Someone's got to keep the bastards on their toes! -Hunter S. Thompson
Free Speech. Period.
9/7/05
The town website has really come a long, long way, but we suspect bias among the promotions commission.
For instance you will find very biased, commercial like comments such as:
"The Happy Cooker and the Red Ram Restaurants are happy to service motorcoach and privately guided groups while visiting Georgetown."
And the other restaurants wouldn't cater to a motorcoach or privately guided group? Hmmmm. We kinda doubt that.
And check this out:
This from the town's website:
Wanna take bets that neither the Railstar Loop or Loveland paid to have those primo links on our town's website?
Scroll down there's more.
Georgetown Loop Historic Railroad
Now taking reservations for the 2005 season!
Call 1-888-4-LOOP-RR (1-888-456-6777
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Exit 216 at I-70
(303) 569-3202
www.skiloveland.com
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Museums
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Historic Georgetown Inc.
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Hotel de Paris
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Georgetown Community Center
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Georgetown Gateway Visitor Center
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Energy Museum
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Outdoor Recreation
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Rafting on Clear Creek
Join us at our Family Adventure Center for professionally guided Whitewater Rafting Trips and Scenic ATV Mountain Tours. Located just minutes outside of Denver in Clear Creek County; Mile Hi Rafting offers affordable & fun beginner to advanced outings ranging from 1/3 day to multiple day excursions. Ask us about our additional activities including camping, hiking, picnics and more. Group discounts available!
Lawson Exit on I-70
303-567-0717
www.milehirafting.com
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Wines and Wine Tasting
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Canyon Wind Cellars
Taste exceptional Colorado wines in the heart of the Rocky Mountains. Located 50 miles west of Denver in historic Georgetown. Open daily, Summer: 11:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m. Winter: 11:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.
1500 Argentine St
(303) 569-3152
www.canyonwindcellars.com
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This is on the town's calandar of events page:
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September Come Ride the Train
http://www.georgetownlooprr.com/
Chassis Lassies Classic Car Show
www.geocities.com/cochassislassies
Doggie Dash
Outward Bound Relay
Possible Harvest Fest at Easter Seals
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Hmmm. Did Railstar Loop PAY to have that big fat advertisement and link? Did any other business in town get a billing with a direct link to their website or contact info on the town calendar? Nope. It is understood that co-chairman of the Promotions Commission, Beth Luther, receives $900 a month for the rental of her apartment to Railstar Loop employees. It is in Ms. Luther's best interest for the train to do well, as that might affect her rental deal. Does she abstain from any vote regarding these types of decisions? Was there a vote? Who is responsible for Promotions Commission website input?
8/26/05
Last week, the Georgetown Board of Selectmen witnessed behavior from Lee Behrens that he has displayed to some of us here in town on several occasions. We believe that the board was just as embarrrassed and blindsided by Behrens's ambush of Planning Commission members on subjects not related to the Planning Commission as we were. We have tried to talk with Lee Berhens and have even invited him to be interviewed on radio. Behrens response has always been to verbally assault, publicly demean or just plain run like a little girl in reaction to these attempts at communication.
If it weren't for the bane of this person in our town politics, there would no longer be a Georgetownpolitics.com. As a matter of fact, most of what this site set out to do and change within our local government has been fixed.
No more illegal executive sessions. No more Open Records Requests violations. And for the most part, a particular special interest group in town no longer has control of our various boards, although they do continue to reek unreasonable demands of DRC applicants (no worries, we'll be going over certain garden permits in town with a fine tooth comb to pick out the many inconsistencies with their approved plan and the reality of how it turned out, without prior approval). The town administrator will email the agendas to all town meetings to any interested party. The Police are back to reporting to the board. The town treasurer now makes monthly reports to the board. Town employees have been doing emergency repairs now. We could go on and on, there are lots of great things that have occurred since the inception of this site.
These are all very positive and encouraging steps. But as long as the ill-tempered and, in our opinion, openly hostile Lee Behrens, is in public office, we will continue to update this site.
6/3/05
Board Retreat, Tuesday, June 7, 2005 & Tuesday, June 21st at 5pm, Town Hall
Why call this a board retreat and not just a work session? By definition, it would seem as though the BOS is actively disinviting the public to a public meeting. Any gathering of three or more Selectmen is a public meeting. It's a requirement of the Colorado Open Meetings Act (Sunshine Law). Shame on the board for attempting to turn an open meeting into a private club session.
re·treat ( P ) Pronunciation Key (r-trt)
n.
The act or process of withdrawing, especially from something hazardous, formidable, or unpleasant.
The process of going backward or receding from a position or condition gained.
A place affording peace, quiet, privacy, or security. See Synonyms at shelter.
A period of seclusion, retirement, or solitude.
A period of group withdrawal for prayer, meditation, or study: a religious retreat.
Withdrawal of a military force from a dangerous position or from an enemy attack.
The signal for such withdrawal.
A bugle call or drumbeat signaling the lowering of the flag at sunset, as on a military base.
The military ceremony of lowering the flag.
v. re·treat·ed, re·treat·ing, re·treats
v. intr.
To fall or draw back; withdraw or retire. See Synonyms at recede1.
To slope backward.
v. tr. Games
To move (a chess piece) back.
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5/31/05
Citizens took upon themselves to censor our town last week after the outstanding article in the Clear Creek Courant on the last days of the Loop. These supposed Americans, pillars of our town, took it upon themselves to fraud local stores that stock the Courant into believing that they were from the Courant. They proceeded to steal the newspapers under these false pretenses.
We sincerely hope that these two women and two men come forward with very public apologies for taking it upon themselves to bar the citizens of Georgetown their Constitutional rights. We hope that the Courant prosecutes those that they know are involved and warn the rest of the town against this type of lowly behavior.
It is ironic that this act of censorship was displayed on a weekend in which every American honors a veteran for protecting the very same rights that these people infringed on. It also very sad that these individuals had such little faith in the CHS and Railstar to succeed that they went to these extremes - to commit a crime. One with faith in them would have realized that one very poignant, personal story would not derail the success of the Railstar Loop.
This is Georgetown, Co in the USA, isn't it? Censored radio programs, secret town hall meetings, illegal executive sessions, and now censored press...One has to wonder what country Georgetown is in.
Courant stolen from businesses
By Meghan Murphy
06/01/2005
GEORGETOWN — Copies of the Clear Creek Courant were stolen from several businesses in Georgetown late last week and returned to the newspaper office.
The woman returning the papers told Courant staff that the businesses did not want the papers in Georgetown. However, upon contacting the vendors, the Courant staff discovered that the papers were taken from some of the businesses without the vendors' knowledge.
An employee of one of the businesses from which papers were taken said a man came in saying he was an employee of the Courant and took the papers. The man stated that he would bring a new stack of papers for the business.
The thieves were apparently upset regarding an “end of an era” story about employees who had worked for the former Loop railroad. The story, as well as the cutline beneath the front page photograph that ran with the story, also noted that a “new legacy” was beginning Memorial Day weekend with the current operator of the Loop.
Evergreen Newspapers publisher Brad Bradberry called the actions censorship.
“I understand that some people were upset with the timing of our story regarding the railroad, but that doesn’t give them the right to engage in censorship by stealing copies of the Clear Creek Courant. It’s a very serious transgression, and given that we know at least one of the people who did it, I feel certain that we could successfully prosecute this person,” Bradberry said.
“On the other hand, I can only assume that he reacted with great emotion and did not consider the implications of his actions. Therefore, we are still considering our legal options.”
The Courant returned the papers to some of the businesses.
5/9/05
Why in the world would a citizen have to send a letter of intent to sue to gain reasonable access to public documents? Why in the world would the Assistant Attorney General proclaim that he (the CHS) did not have to provide the "apples and oranges" of the state's expenditures to that same citizen?
Because that information proves that the CHS has been lying to the community (again).
More to come.
4/28/05
The #12 is registered with the National Boiler Board. Odd. Two weeks ago it wasn't. But Beware of backsliding CHS proclamations! For the first time since the whole debacle started, the CHS proclaimed at the last Loop Committee meeting that "There are NO guarantees!" when asked if there will be steam running May 28th. It's true, they promised us a steam operation with 100,000 passengers and have consistently promised the same level of operations. What we will get in all likelihood is a primarily deisel powered operation and a bunch of miffed tourists. But that's ok, they can go ride some donkeys at the Railroad and Mining days!
