That's how it is. Period.

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Colorado Municipal League: Spend taxes electioneering?


(To meet space requirements, a shortened version of this commentary appeared in the 7-18-10 Longmont Times-Call letters column.)

Painful budget problems seem to have faded into a bad dream as hi ho, hi ho, it was off to the mountains they went, 450 officials representing Colorado towns and cities to attend the annual summer outing of the taxpayer-funded Colorado Municipal League, June 22-25 at Breckenridge.

Longmont tied with Glendale for sending the largest delegation: 14. Others from the region: Boulder 11, Loveland 8, Mead 7, Erie 7, Lafayette 6, Denver 4, Firestone 4, Dacono 4, Frederick 3, Berthoud 2; Louisville 1.

Annual CML dues for example: Longmont contributes $44,276; Glendale, $7,650; Boulder, $69,284; Loveland, $33,089; Mead, $1,229; Erie, $2,134; Lafayette, $12,636; Denver, $148,523; Firestone, $1,263; Dacono, $1,259; Frederick, $1,643; Berthoud, $2,771; Louisville, $16,169.

Longmont Mayor Bryan Baum and five council members attended: Sarah Levison, Sean McCoy, Alex Sammoury, Katie Witt and Gabe Santos. They all stayed two nights; each received $113.63 mileage reimbursement (227.26 miles @ $.50).

City manager Gordon Pedrow, assistant Sandi Seader (she was on the program), city attorney Eugene Mei and deputy attorney Jay Rourke also stayed two nights. Assistant attorneys Jeffrey Friedland and Ed Yosses stayed one night. Pedrow and Mei apparently drove city-issued vehicles. Mileage reimbursements: Rourke, $46,97; Friedland, $47.70; Yosses, $57.07; Seader, $56.50. Planner Benjamin Ortiz and purchasing manager Danielle Hinz were also on the program and didn’t stay overnight. Hinz was reimbursed $18.05 for one meal and Ortiz drew $113.63 mileage.

Total expense: $8,295.

After reading the Times-Call afterwards, I’d say Longmont got the biggest bang for its buck – in embarrassment, that is, as the struggle for power slopped over from Longmont into the nice mountain getaway. Having lived in six different communities myself (one of which I served as mayor and would not allow it to join CML), too many people who get elected to council in Longmont nowadays think they are mayor and they are not. You simply cannot have 14 hands on the steering wheel and expect to stay out of the ditch.

Apparently unappreciative of the taxpayers back home that make the Breckenridge festivities possible, the Colorado Municipal League issued this announcement which appeared in USA Today’s state-by-state roundup for 6-25-10:

Colorado: Breckenridge Communities across the state are gearing up to fight three tax-limit initiatives on the November ballot. Members of the Colorado Municipal League are targeting Proposition 101, which would reduce automobile and telecommunications taxes; Amendment 60, which would cancel voter authorized tax-limit overrides; and Amendment 61, which would limit government borrowing.

So they’re gearing up to use our tax money to influence our votes. How nice. And all along I thought it was unlawful for the government (and its agencies) to participate in the electoral process.

About Me

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Retired in 1998 after a 50-year career of editing and publishing Colorado small-town weekly newspapers. He served as president of the Colorado Press Association in 1981 and was awarded an honorary lifetime membership.