C'mon Bob! Give it a rest.

It was my unfortunate luck to wake up this morning and see another long diatribe sent out by Robert Rowland.  Just when I thought we had heard the last from this misinformed master of hyperbole, he sticks his head up out of the brackish green waters of his pond and croaks another loathsome song about the evils of his arch nemesis, Jill Duvall. 

Rowland is incapable of understanding why people listen to anybody other than himself. He does not understand that he is the reason people look to citizens like Jill for information.  Every possible malady in this county is attributed by Commissioner Rowland to a leftist agenda from a party which has not had an elected commissioner in office since Bob Hall.  People who were not even born when Mr. Hall was in office just voted in the last election.  

Your party has had a couple of decades to get this growth issue well in hand, Mr. Rowland.  We just voted in the next four years of Republican leadership, Bob.  When are you going to realize that political parties do not make positive change?  Leaders make positive change.  Following your logic, we should be looking at Weld County in the rear view mirror as we put our pedal to the metal to pass Douglas County.  Face it, Mr. Rowland, your legacy in this county's history is that you will go down as the guy who accomplished little except bringing the term "ethics violations" to the forefront of Elbert County vernacular.

I have been deeply involved in the movement to make people aware of water issues since well before I moved to Elbert County nearly twenty years ago.  Gaye and I have tried to help people understand how clean water aquifers work.  We have helped hundreds of people gain control of their water rights by showing them how to adjudicate them.  We do not always agree with the reasons people choose to adjudicate their water rights, but we understand that the more people become involved, the longer this finite resource will be around in the future. Ours is not an agenda of no growth. Growth is inevitable. Ours is an agenda of smart growth that allows a voice to everyone because the rooftops are coming.

 Almost everyone in this county is dependent upon groundwater.  That is truth.  Anything that puts our groundwater in jeopardy or adversely impacts it is going to be scrutinized by those who wish to live here.  That is not hyperbole. There is no political affiliation when it comes to the need for water to survive.  

If Mr. Rowland believes that Jill Duvall is being asked just to speak to groups of predominantly "leftist Democratic" property owners, then he is delusional.  Drive County Road 158, Mr. Rowland.  Look at the multitude of signs opposing the  Independence development.  See how many people are flying a Gadsden flag to which you so proudly cling as a Tea Party advocate.  See how many Trump signs are still remaining in yards. I dare say I did not see a single HRC sign. 

People do not care about your unfounded fear of Jill Duvall. She is strong enough to stand toe to toe and fight for what she believes, and believe me when I say it comes with a hefty price tag of abusive commentary from the likes of you and your minions.

We have had an election.  To nobody's surprise, the Democrats got trounced here in the county.  Will it be more of the same?  Will it be a time of prosperity?  If the new EC commissioners listen to their constituents and explore development with respectful caution, then we may be on our way out of the ditch.  If they just listen to the developers and ignore the property owners who have legitimate concerns about water, traffic, and the knowledge that growth does not always fill empty coffers, then we may be in for four more years of blaming Jill Duvall for everything.  At least we won't have Mr. Rowland preaching from a commissioner's office about his virtuous tenure as a successful elected politician...so it has to be a little bit better, right?