Local Town Hall Meeting

By Floyd Bayne

So, I went to the Cloverhill District meeting held by Art Warren (Kudos to him for having such an open meeting and allowing the citizens he represents to be heard). Sadly, only about a dozen people were there. I asked an elderly gentlemen who was sitting next to me if he would record my statement, but apparently he missed the "on" button. However, a RTD reporter was there and approached me after the meeting and asked if he could use my quotes from the statement I made, so be looking for that.

Anyway, after three county officials, including Mr. warren, did their PP presentation to explain to us why we must have the bonds approved and the new meals tax to go along with them, the floor was opened to questions/statements. I said that I am not surprised at how the county is trying to sell us on the new tax. They say that it's "only two-cents," no big deal. But I reminded the folks there that the federal government keeps finding new and creative ways to increase our taxes, we just had the biggest tax increase in the history of our state, thanks to a "conservative" Republican governor, and now the county looks to get into the action. I stated that the tax-payers are not a bottomless pit of money that the county can just dip into any time it needs more money.

I then pointed out the salaries of some of the county bureaucracy and asked why we haven't heard anything from the county about where they can cut some spending or get rid of unnecessary positions in order to come up with some of the money they need. We never hear anything about cutting spending, just new ways to raise taxes. I was thanked for my concerns and for stating them, but was told that the PP show should be evidence enough of the need for a new tax. There were a couple of people there who seem to be OK with paying another tax, but most of the folks didn't say anything.

I finished by saying to Mr. Warren and the BoS, "Please, just stop! Stop trying to raise money by ALWAYS looking to raise a tax or fee and try to cut spending for once." The bottom line? VOTE NO ON THE MEALS TAX AND THE BOND ISSUES.