"Ballad of a Thin Man" Elbert Style in the New Political Age

In his cryptic 1965 protest song, "Ballad to a Thin Man," Bob Dylan wrote the following:

“You walk into the room with your pencil in your hand

You see somebody naked and you say, "Who is that man?"

You try so hard but you don't understand

Just what you will say when you get home

Because something is happening here but you don't know what it is

Do you, Mr. Jones?”

 

If you clicked onto this blog looking for some sort of scathing assessment of the controversial first week-and-a-half of the Trump administration, you are going to be sorely disappointed.  It goes beyond the scope of my MVD blog to delve into the national politics here.  Like you, the reader, I have my opinions about the state of the current flux we have at the national level, but this is going to be more about what I see happening with political awareness here in Elbert County.  You may or may not agree with my analysis, but if you do not sense the changes to how people are reacting to local, state, national and world politics, you are living under a rock.

Something is happening, and to be honest, I never would have expected it.  People stopped playing Candy Crush and reading about Kim Kardashian's scandalous selfies long enough to pay close attention to the news. Because of modern social media, and the twenty-four hour news cycle, people are almost instantly apprised of breaking news even if they do not generally react to it one way or another...except something different has started to happen.  Mr. Trump began acting immediately on his agenda that he had set forth during his tumultuous campaign even before he took his oath of office.  His base was thrilled.  His opponents were mortified.

The inauguration came and went.  Instead of slowing down and taking a little time to learn the ropes in Washington D.C., Trump cut those ropes down and started moving full speed ahead.  This was an approach so controversial that it even had some Republican pundits scratching their heads.  The guy aimed to do all the things he promised! And that was the point at which it began to affect Elbert County.  Instead of sitting back with a "wait and see" attitude before getting whipped into a frenzy, people began to seek out groups to channel their dismay into something more meaningful.  They joined dissent groups.

These groups have far eclipsed in numbers the ones formed to react to the election of Barrack Obama.  No, they are not comprised of just disgruntled Democrats.  These groups have a lot of Independents and Republicans.  And, there are family members representing all generations signing up together.  Let that sink in for just a moment:  There are dissent groups forming that have people working together to defend what they believe is a threat to the American way and it does not fall into the neatly designed rows that our politicians love to see.  It is both messy and raw.  These groups are desperate for fact-based leadership that takes care of its people before anything else.  If you want to see what they look like, turn on your television and go to any news report.  That is where you will find them.  You will find them by the thousands.

When I went to report on the Women's March on Denver, Elbert was represented in numbers I could have never imagined.  What was more amazing is that some people in attendance were not the usual suspects from the Democratic Party.  The same is true at other seemingly spontaneous protests at DIA, the state capitol building, etc.  You see, it is not so spontaneous at all.  In fact, it is highly organized and these folks are going to these events prepared to do just what Trump promised: He promised to challenge every existing political convention out there.  These dissenters  are out to challenge the integrity of the changes being made or even proposed and they will not stop until their voices are heard. 

What is truly amazing is that is not only the current administration that is being taken to task.  The agenda is spreading into state politics.  There are many protests planned for the state capital to derail anything that runs counter to the needs of the people.  The arguments are well reasoned and based in fact.  Protestors have prominent speakers and compelling examples to back their demands.  This “movement” is in its infancy and it is expanding.  There are discussions to hold the politicians at the county level accountable for their actions.  This agenda of dissent is based in what these people hold as fair and legal.  It is coming and because of the participants’ abilities to instruct and inform, they will be formidable opponents to any governing body that is viewed as being self-serving or unfair.

Our new BOCC has begun things in a very promising manner and the commissioners are to be congratulated for their calls for a more friendly atmosphere in Kiowa.  We need that as we face the inevitable growth issues in the near future.  That said, there will be a time in the not so distant future when the people of these groups might believe it is necessary to use these same skills of demonstrating and dissent on the elected officials of Elbert County.  If and when it happens, it will be something that we have never seen before in our local politics, and I predict it will make for some highly contentious political battles that will far out shadow anything we have ever seen at our county seat.  This is the Tea Party concept on steroids.  I put no pluses or minuses on this statement.  Something is always lost in battle.  But if you believe that what is transpiring across America is going to grow tired and disappear, you might just think again.