4/26/05
Oh, poo. What will the CHS do now? According to the National Boiler Board, registration paperwork on the (only) steam loco, #12, does not exist. According to the National Boiler Board, if the boiler was not registered at the time of its build, it can NEVER be registered with the board. According to Colorado State Statutes, if the boiler on this steamer is not registered with the National Boiler Board, then it must meet FRA standards. Which, long story made short, means that the boiler will need to be taken apart for measurements. This can take months, if not years. Both the CHS and Railstar knew that the paperwork was an issue (yes, thanks to questions from us) months ago. We were told "Everything is in order."
4/25/05
The town is hosting an appreciation hour for town employees. We think that is a nice idea. However, we'll skew the "appreciation of past Selectmen" to mean "Thank God people like Dick Dorn,Carla Chiles, Tom Bennhoff and Brooke Buckley are no longer representatives of our town"! THAT truly is worth celebrating.
4/4/05
(Yes, Silver Plume is misspelled on purpose. It's how CHS likes to spell it.)
3/29/05
To all of the people who have emailed and called to express their concerns with the DRC working on proprosed changes to the DRC guidelines:
I have asked the town administrator whether or not there would be an opportunity for public comment on the proposed changes. He replied that he did not think that it had been discussed among the DRC to do so. I was also told that once it goes to the BOS, there would not be an opportunity for public comment, as the changes would be adopted by resolution, not by ordinance. Resolutions do not require public comment. The town administrator did forward our concerns to the chairman of the DRC. My suggestion to the DRC was to put together an informational packet to be distributed to all homeowners outlining the various changes. In 2002, when I was on the DRC and we began to work on cleaning up the guidelines, we had decided that we would do just that -give the public an opportunity to see the changes. None of the current board members were on the DRC board then.
I was also reminded that the DRC did post public agendas stating the intent of working on changing the guidelines, and that the public could have attended these meetings. My response to that is that our citizenry is being spread thin on having to attend various school board, I-70, and Loop meetings and with Channel 3 having been unavailable for viewing the meetings, we think the DRC should take the extra step to promote public involvement, especially since these changes affect every homeowner in town.
In our opinion, the DRC should take this opportunity to engage with the public, promote the importance of their commission and at the same time give citizens the peace of mind to trust this board. The town's promotion commission has an unused balance in their budget for "public relations". If any commission needs a "public relations" line item, its the DRC.
3/20/05
The very biased and personally involved, Tom Bennhoff, will be the moderator of Georgetown's mockery of the democratic process, "Meet the Candidates Night". Tom Bennhoff is of course, the soon to be ex-Mayor (whew!) and is in business with one of the candidates whom, given an open forum of debate, we might ask how she thinks that someone who lies on public documents and is suspended from being a dentist due to multiple patient complaints is worthy of representing our town. OR maybe we would ask Lee Behrens how he can justify his actions against revenue producing projects that affect our town coffers. Georgetown's Meet the Candidates Night is a sham. Questions are "weeded out" for agreeable content and have been for years. Shame on the BOS and others in town for allowing the town to take these "10 steps backwards" and plan to promote Censorship. Less than a year ago it was Tom Bennhoff who said that a "Meet the Candidates Night" SHOULD NOT be sponsored by the town, but by a third party. But this year, with his business partner in the hotseat, he changes his mind and takes exception to his previous steadfast stance. (Update: 3/28/05, The Mayor has apparantly had a change of heart and the moderators for the event will now be Matthew Skeen and Paul Nisler. Better choices, but the fact remains that our questions would be censored beforehand. Georgetown citizens should enjoy the right to free speech. We should be able to raise our hand and ask any question we want. No, this is akin to the recent claims by the 3 persons who allege that secret service removed them from a Bush presentation in Denver. They suspect they were removed because of a bumper sticker on the car that they were driving which read "No More Blood For Oil". Censorship should not happen in America, including Georgetown.)
3/19/05
Georgetown has a long and rich history in adversarial politics. That's true today as well, but there is one thing that apparantly we are all in agreement, that being the state of the school district and the effect on our local school, Georgetown Elementary. It's actually quite miraculous.
Lee Behrens states in the local newspaper that he has been consumed with the closing of Georgetown Elementary. We wish he'd been thinking about our school when he decided that our town could afford to lose the proven operators of the Loop or when he attacked the wind turbine company (see below). These are the types of asinine decisions that will cost our schools and the quality of education in our district much needed revenue.
3/17/05
Bye Coralue! Bye Tom!
3/4/05
Barb Jackson running for Selectman? Great, we can dig up her falsification of town public documents (lied on her job application), her disgraceful career as a dentist and how the State suspended her license to practice (told her to go back to school!), AND how she recently threw a Kahlua drink on a citizen offering a truce and cussed like a drunken sailor at the employees of the establishment! What fun! (added 3/8/05: several people have called and asked for verification of these statements. When provided (her state displinarian report, the Secretary of State's records and the town application that she lied on) - those people suggested that we get those out to the general public. A town-wide mailing of these facts and documents could be in the works.)
2/27/05
The town administrator informs the appropriate arena when the water plant has a failure. The town crew is repairing our own water line breaks. These are the types of positive changes that has come about in the last about 10 months and we are quite impressed.
However, Lee Behrens will be running for Selectman (and the"We are HGI Family" idiots in Ward 1 will vote to allow him to continue to destroy our town) and so we expect to see lots more reporting of hideous public statements and arrogant blatherings by Mr. Behrens. He's only been in office for about ten months and here's what he's done so far:
Slandered a company who wished to give the town thousands and to build a bridge to complete the path (that we got a grant to do years ago) around the lake. The company's letter to the town withdrawing their proposal clearly states that it is on account of Mr. Behren's blatherings. Verbally accosted a citizen at a public meeting after he was asked to verify his own written statements.
Is gunning for the developer of the lake front property. It's been pointed out to us that it probably gets his goat that HGI didn't get the land.
Was in adamant opposition against the RV Park despite the possibility of (egad) more tax revenue for our county and visitors to the town.
And continues to blather on about how wonderful the Loop will be this year despite the fact that there will only be ONE operable steam engine that can pull at the most 2/3 what the previous engines pulled. But as Mr. Behrens has publicly stated, he's not much for understanding finances. The local businesses and citizens are about to get a serious awakening about just what his arrogance has cost us. It only takes one season to destroy the reputation of a world class operation.
As a Town Selectman, HGI Board member, and CHS director of the Loop park, we have to wonder how it escaped him to ask CDOT how the highway widening would affect the Loop.
"I'm not a financial type person."
January 4, 2005, BOS Meeting, Selectman Lee Behrens- also HGI treasurer, Clear Creek Fire Authority Treasurer, and CHS Director of the Loop Park
2/15/05
We've wiped the Slate (that has since changed and we've reasserted the past commentarys - by popular demand)
And the sky hasn't fallen...yet.
At the February 8, 2005 Town Selectmen meeting held at the Community Center and with the Clear Creek County Board of Education in attendance, a standing room only crowd of residents of the town and county let the board (s) know that closing Georgetown Elementary School IS NOT an option. Many options were presented to the BOE for their review in this budget process (to be completed by May):
Administrators and support staff should consider not giving themselves raises during this budget crisis
A four day week was discussed
Closing the Middle School
Charter School
It was also pointed out that the (very expensive, but lovely) high school was built to accomodate what the BOE touted would be an impending increase in students, when in fact, enrollment is down.
It was explained that the principals of each school and administrators were responsible for preparing the (originally) 10 budget proposals (5 of which include the closing of Georgetown Elementary School). In other words, without an on-site principal, it can be argued that Georgetown Elementary had NO respresentation in the preparation of these anti-Georgetown proposals.
One citizen said that the BOE should "just take the option (closing Georgetown Elementary) off the table, and you've got a roomful of people who will help you."
Another said that she was offended that the superintendent "didn't even live in the county".
KGOAT invited superintendent, Mike Greek, to a show to discuss the specifics of each budget option.
Dana Abrahamson, recently appointed to the BOE as the town's district representative, gave a disappointingly weak stance by stating she "was confident that Georgetown Elementary would not be closed." We hoped for a more "I WILL NOT vote/stand for/tolerate/etc for the closure of Georgetown Elementary!".
