JOURNAL 02/26/06

All right, so I've once again been AWOL on my GVCA reports. This one isn't
likely to be comprehensive, either.

The most important thing I need to note is that we are looking for a couple
more volunteers for the 9 Health Fair Fund-raiser, perhaps a kitchen
assistant (I think Patrick prefers folks who know their way around, which
certainly cuts me out) and possibly a dishwasher, although Richard is
confident in his ability to man the sinks.

Remember, under our official rules, you can gain/maintain membership in the
GVCA through either annual dues or participation in group activities, and
this counts as one of the three (I think that's the correct number)
activities required each year (attending meetings, either ours or
governmental, counts too). If you would like to volunteer, I guess the best
thing to do would be to reply to this e-list, because I'm not sure who is
coordinating the volunteers.

And if you don't want to work the fund-raiser but still want to help out,
several of us have tickets for sale (as does Patrick at the restaurant). You
don't even have to attend, if you don't want, although I can highly
recommend the food.

It takes place March 11, 5-7:30 (or maybe it's 5:30-7 -- one of those).
Tickets are $10, and since the Farrells are donating the food and their
labor, every penny of that $10 goes toward health fair vouchers. If you or
somene you know is interested in obtaining a voucher, which will provide the
health screenings free of charge, you should check with your medical
practitioner or the hospital. The fair itself is some Saturday in April, but
I don't remember which one.

***
Since I've been sick, and lethargic, and just generally a slacker, many,
many actions/thoughts/possibilities have taken place, plus I've been
reading, and you all know how that goes.

However, I have maybe 25 minutes left in which to devote to this this
morning, and I'm still feeling rather unfocused.

I attended city council last night, rather than watching it on TV, and I'm
just going to publicly apologize right now for endorsing Bill Nesbitt at the
last election. Single-handedly, he turned a one-hour meeting into a two-hour
extravaganza of grandstanding.

Rick Miller gave a very clear, concise report on the mess Region 10 has
devolved into (more on the report/situation at some other time), and
suddenly there were we, in Montrose in 1977, reliving the genesis of the
executive board and the RLF (which I know is the Revolving Loan Fund,
although Bill never bothered to explain that or its purpose).

I have a long memory too, as does probably everyone on council and most of
the staff present last night, all of us being long-timers. In fact, perhaps
what council could use next election is an infusion of newer blood, to
represent a segment of the population that currently has little immediate
representation (if we added up the number of years in Gunnison for the
council members, the city manager, the city clerk and the finance director,
we'd get to a pretty high number darn quick. Which isn't necessarily bad,
and -- except for Bill -- often provides shorthand on the background of an
issue without having to rehash it).

But where Bill drew ire (needlessly) from not just me last night was his
incessant questioning (which gets applied uniformly across all subjects,
thus lengthening meetings almost unbearably) of the Farmers Market
application.

He didn't intend to be malicious, and I'm sure he just genuinely wanted to
know, and it didn't help that the application, which was a do-over from last
year's, had one slot where "the GVCA for the Gunison Farmers Market" was
listed as the applicant, but really, what possible business is it of city
council what a privately-held non-profit does with the money it takes in? If
Dennis Steckel Realtors doesn't need to explain to the city what it does
with its profit, why should the Farmers Market or any other entity? The
relevant factors for city council, which does provide the permit that allows
the market to operate on a city street, are that the market is growing local
businesses, creating a community (as Beth Avery noted), causing visitors to
stop and possibly spend some money locally, and that the market generated
approximately $850 in city sales tax dollars from 16 days of operation last
year.

Bill's question was answered (the money the market took in was spent on
advertising, entertainment and insurance, with a tiny bit left over to start
advertising this year's market), but really, it should never have been
asked. As many of the questions he asks should not be.

He spent 30 minutes trying to get the council to take an official city
position opposing the proposed start time change at the school district,
although other council members told him if he had concerns, he needed to
take them to the responsible body, the school board.

So that's my own long-winded approach to saying I'm sorry. I won't do it
again. I may make other mistakes, but not that one twice.

Okay, and now that I've spent most of my minutes venting my spleen (a
pleasant walk home from the meeting failed to take care of it, I see now),
perhaps I will touch on some issues and come back to them perhaps tomorrow.
Or not. It depends on the Slacker Factor.

City Council: Wendy Hansen gave a crackerjack report on the 2005 financial
picture for the city, and our revenues exceeded projections by about
$900,000. Our electric rates are increasing without comment from the public
(no one spoke at the hearing), but it should be noted that an analysis
recommended an increase of 11%, but the city managed to cut some costs and
keep the increase to 6% for residential. Our police chief is looking for
some money to beef up the department's tactical squad, for which he made a
far better case than I personally was expecting. We're getting a new sewer
cam, and we're buying property from Western Lumber to increase the
right-of-way on Bidwell Avenue, which will likely be a primary access point
for West Gunnison development. We are getting a $50,000 grant from the state
to help fund a study of the West Gunnison area (the pasturage between A&W
and Twin Pines Trailer Park, essentially). Rick Miller gave two reports on
meetings, the Region 10 (potentially poised to collapse, it sounds like) and
Colorado Municipal League, which is opposing all five proposed immigration
reform bills in front of the state legislature.

City Planning Commission: Ellen reported to council last night that one
chapter of the master plan is almost nearing completion. Meetings are taking
place weekly. Ellen also talked about conditional uses and the problems of
enforcement. The city commission also heard a presentation from Denise of
the Housing Authority. Oh, and mark your calendars for the Smart Growth
workshop Kim Antonucci is putting together some Thursday in March (dates are
not my thing today, apparently).

RE-1J: No apparent progress on the agenda publication request front, but the
superintendent selection committee has already conducted site visits to the
districts of both Steves. The start time shift proposal remains a
contentious issue.

Detention Facility: The committee is meeting again March 2 (I wrote that one
down!), but the city has determined the new facility will require 140+
parking spaces, and finding those anywhere near the current site could be
problematical. (As an aside, matters won't be helped if parking behind the
second block of North Main is converted to a privately-owned park. Parks are
nice, but so is parking that's not in front of my shop, where some business
person already daily plants her car.)

Essential Housing: The proposal could find itself undergoing dramatic
change, but the last public meeting, rather than resulting in complaints,
offered up suggestions for solutions and showed a community engaged in
collaboration. So, a successful process underway, if not any end product
yet. 

RTA: A sketch plan is going to be drawn up for a public ground
transportation system between Gunnison and Mt. Crested Butte. Then the
discussion will focus on financing and control of the system.

Immigration: We will have a guest speaker on March 12 at our GVCA meeting.
James Johnson from Denver, who is coordinating the opposition to anticipated
immigration reform legislation (the Tom Tancredo mindset), will be talking
to us about strategies and possible actions. The reason the CML is opposing
the current bills is because they all turn local law enforcement and public
officials such as Human Services into INS agents. It would totally change
the relationship between people who assist the immigrant community and the
immigrants, who are already reluctant to come forward as victims of crime.

County: Gas and oil drilling applications are starting to come in, so far
all of them from the Somerset/Marble area. The county can do little other
than review roads, because the power is all at the federal level. And the
whisperings are gathering around the fringes: Hazeldon Construction has at
least three major projects in the Mt. CB area that could pull in anywhere
from 400 to 1,100 additional workers starting this summer. They'll all need
to stay somewhere.

I am now late, and haven't even gotten to my reading list. Another e-mail,
another time. I hope to get back to you on some of these items with more
detail, but who knows when --or even if -- that will really happen.

TL