Meaningless Party Politics

Are we just kidding ourselves?

 Of course some of you who are reading this may be upset with my assessment, but I want to go on record as telling you what, if you are being totally honest with yourself, you already know:  Party politics in rural Colorado mean almost nothing.  This is a statement coming from a man who has been the vice-chair of the Elbert County Democrats for years, has run for commissioner as a Democrat, and regularly contributes to Democratic causes across the nation.  Party politics mean almost nothing in rural Colorado. Now, if you can just stop laughing long enough or crying long enough to hear me out, I will explain.  

You do not have to be a mathematician to see that the rural population in Colorado is overwhelmingly Republican.  The only elections out on the Eastern Plains that are of any significance are the Republican primaries, and those races are never about party issues. The issues in local Republican primaries generally center around personalities, family ties and what place in line you hold in the Republican candidate machine.  Democrats here in our county do not, generally speaking, have any similar problems.  In fact, lots of races go uncontested in Elbert County because the donkey party can't find anyone with a pulse who is willing to fork out copious amounts of their own cash, put up with the unbridled disrespect from the opposition party, and then live with the crystal clear recognition that they are going to get their asses handed to them early in November. It is a brutal proposition that only the most die-hard Pollyanna can endure...all in the name of doing their "civic duty."

It is a one party system here in rural Colorado.  To be honest, most Democrats are envious of the position rural Republicans hold.  It is a foreign concept to a Democrat to go to a local restaurant or social gathering of any sort and feel comfortable talking politics at a decibel level over that of a whisper, not with the general chit chat politics, mind you.  No, I am talking about saying what you feel about a politician loud and proud, like before looking at everyone in your group and and braying in a voice generally reserved for trumpeting elephants, "Am I right? Or am I right?"  To do that in Elbert County might get the paint job on your car keyed. They will find your Prius and do unholy and unwholesome things to it or they may even offer to punch you in the nose before you leave the restaurant.  

It is a one way street, of course, because as a Democrat in Elbert County, I hear it all the time.  I have learned to live with it because this county, this place, is too beautiful for me to ever leave.  And, when people do set their politics aside, we all seem to get along.

To continue with my premise of party politics being meaningless out here, let me offer up a couple of facts:  If you sit in any BOCC meeting here in Elbert I want you to play an imaginary drinking game. You know how this game works.  If a person says a particular thing that the participants predetermined in the course of a meeting, interview, etc., you have to drink a shot of whiskey.  Now imagine you are told you have to take a shot of whiskey every time the BOCC has to vote on an issue that involves a Republican party platform issue.  You are going to go home sober as a judge with a liver ailment. Why? Because counties do not generally discuss gun control.  The BOCC is not going to decide on whether the local Planned Parenthood is on the wrong side of the abortion issue.  The commissioners are not going to decide whether voter suppression is a "thing" in the county. Nope, they are going to discuss revenue generation.  They are going to decide on contracts for services.  They are going to green light or red light loans on road graders, police cars and perhaps a vehicle for the coroner.  And even when they do discuss something that is remotely political in nature, because it is a one party show, the decisions are all foregone conclusions.  The cake is baked and so nobody generally even bothers to watch the process unfold.  I contend that it has been this way for decades here and will remain so for years unless we grow so much that our rural roots disappear.  That's when those pesky liberals show up.

Party politics out here are more of a social club.  They are great for breakfasts, weenie roasts and the occasional clay sporting event.  That is the closest the rural folks of any political persuasion actually get to party platform issues.  They can quiz each other on which talk radio show host just eviscerated a person from the opposition or  how unfair it is that rural Americans hold such little sway at the state capital or in Washington DC.   It is just the way it is.  And because we are all human and all creatures of habit, things rarely change.

