Whether you're Secretly a Democrat or Secretly a Republican....

I just read a post from a candidate that captures what I think we should be talking about in our community.  It's written by Stephen Allen, candidate for City Council in Ward 3.  Regardless of who you intend to vote for, or your party affiliation, please take a moment to consider his words.  They are right on track.  They matter.

 Dear Friends and Neighbors,

My name is Stephen Allen and I am a candidate for Castle Pines City Council in Ward 3. Let me introduce myself. I am a nine-year resident of Castle Pines. My wife and I moved to the Castle Pines community to raise our family. We feel this is a very special place to live.

I decided to run for City Council because I am concerned about the direction of the current City Council leadership and want to make a change. I share the frustration of many residents who have taken the time to attend City Council meetings, spoken out about issues that concern them, and feel those concerns have been dismissed or ignored.

I believe the current City Council has become preoccupied with issues that do not reflect the interests of the majority of citizens, like pursuing the dissolution action against the CPN Metro District, and voting to authorize an urban renewal authority, which was rejected by an overwhelming majority of voters at the ballot box in November 2010.

If elected to City Council I will pursue three priorities:

Integration. I believe the City cannot move forward with integration without ending the litigation with the Metro District. Since the current City Council voted to dissolve the Metro District in February 2010, the City and Metro District have collectively spent over $500,000.00 on the dissolution litigation.

I believe there is no benefit to continuing the lawsuit. I have been attending City Council and Metro District meetings over the past two years. I have seen the chilling effect of the lawsuit. The elected leaders of the City and Metro District are talking at each other (through their attorneys) and not with each other. I think that is a disservice to our community. Also, if the lawsuit continues, the City is not likely to see any cost savings from integration of services, which was the City's justification for the lawsuit.

The irony is that residents of Castle Pines fund both the City and Metro District though their taxes and mill levies. So, essentially, the citizens of Castle Pines are funding the lawsuit. I personally do not think we are getting a good return on our investment. If elected, I would vote to withdraw the dissolution petition and end the lawsuit. I believe that is the only way the City can move forward and work cooperatively with the Metro District to achieve an integration of services plan that would benefit the citizens of this community.

Transparency. The job of the next City Council is to restore the trust of the citizens of Castle Pines. I believe there are legitimate concerns about transparency and openness in the operation of our city government.

One of the issues is lack of notice and opportunity for the public to provide input in the decisions made by City Council. The City provides the public with the minimum required notice of its agenda for any given City Council meeting. I think the City can do a better job of providing advance notice of its agenda and of public hearings where the input of the citizens is needed. If elected, I would advocate for laws that promote more openness and greater transparency in the operation of city government.

Road Maintenance. I believe that City Council must plan for the future. When the citizens of Castle Pines voted to incorporate, the City took on the responsibility of maintenance of city streets and roadways. That should be a funding priority for City Council.

Although the City Council recently approved funding for pavement repair, the City still needs to study the long-term costs of maintaining those roadways. If elected, I would support a study to determine the costs of maintaining city roadways on a life-cycle basis. Once the City has this information, the City Council can make informed decisions about how to pursue funding for this priority.

Thank you for being an interested and engaged citizen. If you have friends and neighbors in Ward 3 who might be interested in supporting my candidacy, please forward this e-mail to them. If you would like to talk with me or meet some of the other candidates, there will be an open house on Sunday, Oct. 23, from 1- 4 PM at the Merrill's home, 7360 Winter Berry Place.

Please come and invite your friends and neighbors!

Stephen Allen
Candidate for Castle Pines
City Council, Ward 3

City of Castle Pines, Ward 3, includes the neighborhoods of HOA#1, HOA#2, The Retreat, Huntington Ridge, Claremont Estates, Lagae Ranch and the Lodge at Castle Pines.

Comments on Proposed 2012 Budget - City of Castle Pines

Balancing a budget can prove difficult in places like Washington DC.  Similarly, staff has recommended to Council that they adopt another deficit budget for Castle Pines.  Council is planning to spend $1.2 million more than will be taken in for 2011.  Next year Council is asked to spend $223,233 more than it takes in. 

As for money coming into the city, you’re forecast to pay $400,000 for franchise fees associated with utilities and cable TV.  You’re expected to pay $630,000 in fees to the City that are associated with buying a new car.    

What value do you receive in return?  $120,000 pays basic legal services, with an additional $45,000 earmarked for suing ourselves.   $156,000 buys 30 hours a week of City management services.  $132,000 buys 83 hours a month producing financial statements.  “City Hall” rent is $85,000 at a time when we should share space with the Metro District.  $158,000 runs a park with no revenue.  At the same time the Metro District already has a parks manager, and Master Association dues aimed at parks sit idle.  $75,000 will explain to you what a great job is being done by the City, and $16,000 televises Council meetings.  $21,000 pays to ask you to pay more tax to the City, exactly why has yet to be determined. 

Council will consider staff’s proposal.  They can change any item prior to approval.  Oh, that they would.

What’s good news in the budget?  $1.3 million is aimed at our streets.  This time last year staff assured us we only needed to spend $200,000 on street repairs.  While that estimate changed, we still have not determined overall costs to maintain our streets over time. 

You should ask why.

Happily, fresh faces on the new council will soon be seated.  When that happens, talks with the Metro District Board can restart.  I suggest the attorneys and employees be kept out of the room.  Talks should not begin with a list of items to negotiate.  Instead, start with building a social relationship upon which to base the business relationship.  Once you find out you can get along, then start easing into the more substantive discussions. 