The Georgetown Board of Selectmen passed a resolution stating their opposition to the closure of the school.
2/14/05
From an August 17, 2004 CHS press release:
"The markets in which they have operated have praised their commitment to
their visitors, their business and the community, and we are looking
forward to working with them as partners." (Joseph Bell, Colorado Historical Society)
(http://www.coloradohistory.org/about_chs/news/VendorSelected.pdf)
Contrast that with the Belfast, Maine mayor's statement in the February 09,
2005 Bangor Daily News:
"For over two years they didn't just not pay their bills, they also bounced
checks, they didn't return phone calls," said Mayor Michael Hurley.
(http://www.bangornews.com/news/templates/?a=108610&z=179)
And the CHS would like us to believe that this was for our own good! Also, Ron Trottier has yet to finalize the purchase of the the #12, the Hawaiian steam locomotive that he presented at the community meet and greet as being his primary steam power. It's a darn good thing the CHS ran off the world-class operators who spent thousands promoting our town and who owned and maintained their own equipment, brought our community thousands of visitors and shoppers, and so on and so on. Reminds us of a picture:
January 4, 2004
To those who have called and emailed: YES! We support local businesses, and YES!!! we think it is deplorable that Dana Abrahamson, executive director of HGI, decided to NOT advertise Christmas Market this year.
Ideas for next year:
Have HGI gift the name "Georgetown Christmas Market" to the town so that the town can organize the event next year. Offer sponsorships instead of peddling for donations for the event.
Stop depending on HGI
January 4, 2004
Still no public explanation for what CHS/Railstar plans to use for motive power on the Georgetown Loop next year. According to the contract, this information is to be disclosed "in January".
November 10, 2004
The town finally has a new town administrator. We think that the choice of Chuck Stearns is a good one. And because he has such a strong background in the area of town finances, we are comforted that town treasurer, Mary Sims, will now have the accounting/book keeping babysitter that she has apparently needed all along.
When the BOS was going over the proposed agreement with Bob Foote, the town's new building inspector, a couple of selectmen began to inquire about the cost of hiring Bob Foote. Mayor Bennhoff shut down the discussion, saying, "haven't we already been over this?". If they have gone over this already, we missed it and thought it was quite rude of the Mayor to basically not even allow the conversation to happen. We're still trying to figure out how giving Bob Foote a huge chunk of the application fees (cutting into our revenue) and $80/hr. versus the $30/hr. we currently pay Mike Engel is going to save us any money. We'll be keeping a close eye on this and will compare costs in a few months.
With the town facing a revenue shortfall next year due to the obvious inability of the new Loop operator to provide the same (or even close to) ridership that we have been blessed with for 30 years, you'd think they pursue the overpayments made to Straight Creek Construction for the dredging project or pursue the work not completed on the Rose Street project. But no, instead they have added to their budget money needed to pay for work on Rose Street (again). What will they do if FEMA makes the town pay back the $50,000.00 fraudulent blizzard bill? Basically, the word out there is that doing business with the town of Georgetown means that one can rip off the town and expect that the town will do nothing about it.
November 04, 2004
Selectman Behrens told Selectman Anderson to not talk to me at a public meeting recently "because she's recording". I wasn't recording at that meeting, but it would have been well within my rights to do so. Why is Selectman Behrens so paranoid? Maybe its because of the letter we sent to the Governor and several State officials in part outlining his various slanderous/libelous public statements and his unruly behavior, which are supported by various recordings and public documents. How embarrassing for Georgetown to have that kind of person representing our town.
Also, for those of you who emailed/called to say that you would not/did not vote for the I-70 mill levy because the ads showed that Lee Behrens (and others that you all have apparently lost faith in) supported it, Shame on you! No matter who or what supported it, you should've been thinking for yourselves. For those of you that voted against the initiative because of the Lee factor, perhaps it would be a good idea for you to let the I-70 action committee/CDOT/Local Reps know that you don't support paving over the county, but could not bring yourself to support anything that Lee Behrens supports for whatever reason.
October 26, 2004
The town promotions commission decided to cut their budget by cutting the Community Center payroll. Instead of not paying for HGI walking tour maps, this is what they came up with. We think this is WRONG. The town pays HGI for maintenance of the restrooms at the HGI store (alleged visitor center). As Selectman Anderson mentioned, what are we going to do to keep our town visitors downtown when they need to use a restroom? Sending them to the HGI store is counterproductive - it would be akin to sending them back on the highway.
How much would the town save if we were to outsource the town's payroll? If we could knock 10 of Mary's hours, we wouldn't have to pay her for full coverage health insurance. We have been told that it would likely cost less than $200 a month to hire a payroll service for the town's 10 employees. Where did we get this fabulous idea? Why, from the Mayor of course. This is exactly the plan that he initiated when cutting the building inspector's hours (except we think the town is loonie for thinking that paying someone $50 more an hour for code and DRC responsibilities is going to save us any money). Let's take this plan a step further - what would we save as a town if we hired a certified book keeper to do our town's books? Where did we get this fabulous idea? From the mayor of course. He initiated a process to replace our building inspector because he was very concerned that we needed a certified building inspector. Isn't it just as important, or even more important, that we have a properly certified person doing our town's book keeping? Are we wrong? Well, heck, we're just emulating the thought processes of the Mayor.
October 15, 2004
Our town is in yet another financial crisis. According to the Mayor, the town is currently $60,000 in the hole for the year's projected revenue/expenditures. Why didn't the town treasurer mention this when she made her report to the board two weeks ago? Why wasn't this budget realization addressed after $10,000 or $20,000 - and not until we were in the red $60,000? The Mayor was so anxious to replace our building inspector (at an increased cost of $80 an hour compared to $30 an hour) but he appears to be OK with budget law violations and shoddy oversight of our town's coffers. Remember back when we had a town treasurer who showed up to the BOS meetings every month and warned the BOS and citizens of the immediate need to adjust the budget depending on the circumstances?
And if HGI is boasting about having served so many people at the HGI Store/Visitor Center/About to be Train Station, why haven't they done a better job of getting those people downtown? IF we've had that many visitors to town, you'd think our sales tax revenue would be up. But it's not.
October 13, 2004
Branding Clear Creek County (see Clear Creek Courant 10/13/04) just got harder. The Colorado Historical Society is working with Breckenridge to designate their town as a National Landmark Historic District. Also, the town of Breckenridge owns a steam locomotive that they plan to run in their town. Two National Landmark Districts trying to attract visitors with Old West history will make it harder for our county. We're banking (with Georgetown currently $60,000 in the hole) that Breckenridge will fare better in financing their promotions.
October 8, 2004
The Clear Creek County Tourism Bureau has applied for a whopping $19,770 grant from the Colorado Historical Society with a 70% cash match of $14,130.00. Of all of the entities who will benefit from this advertising grant (Historic Georgetown, Inc., Idaho Springs Historical Society, Railstar, the towns of Silver Plume, Georgetown, Idaho Springs, Empire, The Colorado Historical Society -can they really give out their own grants to advertise their own park?, the Historic District Public Lands Commission) only the Georgetown Promotions Commission is being asked for a cash match in the amount of $3,658.00 -more than any other entitiy. Here is a lowdown of the other cash match participants:
Clear Creek County Tourism Board: $2,320.00 (it's their grant, why aren't they contributing more than us?)
Clear Creek Economic Development Corp.: $3175.00
Local Businesses (who is that?): $2320.00
That's it. Why didn't HGI or the Idaho Springs Historical Society offer a cash match - the brochures will include their properties. Why didn't the Historic District Public Lands Commission contribute a cash match? What about all of the other towns?
The letters of support for the grant include:
The Clear Creek Commissioners
Tom Bennhoof, on behalf of the Town of Georgetown Board of Selectmen (we're pretty sure that when it was brought up at the meeting it was for permission to allow the promotions commission to write a letter of support -not the Board) and the Georgetown Promotions Commission
Dana Abrahamson, Executive Director of HGI, who states , "we are proud to support their efforts. We hope you will join us." IF HGI is so proud to support the efforts, why then haven't they forked out any money?
Bob Bowland, on behalf of the Historical Society of Idaho Springs. (Bob Bowland is now also on the board of directors of HGI as well.)