I can't speak for all of the Eastern Plains, but I am pretty aware of how things work here in Elbert County.  I think the days of this model of politics has outlived its usefulness. We can all agree the party balance out here is not going to change anytime soon.  That fact alone guarantees we are going to get whomever the party bosses put up to run for office.  So why are the candidates not vetted by the party rank and file on issues that will preserve this "rural lifestyle" with which we are so enamored?  Why are they still asking the inevitable Republican candidates if they are sporting Bald Eagle briefs or if they know all the verses to the National Anthem? Are we really so naive to believe that some sort of arbitrary litmus test of patriotism will distinguish who is best suited to make a decision about growth or budgetary management? Do you really care if your tax lawyer who is keeping the government from garnishing your wages knows whether Ronald Reagan had a heart shaped mole on his butt or whether he graduated first in his class at Denver University Law School?  

Look, you already have won the next election.  What do you want from your  elected local Republican officials? I do not get a say because I am from the diminutive party which has not seen a Democrat in office in Kiowa since Bob Hall was a commissioner.  There are first time voters here today in this county who were not even born the last time a Democratic commissioner signed a simple mylar document, let alone make a policy decision.  

Stop worrying about the Democrats out here coming to destroy your  hay bale Shangri-La.  Worry instead about the party that you have taken for granted, the Elbert County Republicans.  At a minimum, at least show up and ask your elected officials to explain what motivates the decisions they are making. After all, this is a critical period in terms of growth here in our beloved county.  If you want to be relevant, then you have to hold your politicians accountable.  If there is no way to actually make party politics meaningful in rural Colorado then at least demand that your elected officials provide you with a meaningful future.  Speak up! They are certainly not going to ask for my opinion, but they might listen to yours.

With Apologies to David Bowie, "Time to Face the Strange Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes!"

 

 

The Elbert County BOCC has come under fire from several different directions over the past decade regarding its handling of certain potential growth issues.  That is not speculation on my part.  That is a statement based on going to countless contentious meetings over the years and listening to scores of angry residents questioning the motivation of our BOCC.  Some of you may believe that these concerns have only been voiced from people on the left side of the political aisle. That would be incorrect.  

Change, in a very rural county where people value a particular lifestyle, always will be viewed with suspicion.  It is not by accident that someone chooses to live in a county where the population density is 12.5 people per square mile as opposed to 3,922 people per square mile as in Denver.  The vast majority of people living in Elbert County are conservative by choice and so it is inaccurate to portray this skepticism of change as an issue driven only by one side of the political aisle.  People want to know why their commissioners are acting in a manner inconsistent with their desire to be left alone.

Congratulations are in order for our three newly elected county commissioners.  Danny Wilcox, Chris Richardson and Grant Thayer were all sworn into office on January 10, 2017 at the courthouse in Kiowa.  Now that the election is behind us and we have our commissioners sworn into office, it is time for them to get down to work.  It is no exaggeration when I say that they have their work cut out for them.  The change that I mentioned in the opening paragraph is coming and these gentlemen have been elected to guide us through what will be turbulent waters of change.  I used “turbulent” and “water” on purpose because anyone with an IQ of room temperature or above knows that all of our current plans to "bring the rooftops" require a paradigm shift in  how we will provide the new residents with water.

According to several sources, we all now know that Ed Ehmann, Tim Craft and Kurt Schlegel have met on several occasions outside of Elbert County.  I even asked Tim Craft about this topic at the bipartisan candidate forum at Marlene Groves’ ranch.  Craft assured me that they never had talked about anything inappropriate in those meetings.  Let's just say we took him at his word.  It does not look or feel quite right, does it?  Why would Ed Ehmann need to be having lunch with a former Elbert County commissioner who now is in charge of a very thirsty water district in El Paso County and Tim Craft, who has gone "all in" on his plans to develop the Independence project on County Rd. 158? 

What's that you say?  You are not clear on which project that is ? Here’s a clue: It's the housing project that has struck fear in the majority of residents in the areas adjoining the project that was approved years ago as “Bandera” before those developers pulled up stakes and abandoned it. Still can't picture the development of which I am speaking? I’m sure you know the one: The development that is trying to come back from the dead by using documents put together by another developer seven  years ago without updating their application for any changes that might have occurred.   You know the one...Independence!  Yes, the same development from which Tim Craft assured me he had no interest in selling groundwater, even though he keeps company with Kurt Schlegel and wants me to believes it is perfectly fine that he does so.  

