ISSUE # 2 ... THE RED ANT
August 18 Mayor Gets it Wrong. Hospital, School Get it Right.
Single women listen closely when men use the "commitment" word. So this one did not get past us---
Mayor Ireland recently stunned some citizens as he announced at a meeting on August 8th that the Hospital and the School Board had made "commitments for a number of units at Burlingame II at FULL COST." I was more than a little peeved to think that the leadership of those publicly funded organizations would write multi-million dollar blank checks when the per unit cost is unknown but expected to be well over $500,000. How could responsible board members even consider creating such sky's-the-limit liability, especially given the known fiscal mismanagement of Burlingame? And most particularly in the case of the Hospital, which has just recovered from its own issues of confounding debits and credits! This announcement seemed hardly consistent with the seriousness with which those board members appear to take their fiduciary duties. Surely the zeal for employee housing had not so overshadowed their common sense!
First stop: City Hall, with a formal (Colorado Sunshine Law) records request for documentation of those Burlingame II "commitments." The official written response came from Steve Barwick, City Manager, stating Mayor Ireland was speaking of those boards' "verbal commitments." Little comfort there. Would those boards really have given their word, absent cost estimates and due diligence?
A little checking with the leadership of the Hospital reinforced my previous confidence in their judgment. Of course no such commitments were made, and discussions were very preliminary. I was assured that any future potential commitments would have firm dollar limits and funding sources in place.
Confidence in the School Board was restored when, in a public meeting, City staff disclosed that no substantive discussions on price or terms had been held, and that the City was not near an oral or written agreement with either board, despite the Mayor's claims.
Was Mayor Ireland trying to trade on the credibility and reputation of those local institutions to doll-up the appearance of the bedraggled Burlingame project? Add that to the bag full of other high profile misrepresentations about Burlingame, and we see the obvious pattern here. Misrepresentation and misinformation -- City style. It does not seem to stop, no matter the level of scrutiny nor the audience. City officials seem to think that all Aspen citizens will accept their reckless and fabricated statements without question.
As citizens, we must find the mechanism to demand more transparency and accountability from City Hall. Without it, our little democracy is truly unhealthy.
Mick Math=Wrong Numbers=Bad Policy,--click below to read why
At the same meeting, Mayor Ireland addressed questions about future growth and development policy, lamenting that "we are still receiving $2 million per day in building permit applications." The Ant crawled back to City Hall and into those pesky public records. Either there is a huge stack of un-entered applications which only the Mayor has studied; or his math, once again is seriously in error. The public records indicate a number closer to $750,000 per day in application flow. What's the big deal? Mick is considered a numbers junkie by other Council member who rely on him to produce the data for policy decisions. Policy decisions need real data, not Mick math.
(The Red Ant hears that Mick is a substitute teacher in the school system---which is indeed laudable. But please, ban him from teaching math to our unsuspecting young citizens!)
The Red Ant--Just Introduced
The Red Ant is a new source of commentary on local civic matters. It is published on no particular schedule, or with any organization of thought. For now, it is just an email commentary, hoping to spawn a blog to include your comments as well. Please send The Ant your opinions in an email with permission to post them. RedAntAspen@gmail.com
Marilyn Marks
Reader Comments (4)
An Anonymous contributor says:
Dear Ms. Ant,
With just under 10 days left of my employment at City Hall your column reinforces
my decision to bail out of this public DIS-service.
Thank-you,
Happy future ex-employee of the City