NO on 200 and 201

[merkle]

I'm not a political person and don't care if someone votes for Obama vs McCain but I would like to encourage everybody in Colo Spgs to vote No on 200 and 201.

[Canuck]

Vote no on 47.

[-PUCK-]

I'm not a political person and don't care if someone votes for Obama vs McCain but I would like to encourage everybody in Colo Spgs to vote No on 200 and 201.

I'm all for the ideas that the money would go to, but I sure wish they would look at the corruption in our own local politicians and government first and cut out huge pay increases, "bonuses", and out of control spending to fund these things with the correct resources instead of fall back to the old faithful methods of a hike in taxes and new programs we are forced to pay for.

[merkle]

cut out huge pay increases, "bonuses"

This is a common opinion held by many citizens but as a general city employee for 13 years i have not recieved "bonuses" these "bonuses" are given to Utility Employees not General city employees. The difference is Utility employees get their pay raises and bonuses by increasing your utility bill while general city employees get their funding through taxes, in which Fire and Police get the largest chunk of.

The stormwater fee is a needed fund to pay for nearly $300 million backlog of deteriorating stormwater systems. As a matter of fact if it wasn't for the stormwater fee Platte Ave would probably be still closed as the city would not have the personnel or the funds to hire a contractor to make the neccesary repairs. The stormwater crew jumped into action and reopened Platte after 3 days.

I am more than willing to take anybody on a tour of the many miles of underground storm systems that are in various stages of collapse. as it is my job to clean and repair the undergroud drainage systems.

[The Black Knight]

Well here's some insight as to what 200 and 201 propose. 200 is a cease and desist on the "Storm Water fee". 201 is a phase out of every city enterprise within 10 years.

So to break it down, things like Platte bridge when it was washed away, was paid for by "your" Stormwater fees. If Stormwater wasn't enacted, then Platte would still be closed.

I don't think you people fathom the amount of drainage and runoffs we have within the city. I've seen them, been in them and have witnessed them also at full capacity. It's pretty cut and dry, if you want services you have to pay for them.

I fully agree that there should be alot more accountablity in spending. I'm a city employee myself and I'm hot under the collar, that every facet of city government organizations has taken a hit except for CSPD(Police) and CSFD(Fire). Over 90 people so far has been laid off, many people whom didn't deserve it and were definitely people who pulled their work load. Yet Fire and Police are unscathed, all the while we've got Police burning through 20 sets of tires on one car(Dodge Charger), even one set had only 1000 miles on it and had to be changed. 17 new Chargers were bought, and over 20 new Honda ST1300 Police Bikes, when the old Harleys were just fine and didn't need to be replaced.

Not to mention Fire fighters taking the fire truck to the grocery store and leave it idling to high heaven outside for who knows how long.

Look no one is more pissed then me with it comes to crappy government spending. But if 200 and 201 pass, you can kiss your pretty city goodbye.

With 201, in the first year along the alone the city will face another $20+ million in shortfall, on top of the already $23 million deficit now. By the end of the 10 year phase out, the City will have lost over $200+ million in revenue and have lost many departments in the process.

Do you people realize that there are over 200 parks, trails and open spaces in Colorado Springs alone? On top of all the Rec. centers and vistor and tourist attractions. Now just to put it into perspective, under 201 the City of CS would lose over $20+ million the first year. That's the entire Park and Rec budget alone.

And in an effort to keep up with public demand for safety, Fire and Police are always top priority. Which means other departments like Park and Rec, Streets and Stormwater will eventually have to be completely dissolved.

Another point, under 200 which calls for a cease and desist on Stormwater. If 200 passes on Nov. 4, the next day Nov. 5 over 30 employees from Stormwater Enterprise immediately get laid off. Also the city will have to come up with another $3.5 million in deficit in order to balance the budget because of 200 passing.