Part of the grant money ($1500) is to be used for a Rail Fest on the event of opening day at the Georgetown Loop 2005. Notice they didn't call it a Train fest. In the 30 years that Georgetown Loop, Inc. was operating the train, how many times did the town offer to advertise for them? None.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
September 28, 2004
The newest rumor/proclamation of Railstar having bought a steam locomotive (#12) for the Loop doesn't get our town any closer to a train operation for next year.
Here's why:
1. The loco is much smaller than the steam locos currently being used and has less tractive effort. It will be able to pull possibly 3 cars (1/3 of one of the currrent locos).
2. The boiler is not FRA approved. We have gotten word that the state boiler inspector will likely not approve this loco to run on the Loop. It will probably have to be overhauled -just like all the other so called loco options presented by CHS.
Doesn't it just make you sick that all of the people in our community who should be yelling at the top of the rooftops that this is a REALLY BAD THING FOR OUR COMMUNITY, are instead being placated and teased with visions of grants from the CHS? ie, Heather Lopez (exec. director of Clear Creek County Tourism board) has applied for advertising money from the CHS. I guess it does make it easier to believe their lies when they are offering you money.........Our question is, what is there going to be in Georgetown to advertise? Remember when Heather Lopez was quoted as saying that the Loop was near and dear to her heart, but that she felt she could not get in the middle of the CHS/Loop situation? Not only did she NOT protect our county's tourism by not saying a word about the obvious debacle, she was actually beginning to write a grant application to the CHS to advertise for the yet to be contracted new operator! It's no wonder Idaho Springs businesses no longer trust or believe in the county toursim board or their chamber (which are now merged).
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
September 25, 2004
The Georgetown Loop complained to the CHS that they have had inadequate parking for years. Instead of helping the Loop operators, the CHS leased two lots by HGI's store to HGI. HGI, now seeing the possibility of a new operator, has offered the use of their privately owned store facilities and parking and have begun arranging for a state motor pool to transport folks from their store to the station. Why didn't they offer this type of help to the current operators? The current operators even donated money and a telephone system to the privately owned HGI store!
Another thought, how do all of the business owners in town get CDOT to put up highway signs advertising our privately owned businesses for free as they have for HGI? The implication of the current signs on the highway is that the HGI store is a state recognized visitor center, when in fact, it isn't. Further, it is the only state/federally funded privately owned store in the state. Odd that HGI claims that there is a group of Georgetown businesses who have input on what gets sold at HGI's store. We were unable to find a single downtown business owner on that board, or even any downtown business owner who has been approached by HGI to be on the board.
Also, we have received (and agree with) several objections to HGI's store and phone number being circulated among the various Georgetown advertising spots. The contact info for our town should not be a privately owned store, but should be directed to our own extremely capable Promotions Commission.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
September 17, 2004
At the Loop Coordination Committee meeting on the 14th Lee Behrens came unglued (putting it mildly) and attacked me personally when I asked him to substantiate some of the many negative comments that he has made in public documents regarding the current operators of the Georgetown Loop. Email to get a copy of the audio of the meeting and hear it for yourself. Click here to see a report on the meeting. Today, he was skulking around my property. We won't be holding our breath to see how long it will take for Lee Behrens to use his many positions on the many boards he is on to initiate grief for me and my family. After having shown how little control he has over his emotions and anger, we would be remiss not to expect retaliation from this man. His behavior was entirely out of line and an embarrassment as a Georgetown and State Historical Society representative. __________________________________________________________________________________________
September 15, 2004
We have received several comments, emails, etc. questioning us about why we don't publish slurs/gossip relating to the various board members and HGI reps and their various potentially embarrassing personal activities (and we have had some whoppers submitted to us). People have also reported to us that we are being slandered on all sorts of levels by the folks involved in the many irregularities published on this site. We would like to respond by saying that we got into this because it was the right thing to do. Righteous activity does not and will never include stooping to their lower than a snake's belly level. No, we will continue to present the facts, furthering our reputation for being credible - as evidenced by the steady increase in visitation to the site, which far surpasses any and all media offered in our county. FYI - over 200 visitors to the site downloaded the Sept. 14, 2004 agenda yesterday! We are proud to keep the citizens of Georgetown informed and know that we are offering a much valued service that citizens have come to depend on.
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August 25, 2004,
At the Georgetown Board of Selectmen meeting on August 24, 2004, treasurer Mary Sims expressed serious concern over whether or not the Foster's Place group had provided actual proof of the matching funds required for the GOCO match ($4000). Funny, we couldn't get Mary Sims or Coralue Anderson or anyone else on the town board to provide us with HGI's proof of matching funds (approx. $150,000) for the HGI Store (they call it a visitor center, but CDOT informs us that it is not a designated visitor center.).
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Why isn't our local historical society, Historic Georgetown, Inc., throwing a fit about our biggest historic feature in town being slaughtered? Why aren't our local promotions commissions, tourism boards, etc. demanding proof that the CHS will be able to pull off what train professionals from all over the world say is impossible to achieve? CHS says it has two steam engines that are being overhauled and will be done in time for the 2005 season. At least one operator who responded to the RFP says they will have to get equipment from the current operator. Narrow Gauge steam professionals, engineers, workers, boiler mechanics all say that putting these two engines together in time for the 2005 season is IMPOSSIBLE. The current operators own 5 Steam engines. None of the three companies that responded to the RFP have equipment that can run on the current Loop track. The current operator wants to continue to operate here (but as any business person would do, is looking for other options for their rolling stock) and will not be in the mood to sell their equipment during what some would call a hostile takeover. The CHS and the current operators were only off about $100,000 before contract negotiations ceased. The CHS is now apparently willing to spend millions (of our public funds) to restore for daily use beloved relics sitting in other towns (emails from folks in these towns tells us that they don't want their trains to leave their towns. It's THEIR history, not Georgetown's). What does all this mean to our local businesses? The fact that ridership WILL BE DIMINISHED GREATLY, which equates into lost revenue and tax base for us all should be considered now that the three RFP respondents have been made public and the CHS has yet to make us believe that they can accomplish the impossible before the 2005 season. Every local official on all of our boards should be squeezing these answers out of the CHS. The CHS will lose $175,000 in revenue and concessionaire fees (and as far as we're concerned -their reputation) and the local communities will lose their economic engine. NOW IS THE TIME TO DEMAND THE ANSWERS! And wonder - if Historic Georgetown, Inc. and the CHS were really about history, why they don't scramble to protect the current operators and their reputation for excellence, safety, and historic representation of an authentic narrow gauge steam operation? The CHS ought to be PAYING the operators to continue their operation. After having granted hundreds of thousands of dollars to HGI in money-making ventures that don't represent historical uses of structures and property, it would only be fair. AND IT NEEDS TO BE DONE BEFORE THE CURRENT OPERATORS FIND ANOTHER HOME FOR THEIR ROLLING STOCK, EXPERTISE, EMPLOYEES, ETC, ETC.
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Remember when Tom Bennhoff was appointed as the mayor and he said that the town cannot and should not dictate to the press, that it was the town's responsibility to keep the press involved? Now he is saying he doesn't read the Courant and has recently attempted to dictate who can participate in other local press.
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This was a submission titled "One for Lee Behrens"
" It is better to keep one's mouth shut and be thought of as a fool, than to
open one's mouth and remove all doubt," President Abraham Lincoln
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Cary Stiff made a comment in the Courant (July 14, 2004) about the Courant being manipulated by "one or two town cranks" because the Courant reported on the report sent to the State Attorney General's office accusing volunteers and employees of HGI of fraud and criminal wrongdoing. We finally got a hold of the report and we have a couple of comments:
1. Would the President of the Colorado Municipal League, Loyal Leavenworth, present such a report to the State Attorney General if it was without merit?
2. This report is written in total legal ease, and every accusation has a supporting document attached to the report.
3. This report does not "libel the good names and reputations of the HGI members" as Cary Stiff states. Facts are not libel. It will be interesting to see how HGI (Historic Georgetown, Inc.) explains some of these potentially fraudulent issues.
4. We doubt that the folks who put this information together are concerned that they "will be physically harmed by some wild-eyed preservationist the next time they're in the Post Office getting their mail". But in the past when folks have spoken out against HGI, they lose their jobs, they lose opportunities, their business suffers, they get letters written about them in the Courant faslely accusing them of things like being in cahoots with developers, they are threatened by Selectmen, etc. etc.