This is an opportunity for the newly sworn-in trio of Elbert County Commissioners to step in and do the right thing.  Instead of doing what we have come to expect of our BOCC, ie. ignoring concerned property owners,  how about trying to gain our confidence? Please stop heading full speed into another un-vetted deal and allow a review of the Independence project that would include citizen input from those who live adjacent to the development.  Please allow some reasonable questions to be asked.  Show community members how traffic problems and water concerns will be averted.  Tell the community why it is in our best interest to allow Craft to use an application that, for all intents and purposes, appears to be outdated.  Answer questions about having Ed Ehmann meeting with developers and water districts outside of Elbert County.  If it is all innocent or in the county's best interest, just tell us why.

As I have already stated, change is coming and there is little that can be done to stop it.  But transparency just might eliminate some of the continuing hostility between property owners and the BOCC.  Transparency and reason might be a more acceptable path than the old tried and true method of secrecy and obfuscation. It might just be time to reboot the relationship between taxpaying citizens and their elected officials. Dear EC Commissioners, for once, try to realize that we do not have to acquiesce to every demand that developers make out of fear that they will go elsewhere.  Newsflash! "elsewhere" is diminishing in quantity and may not be as desirable as Elbert County. 

What if our current situation was just like the one  John Elway faced on January 11, 1987 as he knelt 98 yards away from the Cleveland goal line in the huddle before his famous drive. He famously said, "We have them just where we want them."  Why not try that attitude just once? Or just for grins and giggles can compromise be a possibility?  Of course not everyone will be ready for change and some will never accept any notion that is an alternative to their rural dream. But such is the stuff of living in a democracy.  Growing pains are facts of life that we all must face. Commissioners, just help it to be change based on honesty, transparency and fairness.

Is this a joke?

I saw a political cartoon drawn by Will McPhall from a recent copy of New Yorker Magazine.  It was pretty much a perfect assessment of where our nation's mindset has gone.  There is a drawing of a man on an airplane.  He is standing up and talking to the passengers on the flight.  He is pointing out that the smug pilots on the plane have lost touch with the common person like those of them who are passengers.  He asks them to raise their hands if they believe he should be the one who should be flying the plane.  The joke is that many people are raising their hands.  Of course nobody bothers to ask him the single most important question, "Do you know how to fly a plane?" 

This cartoon is a quick and fairly accurate description of modern populism.  Yes, in our country, if you win an election, you do not necessarily need to be an expert in politics or law. But the question becomes, "Should we put people in office who are popular yet unqualified?"  If you think the airplane analogy is a tad hyperbolic, remember that when we give political powers to a person, the misuse of those powers can be as dangerous as turning over an airliner to that person who has never been a pilot.

Now,  before you think this is an article on our recent national election, let me assure you that it isn't. The analogy might fit for some and be viewed by others as a shortsighted insult to the incoming president.  Of course, that is your prerogative.  No, this is an article about what happens when a county like Elbert tries to grow and prosper and yet is unwilling to admit that the very thing for which it is wishing will bring changes that are guaranteed to destroy the "Good Old Boy" network that we have all been living with for decades. There is no way that the current government can see this change coming because the players are always certain that they are talented enough, smart enough, and worldly enough to show these developers, businessmen, and citizens just how it is going to be in the "new Elbert County."  They will be amazed at how quickly they will all be out of a job. It will make their head spin when they discover  how quickly these new people who are asking them to lunch every time they turn around will start every sentence with, "Remind me again how I know you."

High density developments will be filled with people who will not initially work in the county. These houses will be owned by well-healed city dwellers. Living in houses that are in the $500K+ range will come with the expectation of  asphalt roads, strip malls, gas stations, fast food and a grocery store around the corner. You know what Parker or southeast Aurora looks like?  That is what they will want and that is what they will demand. They will not even be mildly amused at the notion of a rural lifestyle. Having a septic tank pumped is a concept that they will not embrace nor will it have even crossed their minds up to this point.  They will win this battle.  They always do.

