Come one, come all...er, unless you are not a republican

Okay, this is where you go if you want to learn all about Elbert County's strategic plan?  Really?  So let me get this straight.  If I, as a Democrat, or an Independent, or a member of any recognized party other than the Republican party, wish to go and learn about the new and improved strategic plan for the future of our county, I get to go to a "Town Hall Meeting" at the Elbert County Fairgrounds?  And…this love fest is being hosted by the Elbert County Conservative Breakfast Association.  Lucky me!  I would normally get to sit in a room full of conservatives who are eating a meal which costs $10 and listen to them bash Democrats between utterances such as, “Pass the salt,” “Hand me a napkin,” or “Where's that guy who was named after a bicycle seat?” God, you just have to love the arrogance of these people.  Now we get light snacks at the night meeting of the breakfast club.

This is not a town hall meeting.  This is a fund raiser for a host group that has absolutely no use for anyone with a viewpoint other than its own.  A town hall meeting is supposed to be held at the town hall.  You will notice when you say those two words out loud, there is no mention of a particular political party.  You see, we all get to pay taxes.  The Elbert County Commissioners work for all of the taxpayers, not just the ones who go to the Conservative Breakfast Association so they can support their party while simultaneously driving their cholesterol numbers through the ceiling.

I have written several blogs recently trying to tell people that nothing will ever change in Elbert County as long as we keep doing things the same way.  I have conceded that there will be no Democrats elected in the next umpty-eleven years.  There are simply not enough Democratic votes for that to happen.  Period.  The Conservative Breakfast Association is in no danger of having some leftist hijack their little party.  But that really isn't the point, is it now?  They not only do not want us to have anyone sporting a “D” holding office, they would rather we did not have any rights at all.  They want purity.  They despise diversity.  They do not give a rat's butt whether I get to talk to my commissioner.  My taxes are not as real as theirs.   Fine, I get it.  But it is not as easy as all that in the long run. 

I will repeat it for anyone who may still be reading at this point:  Elbert County has one commodity.  That commodity is water.  Elbert County is essentially a high desert.  There is a finite amount of water in a nonrenewable set of aquifers.  We are being besieged by a set of developers who will not build out here unless they can build water pipelines.  I do not care what you think you know about development, the value of the water beneath our feet far surpasses anything you can build on the surface above it.  Developers know it.  They also know that Elbert County is desperate for asphalt and commerce and jobs.  They always shout (along with this new set of commissioners) that in order to have your dreams come true, you must bring the rooftops. 

Don't you find it interesting that none of these people are interested in doing a current Cost of Services Analysis (CAS) to see if any of these proposed developments will even begin to pay for themselves?  

Independence, Ritoro, Spring Valley, and Wild Pointe are all wonderful names for developments that make promises that almost seem too good to be true.  Do you know why?  Because they are too good to be true!  If developers could make a buck out here they would have arrived years ago and completed their large projects.  Think about that for a moment.  The developers did not stop in Douglas County.  They were all over Arapahoe County.  Adams County has had tremendous growth over the years.  Why the hell have they bypassed Elbert County?  The answer is pretty simple.  Because up until now, they couldn't make any money at it.  Why now?  What has changed?  Did you really just think it was some kind of liberal plot keeping you from reaching developmental Nirvana? It is the fact that the price of water has now gone so high that it is now possible to make a killing on what remains in the Denver Bedrock Aquifers.

Let me remind you once again:  98% of us live on well and septic here in Elbert County.  Most of the people on well and septic in Elbert County are Republicans.  Do you honestly think that the people who are hosting the upcoming BOCC Sugarplums Vision Quest breakfast care if your well runs dry?  Do you think these pipelines that run both ways are only being put in to bring you water in the distant future when and if the aquifers run dry?  Why is it only now that pipelines are a part of the development equation?  Ask that of your breakfast waiter over at the fairgrounds, Sparky.  Ask them why our dear old former commissioner, Kurt Schlegel, is still lurking around every damned corner.  You do realize that Falcon and Douglas Counties desperately need our water, and reservoirs like Rueter-Hess are paying twice what they were just ten years ago to serve their customers.  Hell, those counties even have the money for it, but for the most part, we do not.  Once the water is pumped out, folks, they will sell it back to us at astronomical rates.

So, let’s get back to the conservative breakfast bunch and the anointed Republicans who believe their newly elected BOCC have their backs.  If these people do not want to hear from Elbert County citizens who will question them about simple things like a neutral place to hold a town hall-style meeting, what chance in hell do you have in getting their attention when your well goes dry?  Pass the syrup and pass the water pitcher there, brother.  I am feeling a bit parched.