5. The issue of the backers remaining anonymous is a thinly veiled smokescreen to the very real issues of fraud and illegal activity proposed by this report.
6. You'd think HGI (Historic Georgetown, Inc.) members would be more concerned with WHAT was in the report, instead of WHO backed it.
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To those in town who think the Loop operators have no right to say that this is their last year to operate the train:
They have every right to, it IS their last year.
Stop whining and if you own a business in town, use it to your advantage, this is smart marketing. If CHS finds a new operator, that will be a great opportunity for more marketing.
The current operators do have CHS's phone number and a link on their site, georgetownloop.com, for the 2005 season.
Believe it or not, there are tons of rail fans who understand the circumstances and KNOW the Ashby's and Greksa's reputation for excellence and safety. The truth is, those folks probably won't return if it isn't being run by the Ashby's and Greksa's.
CHS's RFP states that they are not requiring a new operator to have rail experience. That alone is enough to show that CHS may not be taking the operation of the train seriously.
If you want to complain, complain about those creepy, horror movie-like posters that the CHS has distributed all over the state with our town's name on it.
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Due to budget cuts, Georgetown Elementary will now share a principal with Idaho Springs. The State's Historical fund (a division of the dept. of Higher Education) has agreed to fund HGI's (Historic Georgetown, Inc.) unhistoric (as proven by an archeological study funded by the state historical funds!) half-million dollar private Victorian Garden. Someone at the state level oughta be scratching their head and asking some questions about the wisdom of neglecting our schools while funding projects that aren't about preservation. If HGI wanted to preserve what was behind the Hamil House historically, they would've put a stable and horse pasture there. It would seem as though the State Historic Funds are being used to REWRITE history!
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Quoted from the Denver Post, July 5, 2004 Money End of Line for Train
"As a result of their differing views, Greska said, Behrens portrayed him as "anti-preservation" to the Historical Society.
"Anybody whose views differ from his is tagged that way," Greska said, citing a 2003 annual report Behrens submitted to the society.
In it, Behrens states, "The railroad was VERY active and vocal in the anti-preservation camp. I feel this should be an important factor when deciding the future of our relationship with the concessionaire in the upcoming contract negotiations."
Behrens declined to comment, referring questions to the Historical Society. Contiguglia denied Behrens had been bad-mouthing Greska, adding that she hadn't seen the report."
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HGI has done good things, but if they did anything illegal while accomplishing those good things, any fall-out from that will be their own fault. Although it is true that quite a few citizens in Georgetown believe that HGI has hijacked our town government to further their own goals, leaving our town's finances, resources and welfare in the dust.
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Woo-doggie! They are getting slick, aren't they? First, they decide to hire an interim water/waste water operator (and what made them finally do that? Oh, right, the State mandated it!). Then that operator quit because he figured out he wasn't as certified as the state was requiring of Georgetown. Then the town decided to hire another interim operator - the only guy the interim town administrator called and was contracted even though he couldn't provide his own liability insurance. Then time ran out again, so they made the interim contractor a temporary employee. They spent (your) time and money to issue an RFP, and got back 3 proposals. The lowest bidder was AAA Operations (providing their services at an across the board/all-inclusive $35/hr). Instead, the interim town administrator suggests that the contractor who couldn't provide his own insurance and then became a temporary employee, instead become a permanent employee. He actually asks for BOS authorization to hire John Curtis full-time effective with the "first full payroll in July". We are alarmed at this apparent attempt to skirt the process of fairness set in place by both the RFP process and the employment process. Why didn't John Curtis submit his own contract proposal? If it is impossible for him to get affordable liability insurance, why is that? -previous violations or claims? The discussion was "let's keep John" but the decision was "let's post the job". So basically, John Curtis was hand-picked by the interim administrator (Doug Clark)& has been hired, and the town is just going through the process of posting the position to legitimize it. The lowest bidder's RFP was not provided to the Selectmen.
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FACTS:
AAA Operation warned Brian Carlson and the town that the state was going to require more than what they were doing, i.e. proper certification, reporting procedures (2001)
AAA Operation resigned when they realized that Brian Carlson, Paul McKenna and the BOS intended to ignore the warnings. (2001)
The state mandated that the town address the very issues that AAA Operations brought up 2 years earlier (2003) and disciplinary actions were taken by the state against Brian Carlson.
AAA Operations was the only local company on the list of certified operators to call when interim town administrator instead called someone who lived 2 hours away (and wasn't on the call list, nor could provide his own insurance)
AAA Operations responded to the town's RFP for certified operators and was the lowest bidder, providing their services at $35/hr.
The interim town administrator has instead advised the board to hire the operator who lives 2 hours away and to provide him with full coverage insurance and other benefits. If this is what happens, the town will also need to hire yet ANOTHER certified operator to cover weekends, sick days, vacation days, etc. -Brian Carlson will be working mostly with Road and Bridge now.
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Within the past 2 years (since Mary Sims has been treasurer):
"Rose Street fiasco" (checks issued without being signed off by engineer - as required by contract). No separate accounting for the funds.
2003 Blizzard/FEMA investigation (checks issued with no proof of work done or accurate invoicing. Only invoice on file is a fraud)
Town Audits that show possible violations in budget laws (July 27th meeting: it was discussed that the town could not be in violation of budget law, since they had never chosen to adopt budget law. We are checking to see if they had to adopt it, or if it just applied to all town governments)
FEMA dredging project where the town can't seem to produce invoices proving they paid the full $12,000 match and also owe $5000 back to FEMA. No separate accounting for the funds.
Pathetically little accounting of the town's CDOT Visitor Center grant money despite CDOT grant requirements, no proof provided for the various grant matches. No accounting of the maintenance grant funds given to HGI to run the center.
"Clark is also trying to determine where the additional federal money was spent." Clear Creek Courant, June 16, 2004
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CHAPTER 2.16
Town Treasurer
2.16.010 Keeping of accounts.
It shall be the duty of the Town Treasurer to take under his or her charge and keep a true and accurate account of money belonging to the Town, stating from whom and on what account received and/or expended, reporting accurately thereon, and to perform such other duties as may be assigned to him or her by the Board of Selectmen. (Ord. 12 Art. III §1; Ord. 297 §4(part), 1980; Ord. 2 §1, 2003)
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Is this the town treasurer's fault for not properly accounting for the town's funds or requiring adequate documentation, receipts, etc., etc. before issuing checks? Or is it the town's fault for hiring a person who appeared to have little or no accounting experience prior to being hired (based on open records requests to see her resume and application - her past experience is a receptionist. Her only qualification appears to have been that she was Brooke Buckley's friend. And does that have anything to do with the fact that all of the jobs where the finances are questioned were done by then Selectman Brooke Buckley's company, Straight Creek Construction)? We have been told that based on these serious situations, it is very likely that in the real world Mary Sims would've been fired by now. We like Mary on a personal level, but considering the many serious problems our town has been facing regarding various bookkeeping issues we have to question the person who is doing the book keeping. (Submitted 6/21/04 Mary has gained invaluable knowledge of the town since she has been here. Sounds like the town hired her knowing that she didn't have any experience. Should we send her to some classes?)
This appears to be submitted from the town treasurer's husband - although we suspect that it came from Mary Sims (and this was BEFORE we published the above information!). As you can see, they need to work on their cloaking skills - they tried to use a fake email for a return address, but forgot to take their name out of their email options! We have contacted the police and the DA.
Original Message:
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From: Ned Sims NNNNNNNNNN@worldnet.att.net
Date: Wed, 16 Jun 2004 00:44:15 -0600
To: commentary@georgetownpolitics.com
Subject: new job
I hear Diamond Shamrock is hiring. Remember not to lie on your
application. I am sure you will fit the qualifications....
breathing......maybe not
We believe that the second line may be a reference to a recent open records request involving Mary Sims town application (which wasn't filled out until she had been interviewed and was already hired) or possibly to a reference to the facts that we brought forth on this site about Barb Jackson -whom Mary Sims is good friends with. And the third sentence we believe is a reference to our questions regarding whether or not Mary Sims is qualified to be a town treasurer (she has no accounting background listed on her resume). The last bit is without a doubt in our mind a serious threat - and the reason that we have reported this to the police and local DA.