Here's where the plot thickens and the effects of 201 start to kick in. As mentioned before 201 focuses on City enterprises. Over a period of 10 years, each and every enterprise will be phased out. Meaning both city run Golf Courses(Patty Jewett and Valley Hi) will be shutdown. The city will no longer have the means to fund Evergreen and Fairview Cemetaries, then they shutdown. Next is CS Utilities, under 201 it forces Utilites back under General city fun, so therefore we face another huge deficit because now Utilities has to be funded. Since Utilities when enterprise, it's how they earn their money for their budget.

All in all, 200 and 201 are tremedously bad for Colorado Springs. Ask yourself, who will take care of the parks you and your families frequent. Who will take care of the roads and maintenance. Who will take care of every other service the city offers, when there just isn't the budget for it??

If 200 and 201 pass, what will eventually happen is a collapse of municipal government that has been put in place to take care of and provide services to the public. So if you like living in a s**thole then by all means vote YES. If not, vote NO to 200 and 201.

I'm all for government accountability and watching the bottom line. However, not all the money is going to big earners and bonuses. For 2009, the city employees won't receive a cost of living adjustment. Health benefits will go up in 2009 and that's usually what cost of living adjustments are for, to balance out the rising costs. The other big factor is that city sales tax has steadily decreased(which is shocking when you look at how Wal-Mart and other places are packed all the time). But the reality is yes it has declined and so does the CS budget.

[R1chie]

You don't have to worry about me. I am voting NO on everything.

[The Black Knight]

This is a common opinion held by many citizens but as a general city employee for 13 years i have not recieved "bonuses" these "bonuses" are given to Utility Employees not General city employees. The difference is Utility employees get their pay raises and bonuses by increasing your utility bill while general city employees get their funding through taxes, in which Fire and Police get the largest chunk of.

The stormwater fee is a needed fund to pay for nearly $300 million backlog of deteriorating stormwater systems. As a matter of fact if it wasn't for the stormwater fee Platte Ave would probably be still closed as the city would not have the personnel or the funds to hire a contractor to make the neccesary repairs. The stormwater crew jumped into action and reopened Platte after 3 days.

I am more than willing to take anybody on a tour of the many miles of underground storm systems that are in various stages of collapse. as it is my job to clean and repair the undergroud drainage systems.

Police alone get 47% of the total general city budget. :shocked:

[merkle]

The general city has recently made huge cutbacks in order to balance their budget. These cuts have included 90 positions nearly 50 were filled with persons. Meanwhile the Police and fire are safe from these cuts.

If the stormwater enterprise gets voted out then there will be upwards of 30 persons cut from the Street Dept inwhich the stormwater crews are incorporated. These persons not only maintain stormwater but they also runs snow plows.

[The Black Knight]

The general city has recently made huge cutbacks in order to balance their budget. These cuts have included 90 positions nearly 50 were filled with persons. Meanwhile the Police and fire are safe from these cuts.

If the stormwater enterprise gets voted out then there will be upwards of 30 persons cut from the Street Dept inwhich the stormwater crews are incorporated. These persons not only maintain stormwater but they also runs snow plows.
Yeah and you think we've got it bad. Look at the County, I really feel bad for those people over there.

[merkle]

Here's an example of some of the underground storm systems.....
http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=viewImage&friendID=147408439&albumID=1192254&imageID=11059958
That pipe is supposed to be round.

[-PUCK-]

Meaning both city run Golf Courses(Patty Jewett and Valley Hi) will be shutdown.

Dammit Jason, that alone is enough reason to vote against this!:cry:

[The Black Knight]

Dammit Jason, that alone is enough reason to vote against this!:cry:

Well that's the crappy thing about it all Mark. Once each entity within the city starts to have money taken from it and more and more enterprises get done away with, things will just naturally fall in place. Now does that mean Patty Jewett and Valley Hi completely go away? From a City's standpoint yeah, but you never know a private organization could pick them.

I think 200 and 201 are just dangerous measures that would cripple the very basic stuff that municipal government offers.