February 2nd, 2012
Tuesday night, Loveland’s Fire Chief Randy Miroswki told Loveland’s City Council the fire department is grossly under funded and under staffed. See our story
For years LovelandPolitics has been reporting on the numerous diversions of funding away from emergency services and into failed land speculation, business incentives and extreme urban renewal plans that allowed Centerra to keep 98% of the property taxes collected on new development.
Loveland’s Fire Department staffs only 2 firefighters per engine. This is a problem.
In 1971 the U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety & Health Administration passed what is called the “2 in/2 out” rule for entering burning structures making it a legal requirement that 4 firefighters be on scene before attempting a rescue.
Loveland residents are at risk as the fire suppression capabilities of the city are the worst in Northern Colorado. We like museums, libraries and parks just like everyone else but the priority needs to be public safety. We support the comments by Councilors John Fogle and Daryle Klassen who reminded their colleagues that funding the fire department is essential even if it means giving-up plans for the museum expansion or other nice to have projects.
The Mayor appears to understand the problem while the city manager, to his credit, allowed the fire chief to report the truth. This is a big change from past administrations. Whether Mayor Gutierrez has the leadership skills to say no to his colleagues and special interests looking to divert even more general fund monies into non-essential city services (like entertainment and arts) remains to be seen.
The agenda item prior to the fire presentation at the January 31, study session indicates otherwise. Mayor Gutierrez along with Councilwoman Joan Shaffer supported a staff request to cut by 2/3 the objectives of the “creative sector” for creating jobs or attracting new visitors to the city while not decreasing their budget commensurate with the lowered expectations for success.
Posted in Fire Department | 17 Comments »
January 27th, 2012
LovelandPolitics stood alone at the beginning of the Carillo/campaign finance scandal cautioning people not to sweep it under the rug. We also suggested the party find an independent accountant to assist with campaign filings and assist the treasurer in providing an independent accounting of campaign contributions.
While Carillo’s successor,Tom Lucero, did make admirable strides in paying down the accumulated debt, some old players are back on the inside. Now, the recent election of Michael Fassi has given the Democrats the bridge from the Carillo/Fassi caused scandal into today they wanted to use in this election year. see story
In response to our March 2011 posting on the breaking scandal one person posted; “You are making a tempest from a tea pot. It isn’t really a big deal just some sloppy paperword and red tape BS on campaign finance brought to us by the Dems.”
Until people inside party leadership understand the seriousness of what happened and start looking at it objectively the party will continue to struggle. While party loyalty is important, competency and integrity need to be equally considered along with the question of baggage any candidate brings to that position.
Posted in Larimer County Republican Party | 14 Comments »
January 26th, 2012
We were hit yesterday by hundreds of fake blog postings along with some attempts to hack the main website server account. Our host server shut down access temporarily to the blog and our ability to update the news website was constrained due to some back-end links being temporarily disabled.
We apologize for the inconvenience. Everything is back now and we don’t believe any of your postings were lost. If you attempted to post a comment in the last day or two, please do so now if you remember your comment.
Thanks
Posted in Uncategorized | 4 Comments »
January 21st, 2012
A retired real estate broker surveyed the properties acquired by the City of Loveland between 2007 and 2010 in downtown Loveland. She found the city consistently paid higher than assessed values while private buyers did not. here is our story
Fixing Loveland’s dilapidated downtown became a cause celebre as candidates for Loveland’s City Council competed with one another 5 years ago to show a higher level of commitment to revitalizing the area. In fact, so much focus was later placed on the now infamous highway 402 property purchase in 2007 and the ongoing Centerra subsidies for apartments, few people paid attention to the efficacy of the city’s downtown revitalization efforts for the past 5 years. The city has continued acquiring properties in downtown even now with little or no scrutiny over prices paid by the city by any local media (including LovelandPolitics).
For those who might say a government created real estate bubble is good for downtown, consider two things.
1. There is little evidence the city overpaying for properties has in anyway impacted property values in purely private transactions.