We think that any man who makes false accusations , is a name-caller and who runs from citizens in their ward while making snide comments does NOT deserve to be a selectman. As a matter of fact, considering his behavior, we question why HGI would allow let him to represent them at all. He sure does spend a lot of time putting up ugly green signs around our town, but won't talk to anyone who disagrees with him (he gets shaky and leaves).
Lee Behrens is the only Selectman candidate who has been reprimanded at a town meeting for disturbing a citizen's public comment.
Lee Behrens was the only Selectman candidate who made direct jabs at another candidate at the forum on Thursday night.
Lee Behrens is the only Selectman candidate who didn't attend the Friday nite's "Forum After the Forum" radio interviews (he told me to make sure to say that he did that for no good reason).
At opening day on the Loop, a large group of school children got off the train at the Georgetown station and ran to the restrooms. Lee Behrens, CHS Director of the Loop Park, was there and did not unlock the bathrooms for the kids. -we were told that only Lee Behrens could've opened the restrooms for the kids - no one else there had a key. We were eyewitnesses to this one.
HGI does do good things, but they are already well represented on our town board. Wouldn't it be nice to have a different group of people represented?
Mayor Bennhoff is concerned that our building inspector is unlicensed. Mike also works for the county and they haven't taken issue with Mike being unlicensed. It is not a requirement of the law to be licensed to interpret the building code. It does not affect our insurance because of his being unlicensed. We're split on this. Here's what we came up with as a solution, for both Mike and Mayor Bennhoff. We suggest to the town that Mike gets licensed and the town pays for it. This is exactly what was done when it was discovered that Brian Carlson was not sufficiently licensed in water operations - the town paid to get him certified. This is also what happened when Howard Kimbrel needed heavy machinery operator certification. We say that Mike is just as valuable to our town as these two guys are and similarly, his experience and knowledge of both the UBC and the buildings in our town are invaluable.
Proof that Hgian Selectmen put HGI's and personal interests before the town's? In 1996, the Town of Georgetown gave HGI $50,000 from a DOLA grant to lease the visitor center building and property for a police department for 10 years. We have verified with DOLA that the money was paid to the town in full. HGI reports that they used that money to buy the property, even though the town DOLA grant contract says the lease can only be executed after the purchase of the property is finalized by HGI. In other words, the money could not be used to buy the property. The initial grant award letter states that the grant was contingent on the town owning the building. Kathy Hoeft, Christine Bradley, Gary Long, Cindy Neely, Coralue Anderson were all HGI members and town officials when this deal was pushed through (by them). Kathy Hoeft, Gary Long and Cindy Neely were all paid by HGI on different aspects of the visitor center job (as best as we can figure, at least $100,000). Kathy Hoeft, Coralue Anderson, and Christine Bradley were Selectmen who were at the 2001 BOS meeting when the suggestion was brought forth to move the police to a new offfice at the visitor center. Do you remember Selectman Bradley's response? Basically, according to her, the town had done nothing for the visitor center and that HGI would be happy to consider a new financial partner, but until then, they would do what they wanted down there. (!) NONE OF OUR ELECTED OFFICIALS WHO APPARENTLY KNEW OF THE $50,000 POLICE STATION LEASE MENTIONED IT TO THE QUESTIONING PUBLIC-EVEN THOUGH THE LEASE WAS (IS?) STILL IN EFFECT!!!!!!!!!! Whose best interests were served by their silence? Certainly not the town's. Is the town running the town, or is HGI running the town? How many other times was the truth withheld from the public when it benefitted HGI? Contact us if you'd like to see the supporting documents (the grant contract, lease, application, letters, drawing by Long-Hoeft that shows a Police Station, video clip of Christine Bradley's outrageous response, etc). We've had lots of feedback on this. Mostly people would like to know if this is illegal and whether anything can be done to encourage officials to investigate this and any possible criminal activity. We ARE NOT ATTORNEYS and can not say whether or not this could be illegal - that's up to the proper authorities. We have gathered the information and now are posing more questions and possibilities. We have asked the Selectmen for any and all input for this site. We invite any and all opposing views. We have specifically asked Coralue Anderson (Selectmen representative for the Visitor Center) questions regarding visitor center financials and received no response from her but instead received a bunch of non-answers from the interim town administrator. As for the CDOT grant money used to build the new visitor center? A CDOT representative tells us, "It is very doubtful if the money would have gone to a third party such as Historic Georgetown." Ahhh. But it did.......
In 2001, Selectman Christine Bradley proposed a water/sewer tap waiver for historical buildings, specifically the Mahany building owned by HGI, while she was the treasurer of HGI. Christine Bradley resigned as HGI's treasurer two weeks (according to Ron Neely) before she and the BOS voted to award the $13,000.00 waiver for HGI (was a split vote). HGI proceeded to claim the in-kind $13,000.00 as a CASH MATCH for the Colorado Historical Society Grant. -according to CHS/SHF guidelines, in-kind contributions can not be applied to the cash match requirement
Submitted by citizen: I am a member and volunteer of HGI. HGI members who care about HGI should do everything they can to get HGI people off of the town boards. HGI does good things and those efforts will be overshadowed by the questionable involvement of HGI principals in our town government.
We called around. No other town around us has a "Special Projects Coordinator". Everyone we asked said that it sounded like something a town administrator would do. Why would we give a private party the type of duties generally sworn to a public servant without the benefit of a public bidding process? Does HGI's interest in jobs assigned to the Special Projects Coordinator (also employed by HGI) have anything to do with it? The town's Special Projects Coordinator gets paid beans. So, what would motivate someone to do all that work for so little in return? (This was submitted in response 6/10/04: "Cindy is a wonderful lady who has volunteered innumerous hours for our town's benefit. I find your suggestions distasteful.")
Is it possible that the Hgian Selectmen don't do anything to pursue the Straight Creek Construction mess because HGI still very much wants ex-Selectman Brooke Buckley's family's properties? For instance, if Brooke's company, Straight Creek, were sued by the town (and the Hgians running it) she may declare something to the effect of "I'll make sure that you NEVER get that old schoolhouse building!" Remember that Hgian Cindy Neely has been put in charge of the Rose Street mess. Hmmmmmm. Is the town running the town, or is HGI running the town?
Selectman Carla Chiles said that "quality, not quantity" was the direction of the Loop communications board. We find this to be odd. We don't know of a single complaint from riders of their Loop experience. We don't know of a single business owner who has complained about the number of people coming in from the Loop trips. Is she saying that the town business are actually asking for LESS people to accommodate?
When is our town going to shop for better insurance rates? We've been told that the treasurer was given carte blanche to a GOLD PASS from the current insurance broker. If this is true, is this a violation of state law regarding municipal employees and gifts?
Why is the current town administrator working on getting the building inspector's job diminished to a CODE ENFORCEMENT OFFICER and dropping all present building inspecting duties and instead hire a company to do that part? 1. Hiring a company to do what Mike Engel does is going to be very expensive for the town. 2. The duties of code enforcement are already in the building inspector's job description. Makes you wonder doesn't it? Why don't they just increase Mike's hours so he can also attend to any pressing code enforcement issues? Oh, that's right, it's because a couple of our town officials are still mad at him for ticketing Straight Creek Construction for their many violations (that they pleaded guilty to!), and they took away his health insurance hoping they'd get him to leave. So, if they add hours to his schedule and they have to pay health insurance, how in the world are they going to get him to leave? (this was submitted: For years the BOS has directed Mike Engel to warn business owners of the sandwich boards, this year, when Mike Engel warned businesses of the sandwich boards, two BOS newbies, Tom Bennhoff and Gary Haines jumped the gun and just assumed Mike Engel was doing some kind of selective enforcement! We agree, Mike agrees, apparently these two board members agree, sandwich boards that are done in good quality should be allowed. So why this behind the scenes jab at Mike's job when everyone seems to be in agreement?)
Selectman Chiles was adamantly against the suggestion brought forth by Bennhoff that they begin to use the Channel 3 access for posting opinions of citizens. She said she didn't want it to end up like "that" website. We're assuming she was talking about this site. That's not very nice, considering how careful we are not to let people go crazy on the message boards and the simple fact that we provide MORE public info on this site than the town does anywhere else.
The person who maintains this site was contacted by Tom Bennhoff to update the town's site. She had offered to do so since April 2001. Since then, the town clerk has said that she simply has not had time to provide her with the paperwork to scan for the website. The town clerk also wanted to know if she would "have to get into the town's computer to do that?". The answer is "no", but the question tells volumes.