Population increases will bring diversity.  There will be more balance in the political landscape. There will be a greater demand for low income workers and those folks will need to live here because they will not be able to afford to commute.  As a result there will be more demand for public services, firemen, policemen, etc.  These will not be free.  There will be a need for more schools and more teachers.  There will need to be a traffic grid and waste water mitigation facilities and all the trappings that come with rapid growth. And do you know what that will bring with it?  Do you know what will finally displace the good old boys?  If you said "expertise" or "highly skilled workers" then you just won a cigar.

My father moved my family to Aurora when it was very sparsely populated in 1950.  He built a house when there were still small farms dotting the area  and we lived only ten blocks away from the the edge of Denver.  He was a heavy highway and concrete contractor who wanted growth in the worst way.  There was no asphalt and damned few sidewalks.  He wanted to build this new city and it made him a wealthy man.  He watched as it went from a small rural area to a gigantic town with a population that rivaled both Colorado Springs and Denver.  He spent many years chronicling to members of our family how the good old boys in charge of expanding the city were always so amazed when the people with the money to actually make the changes saw fit to show them the door.  The then outgoing sad old boy was always dismayed to learn that some clean shaven college boy was moving into his old office.

This change is inevitable.  More people means more change.  You could not stop the growth that is coming to Elbert County if you tried.  What most people refuse to see is that the only way anyone can make the growing pains at least tolerable is to become involved with the changes.  That requires a paradigm shift in the way we look at local governance.  At one point in time, it may have been okay to have well-liked community members and business owners directing the county at every level.  That might even include multiple family members and their close friends placed in county positions. That said, when the complexities of modernization arrive in Kiowa, we will need qualified experts, not just familiar faces.   Those people need to be carefully screened as to their qualifications and their willingness to listen to an informed public.

Things are looking up in many respects.  The BOCC has three new members whose combined years of education far exceeds the boards that preceded them.  They have experience in leadership and business.  But while that is a good thing, it must noted that we are woefully behind the times in many areas of our government. Gone are the days when we can afford to hire buddies and family members unless they possess the training and expertise to fulfill a carefully crafted job description.  These three new commissioners have a great opportunity to turn the ship around and get us on a track to bring Elbert County up to speed with surrounding counties that have already undergone this change.

Let me be a bit more specific:  I have mentioned in several posts that up to 98% of the population in Elbert County is on well and septic.  That is an unsustainable solution over the long haul, but making decisions today that punishes people for living in the only manner in the past is not only unrealistic, but patently unfair.  We need expert help to transition our county from the days of well and septic to the days of public water and sewage.  It must be done in a manner that does not ruin the financial well-being of families who may have lived out here for a very long time.

No future planning can proceed without a firm recognition that water is paramount in any discussion of growth.  We are essentially a high desert.  There is almost no surface or running water in this entire county.  We have an abundance of water beneath our feet in the form of five bedrock aquifers, all of which have been designated as not-nontributary.  Simply put, the aquifers are not recharging at a rate that keeps up with what we are extracting from them. Once it is gone, we will be wholly dependent on a fraternity of water providers who can charge exorbitant sums of money for which 98% us pay almost nothing today.  Our commissioners need to stand up for those who are dependent on groundwater and examine every water proposal that comes before them with healthy skepticism.

The "wink, nod and a handshake"  dealings of the past need to go away.  The practice of holding meetings on development anywhere other than in a meeting room in the Kiowa Courthouse that has been properly noticed needs to cease immediately.  Minutes from any public meeting need to be posted openly and in a timely fashion.  That is fair and promotes trust. We are going to need to have trust as we enter this next chapter of Elbert County history.

So back we are to the cartoon.  If the person who is speaking about the smug pilots and looking to be given command of the plane is Chesley Sullenberger (Sully), then there is no joke because he is a famous pilot.  But if the only plane this man has ever flown is folded out of paper, well that is darkly funny.  The only way to keep people from getting hurt is to make sure that if you are going to ask someone to take charge of your future then you must find what qualifications they possess before you invite them into the cockpit.