2. The city is arguing the Home State Bank building and property it purchased in 2007 should now be sold for 80% less than what the city paid, as argued by Loveland’s city manager, “There have been some adverse market conditions”. see story
So apparently, downtown values are way up when the city is the buyer but way down when the city is the seller. Any thoughts?
Posted in Uncategorized | 5 Comments »
January 12th, 2012
The Mariana Butte Deer Meadows Metro District defaulted on $2.5 million of public bonds issued to build the Dear Meadows addition to Mariana Butte. read our story
Only two houses were built in the subdivision. Both stand empty on the edge of Mariana Butte Golf Course. Both are fabulous custom homes with fantastic views of the golf course and mountains. The only problem are excessive property taxes you will need to pay if you choose to buy one. The Deer Meadows Metro District Mill Levy is 60 Mills which approximately doubles the property tax bill every year for each property. The rest of the 500 acre subdivision remains empty as potential buyers are kept away by the excessively high property tax and successive changes in ownership of the bankrupted project.
The developer over-estimated the value of the smaller lots claiming each was worth $250,000 to $300,000. Signature Homes built two spec houses in 2008 that remain vacant monuments to the failed taxing scheme for the project. Former Councilman Walt Skowron often reminded his colleagues that they should not only plan for prosperity but make decisions as if a downturn in the economy was also likely. In this case, they didn’t.
Posted in City Council - General Issues, Residential Metro Districts | 7 Comments »
January 9th, 2012
ColoradoPols.com reported this afternoon:
“So far, the only official statement we can find is this on Sen. Kevin Lundberg’s website: Based on strong support from citizens of the Second Congressional District Kevin has decided to move forward with a campaign.” Other news media outlets appear to be searching for information about the announcement as well.
Don’t worry ColoradoPols and other news outlets, LovelandPolitics’ ubiquitous recording volunteers were present to capture Lundberg’s announcement speech for the record. You can link to it here.
Lundberg made the announcement this morning at the Republican Breakfast Club meeting at 7:00 AM in Loveland, Colorado. Other announcements included Weld County District Attorney Ken Buck telling the group his wife, Perry, will be seeking the Republican nomination for the 49th State House District. Bail Bonds agent Vicki Marble also announced she will be seeking the nomination to run in the 49th State House District.
Posted in 2012 Elections | 9 Comments »
January 7th, 2012
The Loveland Reporter-Herald called Congressman Polis’ trip to Loveland “officially a campaign trip into new political territory.” The political nature of the trip has some on council fuming. (see our story) (see the Reporter-Herald story)
Mayor Gutierrez and Councilor Joan Shaffer just ruined a perfectly good opportunity to show the community they can put city interests ahead of their own partisan agendas. Instead of including council in the preparation of Polis’ visit, they colluded with staff to make what could have been an educational opportunity for a potential new Congressman for Loveland into a partisan political event.
Loveland City Manager Bill Cahill’s absence opened the door for mischief as the Mayor played favorites with councilors in how information was distributed. Potential Republican opponents who may also run for Congress in the new 2nd Congressional District were not invited nor was our legal representative in Congress today, Rep. Cory Gardner.
Polis showed particularly poor judgement in allowing local officials, falling over one another to impress him, to illegally spend tax dollars supporting his campaign with city vehicles, staff time and facilities. A future opponent of Polis, from Boulder for example, will need to spend campaign dollars to get the same exposure, press and tour of Loveland in preparing for his or her future candidacy.
A majority of Loveland’s council, Cat McEwen, John Fogle, Chauncey Taylor, Hugh McKean and Daryle Klassen were left out of the decision making as evidenced by the emails presented in our story. In the end the culprits likely don’t care. The lure of a big spending partisan who can finance Cecil and Joan’s ambitions for higher office proved too tempting.
By law, Polis does not represent Loveland in Congress and will not unless he wins an election this year to see who will represent the newly configured 2nd Congressional District of Colorado. Treating him like he already won while ignoring his political opponents sets a new low for this increasingly partisan Mayor and his cohorts on council.