The Board of Selectmen would rather PAY someone to fix the town's website than to let a volunteer to help!? Selective citizenry?
Who asked Jed to write up an intergovernmental agreement (the Silver Plume/Gtown Loop IGA) without the approval of the Board (a majority vote is required to direct Jed to do so)? Who is going to pay for Jed having drafted it? We're assuming that Silver Plume will be paying for half, since they are the other party involved.
See ya later Dillard!
Lee Behrens and others suggest that the current Loop operators have done nothing positive in our community. We would like to remind those people that the Loop has contributed thousands to our school, public trails and local businesses (the town wouldn't promote town businesses on their website, so they did it for FREE!). No other organization in town has done any of that. -HGI wouldn't even cut the Georgetown Elementary PTO a break on Christmas Market booth rental!
HGI printed in their newsletter this week that they don't charge the Montessori School for rent. When did that happen? When we inquired about the tuition at the school, we were told it was as high as it was because of the rent.
In the town's 2002 audit: "Expenditures in the sales tax revenue fund and the conservation trust fund exceeded budget. This may be a violation in budget law."
In the town's 2001 audit: "Expenditures in the sales tax revenue fund exceeded budget. This may be a violation in budget law."
In 2000, 2001, 2002 audits: "Encumbrance accounting, under which purchase orders, contracts and other commitments for the expenditure of monies are recorded in order to reserve that portion of the applicable appropriation, is not employed by the Town as an extension of formal budgetary integration."
THE TOWN'S AUDIT (for several years in a row) STATES "THE SALES TAX REVENUE FUND WAS ESTABLISHED BY RESOLUTION IN 1984 TO ACCOUNT FOR THE RECEIPT OF 33% OF SALES TAXES. THESE REVENUES ARE PLEDGED TO THE PAYMENT OF PRINCIPAL AND INTEREST ON THE 1985 SALES TAX REVENUE REFUNDING AND IMPROVEMENT BONDS. UPON ACCUMULATION OF A SPECIFIED RESERVE, EXCESS TAX REVENUES MAY THEN BE USED FOR CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT."
Kevin Buckley is quoted in this week's Clear Creek Courant as saying that the town didn't have the money to pave Rose Street. Kevin Buckley signed a contract with the town, a contract that included the repaving and got paid in full (not to mention all of the extra invoices to both the town and residents), yet the road is still unpaved (and the trees and sidewalks they were required to repair and replace haven't been). The fact is that there are no change orders to the contract that requires the paving and replacement and repair of property damaged by Straight Creek Construction. The question is, now that the company's manager is no longer on the board, will the remaining board members do the fiscally responsible thing for our tax dollars and find out what happened on this project?
Pursuant to CRS 12-47.1-1201(2), the Colorado Historical Society shall make grants primarily to governmental entities and to nonprofit organizations;except that the society my make grants to persons in the private sector so long as the person requesting the grant makes application through a governmental entity.
So, why doesn't the Loop just have the town apply for a grant for them on the Loop's behalf?
The Colorado Historical Society was willing to go out and acquire different rolling stock for the operation of the train by another operator but would not help the operator of 30 years fix their rolling stock?
Why doesn't HGI/CHS help the Loop get the grant money that they need? It wouldn't be much different than providing grant funding help like what was given to the private owners of Taos Square.
Cindy Neely will be asking for approval from the BOS for up to $6000 to have Rose Street surveyed at the 4/13 BOS meeting. Why would we pay for that again when the ceiling in town hall is falling in? In her letter to the BOS Cindy says that she has looked over the Rose Street documents. Did she look at the same ones we did? For $6000 could the town get a good lawsuit going to get Straight Creek Construction to fulfill their contractual obligations? (These came in as an anonymous comments: When is town going to separate what is business and what they perceive to be personal? A contract is a contract. Shouldn't the town be taking it personally that Brooke continually told them that she wasn't a part of the business, when in fact she was the manager all along?)
The Selectmen have apparently been telling people that the recall committee is responsible for the town having to pay $10,000.00 in attorney's fees during the town's recent lawsuit in which the town broke the state's open meeting laws. The town broke the law, was having secret meetings and was held liable for it in court. No one got any damages awards. The fees all went to the attorneys. It was important to get the town to admit that "matters of statewide concern" (in state law) apply to Georgetown, even in light of its 1868 Territorial Charter. The town has often fallen back on the charter as a way to justify their inconsistencies. For instance, did you know that the town attorney recently said at a public meeting that the town does not follow the general accounting practices set forth by state law for municipalities? They don't have to, he said, because of the Territorial Charter. This was said during a discussion in which the interim town administrator said that the town does not have an adequate accounting system.
Some folks are a little miffed at some of the info that we posted on this site about ex-Selectman Dick Dorn's wife. Posting her past information had nothing to do with Mr. Dorn being a selectman, but rather to do with the fact that she LIED on her job application to town. His wife filled out an application for a town job and misrepresented herself on it . We presented the facts (which included ex-Selectmen Dick Dorn because he was her business partner) on the situation and would have done the same in any situation where we find that someone has misrepresented themselves on a town application. As usual, the information we provided can be verified by anyone- look at her application (it is a public doc) and then look at her State Board of Dental Examiners displinarian record (it is a public doc). You will see that we did not make up the fact that she lost her license to practice dentistry for serious violations and that she didn't run her practice for nearly as long as she claimed on her application. If her reputation has taken a slam because we presented the facts, then she has only herself to blame for not being forthright with people in the first place. (a citizen submitted this: What's the worse thing that can happen because we posted that info? People won't lie to get a town job? Will Barb Jackson now stop telling everyone in the community that she was such a successful dentist that she retired early?) This was another submission (You gotta wonder about a woman who so casually lied about that and her husband who knew the truth and let her. Glad the bugger resigned.)
The town attorney stated (Mar. 9 BOS meeting) that the State WAS NOT happy with the way the town has handled the operation of it's plants- even after the Consent Order. We hope Selectman Dick Dorn is no longer the selectman in charge of the water/wastewater treatment plants. He and Tom Bennhoff failed our town when they didn't make sure that we had a certified water supervisor at the water plant. When the public called them on it, they didn't treat it as emergency, but rather waited 2 MORE WEEKS to hire someone! It's obvious to us that these folks just don't take the issue of our drinking water seriously. (Flipside of this comment has been submitted: Dick Dorn is a volunteer and is not expected to know all aspects of what was going on.)
Suggestion brought forth by several citizens: If we're going to have an election, and Tom Bennhoff meant it back when he said he'd rather be elected, why doesn't he call for a vacancy in the position and add a mayoral vote to the ballot?
The town has not been able to tell us where the lead lines are in town.
The town finally hired an interim water/waste water operator (effective March 13 -Wow! only 5 months after the state mandated it). We just have to wonder why they chose someone who lives in Littleton. Are there any other interested parties closer than that? Also, the operator (retired) they hired does not have liability insurance and the town agreed to hire him anyway. The contractor also indicated that he was interested in the permanent contract. This contract is for 6 weeks, $750 a week. Liability insurance is a REQUIREMENT for emergency services contractors. Not that they called any of the insured water professionals on the list!
The town has received a proposal from a local water professional to take over all O/M of the water/wastewater plants. They would do everything that is being required by the state. They would be able to provide all of the manpower/equipment, etc. 24/7 - we would save tons by eliminating at least one(perhaps they could be transferred to road and bridge) town employee (workman's comp, health insurance, etc) and now a contracted supervisor (who has NO insurance). They have offered to do this for $6000 a month. Considering the $3000 a month that we will now be paying the uninsured operator and the two salaries plus benefits for the two employees, we say the town is being blatantly irresponsible for not considering this money saving option.
Coralue says that they have to trust that the applicants for various positions are being honest and truthful. Great. Here we were thinking we were supposed to trust that our elected officials make sure that what applicants say is indeed the truth.
Georgetown Business License Code:
5.04.030 License application denial.
(a) Application for a business license shall be made to the Town Clerk, who shall have the power to grant or deny a license and to impose reasonable limitations and restrictions on any license so granted consistent with the provisions in this Chapter. Denials shall be for cause. Written notice of the denial shall be provided the applicant, which notice shall include the grounds for denial. Fifty percent (50%) of the license fee paid for any license so denied shall be returned to the applicant.
