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.