Posted in 2012 Elections, ACE-Loveland, City Council - General Issues | 22 Comments »
January 5th, 2012
Like a bad sequel, Loveland architect Roger Kenney’s renovation project on his historic downtown building is back in the news as city staff again attempts to whitewash a clear pattern of preferential treatment when it comes to enforcing city codes. see story
This time, Loveland City Manager Bill Cahill investigated public complaints with the help of Assistant City Manager Rod Wensing. Their inquiry appears to have been an inquiry to the fox only about why the chickens are complaining. Staff predictably misunderstood the complaints and narrowed the scope of the inquiry to the only part of the renovation project that eventually was provided a permit.
Ed Klen, the most recent complainer, paid over $1,000 to Colorado Code Consultants LLC to review the plans the city did approve after the project was well under way. You can read their independent analysis by reading Klen’s recent appeal to Loveland’s Council.
We look forward to a more complete review of the matter by the city council in an OPEN and public meeting.
Posted in Brothers Klen, City Council - General Issues, City Manager | No Comments »
December 29th, 2011
Trading emails that read like a scene out of the Sopranos, Loveland’s council members each denied wearing a wire during their public meeting November 29th. At issue in the emails is how LovelandPolitics came to know details about their meeting after we corrected some misinformation provided to us about what topics were covered in the meeting by the council.
In a word, ridiculous. When press or public fails to appear at open council meetings, some on council believe that means they are off-the-record unless told otherwise. Twice, in as many months, Loveland’s council had to explain comments they thought nobody recorded. Almost like the paradox of a tree falling in the woods not making a sound unless someone is there to hear it – some on council believe if the press and public don’t attend a public meeting than nobody can hold them accountable for what they say in that meeting. See our story and the emails
Councilman Ralph Trenary’s transition from transparency advocate as a candidate for public office to aspiring fascist looking for a criminal angle to prosecute someone for taping his comments in a public meeting must have set a world record. He was only in public office a few weeks before the first controversy erupted. Cooler heads, fortunately, have prevailed this time as Mayor Gutierrez, to his credit, made jokes about the wire tapping accusations to try and lighten the mood between testy emails flying back and forth.
Councilman Daryle Klassen is being surrounded by hyenas like Trenary and Farley who want to cut him from the herd and humiliate him with false accusations about recording the meeting. Despite his advanced age, Klassen’s wit and understanding of the law is impressive so he isn’t shy about educating his misguided colleagues. His email retorts have his accusing colleagues looking foolish for their misplaced anger.
Posted in Illegal Closed Session Tapes, Illegal secret council vote | 17 Comments »
December 27th, 2011
Tom Lucero, Larimer County Republican Party Chairman, sent an email this morning to the Executive Board of the Larimer County GOP saying he will resign his position as chairman effective immediately. He also informed board members he will be departing for a vacation beginning tomorrow; so he cannot be easily reached for comment.
Lucero is reported to be planning a run for the 49th Colorado House District (HD). Represented currently by B.J. Nikkel, the 49th HD fell victim to a recent redistricting map that drew Nikkel’s home out of the 49th HD. Running for 49th HD is incompatible with serving as Chairman of the party. Party officials are required to remain neutral during primary elections. Lucero is credited with fixing the financial mess left in the wake of disgraced former GOP Chairman Larry Carillo.
Lucero is said to be appointing Devon Lentz, External Vice-Chair, on the Executive Board as the interim Chair of the Larimer County GOP. According to members of the board, this is unusual as Internal Vice-Chair Jerry Patterson should succeed Lucero according to their by-laws.
The appointment will last only until the scheduled January 12, Republican Assembly when a new Chairman can be elected. An announcement of both the assembly date and Lucero’s resignation will be sent to the press either this evening or tomorrow morning.
Loveland 912 leader Tom Buchanan is a potential candidate to replace Tom Lucero. Dorié Buchanan, Tom’s wife, is the Larimer GOP Area 3 Coordinator and member of the Executive Board.
Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