(b) The following reasons may constitute cause for denial of a business license:
(1) Previous revocation or suspension of a business license held by the applicant;
(2) Nonconformance of the premises or building to be used for the business with the requirements of pertinent Town codes;
(3) Nonconformance of the business with zoning regulations.
(c) A denial of a business license application may be appealed by the applicant to the Board of Selectmen by filing a written notice of appeal with the Town Clerk within ten (10) days from the date of the notice of denial. (Ord. 278 Art. I §3, 1979; Ord. 487 §3, 1998; Ord. 9 §1, 2002)
5.04.060 License suspension.
The Board of Selectmen shall have the power to suspend for up to thirty (30) days any business license issued after notice to the licensee and hearing as hereinafter provided for any of the following reasons:
(1) Conviction of any violation of federal, state or municipal law in the course of operation of the licensed business;
(2) Repeated violations of one (1) or more Town ordinances at the licensee's place of business, by the licensee;
(3) The conduct of licensee's business consistently creates excessive need for Town services and causes the Town to expend public funds beyond normal requirements to protect the public health, welfare and safety
Does this happen in the real world?
A professional tells a town employee that he is doing his job wrong and is going to get the town in trouble, cause people to get sick, etc.etc.
That employee refuses to listen to the professional.
The professional resigns because they cannot risk their reputation/license.
The town gets in tons of trouble with the state because of the actions (or lack of) of that employee and that employee is then disciplined by the state.
The town still does nothing and agrees not to consider AAA (Georgetown based water professionals) because that employee refuses to work with them.
Since when, in the real world, does the employee get to decide/demand who their supervisor is going to be?
The selectmen are telling citizens that the recall effort has cost the town $10,000.00. ($10,000.00 is what the town had to pay for attorneys fees for breaking the State's open meetings laws.) Just another case of "we were wrong, but we're gonna blame it on you."
Part of the reason our water rates are going to go up again is because of our Straight Creek Construction debt. Debt that the BOS approved without having the actual funding to do so.
The Georgetown BOS have had the same responsibilities for years. Some on the current BOS would like to change what their responsibilities are (under the guise of changing the town administrator's job description). We say that the BOS was elected/appointed to fill a position, if they don't want to fulfill the responsibilities of that office, then they should step down and let someone else do the job.
Why is it that the only prerequisite for accepting bids seems to who has the lowest estimate? Shouldn't it matter if they've not honored past town contracts? Shouldn't it matter that we've gotten word from towns all around us who say they would not hire them again, and not because of our experiences with them, but because of their own? Shouldn't it matter if they are the part of the reason that we are currently under a federal investigation? Shouldn't it matter if a company is illegally using their offices and land? Shouldn't it matter if the company/owners have been sued for shoddy work? Shouldn't it matter if the owner has lied on government contracts as to what their position with the company is?
Georgetown Municipal Code:
Sec. 17.04.070 Enforcement and penalties. A. It shall be unlawful for any person, including an owner, occupant, builder or agent, to develop or use, or to attempt to develop or use, any real property in violation of the provisions of this title, and violations of this title shall be punishable upon conviction for each separate offense by a fine up to five hundred dollars ($500.00), or imprisonment up to ninety (90) days in jail, or by both such fine and imprisonment.
B. No building permit, water or sewer system connection permit, access permit, or other permit shall be issued for any building, development, structure, lot or parcel created, used, sold or conveyed in violation of this title.
C. All persons are presumed to know the terms and requirements of this title and the extent of the legal authority of the town and its employees, boards and commissions to issue approvals or permits hereunder. Any permit or approval issued in error, or otherwise not in conformity with the requirements of this title, shall be voidable. Similarly, any permit or approval issued in reliance upon or as a result of a materially false statement or representation made in the process of obtaining a permit or development approval shall, likewise, be void. Any person having received a void or voidable permit or approval shall not be relieved from having to comply with all applicable terms and conditions of the title and the town shall not be stopped from fully enforcing same.
In other words, it would appear that SCC needs to stop using their land and go to the DRC/building inspector to get everything approved. We think they will do whatever they can to fire the current building inspector to prevent SCC from having to deal with having to do things right.
The State has to discipline a Georgetown employee, yet the Town does nothing, I guess that's what got us here, the State told the Town (along with others) and the town did nothing. Sound like de je vu?
If Brooke Buckley was so concerned about the appearance of impropriety between the town and her company, why didn't she insist that Straight Creek Construction get paid like everyone else - which is hardly ever on the same day as the invoice is submitted. And certainly never before the invoice is submitted. Did she just count on blaming everyone else, like she is?
The next few tidbits are submitted input:
Coralue has told people that she and her sister are selling Kneisel and Anderson to HGI. As a matter of conflict, why is she the Selectman designated to act as the liaison with HGI in distributing the funds for the Visitor Center? Coralue once insisted that a DRC member abstain from a matter before the commission because that member had done $20 in work for the applicant. How many times has Coralue abstained from HGI votes? None in the past 3 years.
Why is the deadline for submitting a request to be an emergency services contractor on a Sunday? (Feb. 15) Why does there even need to be a deadline? (We've since gotten an answer and it is true that there is no deadline) We already know that they can't be trusted to determine what an emergency is. (Yes, yes we know the town administrator got to determine that. But two months after the Rose Street "emergency" the work wasn't even started and not even then selectman Kathy Hoeft, who lives on Rose St., questioned it's "emergency" status.)
The town is suing Straight Creek Construction for several violations, including dumping asphalt on town land. Shouldn't there be something in the procurement policy that bars anyone from garnering town jobs when they are currently being sued by the town?
What? Why would the town treasurer do anything improper for Paul if Paul couldn't even fire her. Only the BOS could've fired her. Do you think they would've fired her if she told them that Paul had asked her to fedangle the finances?
Rick Payne did not agree that there wasn't recourse for a town employee put into a compromising situation. He said "All they have to do is have a meeting with us."
Why couldn't any selectmen explain it when Jed asked for some rationale behind the town administrator job description changes? Because they didn't want to say that they were really wanting to change what it is they are responsible for.
The town is suing Straight Creek Construction for several violations, including dumping asphalt on town land. Shouldn't there be something in the procurement policy that bars anyone from garnering town jobs when they are currently being sued by the town?
Balance in the town's sewer fund Dec. 31, 2001: $478,474.11
Balance in the town's water fund Dec. 31, 2001: $515,938.55
On Tuesday, December 18, 2001, Paul McKenna apparently made false statements on behalf of Straight Creek Construction. He stated that work on a FEMA job was stopped for "2 days as a result of an anonymous call to the Corps of Engineers. McKenna explained that the Corps project permit was on file but was temporarily unable to locate it." -directly from the minutes. Confirmation with the Corps reveals that the permit was never applied for prior to the anonymous call. Straight Creek Construction tried to charge our town $4400 because they failed to get the proper permitting and the job was delayed (on orders from the Corps of Engineers). Paul was apparently championing that payment as indicated by his false statements.
Documentation for completed work:
DOCUMENTATION MUST BE PROVIDED FOR ALL CLAIMED COSTS.
Labor records, equipment logs, material invoices, equipment rental invoices, copies of contracts, etc.
As duplicated exactly from the FEMA Blizzard grant application requirements.
Do those records exist? If so, why doesn't the town have a copy?
Georgetown Charter, ARTICLE VI. THE POLICE JUDGE
Section 3. The police judge shall, at all times, be vigilant and active in enforcing the laws and ordinances for the government of the corporation. He shall inspect the conduct of all subordinate officers of said corporation, and cause negligence or positive violation of duty to be prosecuted and punished. He shall, from time to time, communicate to the selectmen, such information and recommend all such measures as, in his opinion, may tend to the improvement of the finances, the public health, comfort and ornament of Georgetown.
The town paid $4000 to Straight Creek Construction for TV sewer line inspection in June 2003.
A resident was having sewer line troubles and it was discovered that the problem was in the town's line, the same line that was supposed to have been inspected by Straight Creek Construction back in June.
Not a single board member questioned having to pay for that service again. Even after our town attorney reminded them that they had just paid for that service. Unbelievable. Will they be that gutless when Brooke is recalled?
Tom Bennhoff clarified with the board on January 13th the issue of who is responsible for hiring employees. It was stated that since
