

Well, it was Mizel who had the capital and the clout to tap into the Northern Colorado-Big Thompson (Colorado River) Project for water that he critically needed to supply his ambitious Superior development.

Boulder had Big T water, and Broomfield was hooked to Denver water, but for the first time Western Slope water was made available to local municipalities that had been dependent almost solely on over-appropriated Eastern Slope water from South Boulder Creek and Coal Creek – a major breakthrough.

Mizel’s bold project involved construction of a large pipeline from Carter Lake near Berthoud to Superior. This made it possible for first Louisville and later Erie to hook into Big T and buy shares, solving to a great extent not only Mizel’s water-supply problem, but also Louisville’s and Erie’s growth needs as well.

Library alternatives for the town of Superior? Forming a library district would be nice, but it’s highly improbable, as is the possibility of Louisville establishing a Superior branch. Superior might try building its own library, but with such elaborate libraries established in Louisville, Lafayette, Broomfield and Boulder, so close by, that does not seem likely and appears superfluous. And, fend-for-yourself is not a good answer.

All things considered, history tells me that Louisville’s current City Council should rethink its attitude and policy, go back to the negotiating table, and unselfishly share Louisville’s fine new library with the neighbors in Superior -- as another neighboring city once did, for the sake of Louisville.
P.

Published in The Colorado Statesman, Denver
1-2-2009

CRITICS, COMPETITORS OUTSMARTED IN DENVER NEWSPAPER WAR

After six years, the Joint Operating Agreement between The Denver Post and Rocky Mountain News, designed to save the latter, is grinding down, a financial failure. News owner Scripps wants out, even if it means shuttering the News.

Self-styled newspaper critics can pontificate all over the place about blame, cause and effect, but in the driver’s seat is Dean Singleton, a brilliant print-media magnate who is just too smart for them and, so far, his growing list of competitors including the once-mighty Scripps.

Noted for playing his cards close to his vest, Singleton deserves credit for his guts, energy and tenacity. He can play either side of the JOA game and currently is involved in apparently the minority role in daily newspapers in Detroit, Salt Lake City and Charleston, W.V.

His privately held company MediaNews Group has blossomed into one of America’s largest predominantly paid-circulation newspaper chains. He owns, operates or has his fingers in at least 60 dailies and 97 non-dailies. Critics can holler "monopoly," but realistically the newspaper business is so tough today that numerous of these communities might not have a local newspaper of record if it were not for Singleton. They all can’t be winners.

In Colorado besides the Post, his company owns or operates at least five dailies and six non-dailies -- still behind Swift Communication’s six dailies and seven non-dailies, although Reno-based Swift just closed down its weekly Valley Journal at Carbondale.

Just how far Singleton can extend his newspaper empire before it too collapses along with other newspaper chains under the weight of the numbing decline in the industry itself and now the economy, remains to be seen. Together these crippling factors also make it almost impossible for start-ups to succeed, even in non-competitive markets.

It’s no secret that Singleton chairs the Denver Newspaper Agency, which controls both Denver dailies and his other Colorado affiliates. The newspaper business is not your ordinary creature, yet it has one thing in common with most other commercial enterprises in that who ever allocates the money usually also gets to call the shots.

Still, the lack of full, transparent financial disclosure by both principals in this Denver fight to the finish is bothersome. Reports kept saying all along that the Post was making money while the News was losing its shirt. How could that be?

Scripps’ other Colorado newspapers, the Boulder Daily Camera, Colorado Daily and Broomfield Enterprise, are also in the DNA mix and the Camera announced Dec. 18 that it is doing nicely financially.

Critics can quibble over page-size affecting advertising revenue (News=tabloid vs. Post=journal) but that should make no difference if under the JOA the combined total was supposed to be split. Both, as do most dailies, overcharge for classifieds and capitalize on obituaries -- not good ways to enhance the image of a caring press serving the public.

Retail businesses started moving away from run-of-press advertising years ago when newspapers, dailies especially, decided to deliver preprinted inserts, not a few but by the ton, at discounted prices. In the Denver market where circulation has held on pretty well considering, there may not be enough ROP left for two major dailies to wrap their news and commentary around. In contrast, the WSJ and USA Today seem to thrive without inserts.

Couple that complication with the unforgiving Internet, and it’s doubly unlikely that any sane publisher would want to face-off with Singleton in Denver, whether in or out of a JOA. Under the current JOA with the News he has veto power over any successor thereto. All parties involved including the Justice Department signed off on that stipulation, so that’s that.

For some of us with printer’s ink and metal in our veins (mine comes from 50 years of editing and publishing Colorado small-town newspapers) the answer to whether Denver can continue to have competing major daily newspapers lies within its retail business establishments and their advertising agencies. It’s their decision and so far they’ve said no.

Newspapers get results but cannot publish on desire alone. Wake up, Denver!

(Conarroe served as president of the Colorado Press Association in 1981 and is an honorary lifetime member. Before retiring in 1998, he and his family last published the Louisville Times, Lafayette News, Erie Review and Superior Observer.)
P.