When this process produces results, Council can then adopt a revised budget to reflect the opportunities mentioned above.  It’s always important to consider the future, but the next three months need to be focused on slashing costs, and putting our own house in order.

Council Vaults City into Denver Post Headlines One More Time

Castle Pines fight to dissolve Colorado special district gets pricey

By Carlos Illescas
The Denver Post

 

A battle between Castle Pines and a special district over the city's quest to integrate the district into the city is getting expensive and ugly.
More than $500,000 has been spent by Castle Pines and the Castle Pines North Metropolitan District since early 2010, when the city started legal dissolution proceedings.
Much of that has gone to lawyers, consultants and others hired by either side.
The city says that by integrating the metro district into the city, it will be able to provide services at a cheaper rate and save taxpayers money.
But the metro district doesn't trust the city and thinks Castle Pines isn't working with them to come up with the best solution.
So, now the issue is playing out in

(Click for larger map)

court.
The metro district provides services that include water, wastewater, storm draining, and parks and open space to about 3,200 customers.
The district was formed in 1984 and has provided services for Castle Pines residents since then.
After residents voted in 2007 to incorporate as a city, leaders envisioned consolidating the district into the city, but keeping related taxes to provide services or to fund other improvements.
The metro district recently received an extension until February to come up with a dissolution plan. Should the judge approve it, the issue will be decided by voters.
City officials say integrating the metro district into the city would save about $500,000 annually. About half the savings would be in salaries paid to the metro district's manager and finance director.
There would be other savings from consolidation.
Metro district residents now pay high fees and property taxes just for district services — 41 mills, more than half of which covers debt service.
"We want to cut taxes and fees, but we can't do that until we integrate services," City Councilwoman Kim Hoffman said. "It streamlines the process, for no other reason than to make it easier for people to work with us having one entity."
Dwight Kemp, a Castle Pines North Metro District board member, said some of the animosity stems from the timing of the dissolution by the city.
Both sides had been discussing how to proceed, he said, when the council suddenly moved to eliminate the metro district altogether.
"We felt like the city aborted all of our efforts to integrate and do what's best for the community," Kemp said. "The city said, 'You have to go away.' "
While most of the council favors dissolution, Mayor Jeff Huff is against it, saying he wanted more time to study the issue.
Huff also says the money spent by both sides fighting this has gotten out of hand and that it's only going to get worse.
"I expected it would create a protracted legal action, and there would be no assurance of what the outcome would be," Huff said.
Metro district resident Donald Reese agrees that the legal battle is already too costly. But he said, "I don't see how the city can function with an arm out there that doesn't have as much transparency than you would think."

Local Editor Rips Council for Lack of News of Council Election

"City Council Members, 

I am shocked the the city did not find this important to include in their last Citizen or to submit to the local community newspaper.  I would think it important to solicit as much community participation as possible?  Does the city have any plan for communicating this information to its residents? 

http://www.cpngov.com/cityclerk/election2011/index.php. 

Also, three months ago (May 10) was the last update on the city's "Latest News" section of the website. Is there any way to have more current information posted on the city's website or disseminated to local media?" 

Signed, by editor of local paper

Council Approves Additional Funding to Pave Streets, Support for Library

Tonight Council increased funding for streets to $1.8 million!  This is a great step forward for our community.  Construction will begin shortly, and could last three months.  The approval at the last meeting was for $425,000.  An additional $1,375,000 was added tonight.  Council also took action to amend its 2011 budget to reflect this work on community streets.  This expenditure will address most pavement issues on Monarch and the Parkway.

Council also voted $25,000 to help jump start fund raising for the local library.  If you would like to write a check for this worthy cause, the address is Castle Pines Library, 7437 Village Square Drive, 80108.  Every little bit helps, so please support this effort if you can.

Let's all congratulate council members for their votes for these two very worthwhile community efforts!

Please Show Support For Council's Street Resurfacing

On Tuesday, August 9th, the City Council is planning to consider a resolution to spend $1,374,937 for the 2011 street resurfacing project. 

Location of the meeting is 7404 Yorkshire Drive. 7 p.m. start.

Passage of this measure will be a bold step forward for our community. Pricing appears attractive. Repairs are clearly necessary. This action is timely. 

Please make plans now to attend and show Council your SUPPORT for this action.

Council Votes Significant Funding to Pave Parkway, Monarch

You may have noticed the concrete batch plant by the Park and Ride on the east side of I-25.  Operators of that plant were asked by City staff if they had plans for the plant once the paving of the County road from Parker to I-25 is completed.  As it turns out the facility will be available at that location through year-end.  Council secured a very attractive bid for concrete from this batch plant to replace significant sections of Monarch Blvd. and Castle Pines Parkway.  This represents an enormous opportunity.

Tonight council approved a bid for 6,000 square yards of concrete at a cost of $534,000.  Because of the proximate location of the batch plant, this cost is about 40% lower than bids from other contractors who would have to truck in concrete.  Council also directed that it will consider an appropriation at the next Council meeting to fund an additional 12,000 square yards of concrete.  Total volume is 18,000 square yards at a cost of $1,602,000.  This work can address virtually all of the cracked concrete issues on our two main thoroughfares.  Paving will begin soon, and could take up to twelve weeks to complete.

This is EXACTLY the type of issue City Council should be tackling.  Much of the cracked pavement to be replaced is twenty-six years old, and has reached its effective service life.  With the batch plant located in the area, pricing appears very attractive, unlikely to be repeated.  Congratulations to all Council Members who voted for tonight's action.  This is a good sized chunk of money for Council to consider.  It takes guts for them to cast yes votes.  Please thank them for taking this action for our community.  It's the right thing to do!