SandBoxBlogs; Glenwood Springs Post Independent "DDA looks to county for help on alleyway project"

There is no doubt in most folks minds that it is long overdue for the City of Glenwood Springs City Council to come down off their high dais and work nicer with Garfield County Commissioners.

There is an obvious uptick to that happening since the folks put Todd Leahy in his seat....(yes, sometimes the best strategy is to leave a race with a much needed seat as uncontested.  There was at least one more besides Dirk Myers who would have run if needed)...even if Todd is on the outer fringes of becoming a good 'ol boy's club member.  Leahy's doing a great job and is perfect for the seat he's in.  Let's all hope he has more terms in front of him.

There has been no doubt for many years... (remember back to the inception of DDA and then Downtown Market and then Downtown Partners and who knows how many private collaborations there are to help the disenfranchised promote downtown 81601)... that downtown merchants and numerous other small businesses in Garfield County... (remember back to the inception of Randi Lowenthal's enterprise and the more recent  Rifle Economic Development Corp)...need a number of capital and infrastructure improvements alongside a lot more attention paid.. (thank goodness for the entrance of Leslie Bethel!)...to tourism promotion that hits everybody and not just a select few.

But here's a point that just keeps getting missed by our esteemed leaders.

You have to listen to everybody.

If they won't come to you for whatever reason? (..from the sound of things out here they have very valid concerns..) then it is your job not theirs, to get communication flowing in to you.

John Martin will likely lose his seat this time around.  Not because he hasn't done a good job, he has.  He will likely lose it due to the last two years of almost unbridled chest thumping from that infamous Garfield County 'good 'ol boys club'.  The folks have given (even conservative folks) BOCC a full sweep of political power for two years now. Going deaf was not part of the deal.

There is a balance of sorts on council now, if Dave Sturges keeps on showing signs of remembering who he really is rather than taking the power at face value, there might be even more balance between now and the time 2013 council races hit.

What does all this have to do with alleys in downtown?

Jankovsky would be wise to cease the chest thumping and pushing of a tourism promotion agenda and sit back and listen to his county first.  The next two posts today give some insight into the real world of the folks <less> the view from the Lion's den.

John Stroud:
"Glenwood Springs City Councilman Todd Leahy said it makes sense for the city, the DDA and the county to partner on some of the downtown projects.

“One of my main goals when I decided to run for council was to work on the relationship between the city and the county,” said Leahy, who is also city council's liaison to the DDA board.

“The more we can work together to enhance that area the better,” he said.

County Commissioner Tom Jankovsky agreed.

“The face of the downtown is changing, and we have an interest in what goes on there,” Jankovsky said, noting that the county's main government campus is also a major part of downtown Glenwood Springs.

The county is also increasing its stake in downtown. Earlier this week, it signed a $2.5 million contract to purchase a large portion of the 700 block of Colorado Avenue from local attorneys Stephen Worrell and Anthony Durrett. The deal, which is scheduled to close June 1, would include the law office building at the northeast corner of Eighth and Colorado, and a building that now houses an auto glass shop.

Though there are no immediate redevelopment plans, the county eventually may create more public parking and expand its government office facilities on the site....."  (Read more?  Click title)

"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."

SandBoxBlogs: Glenwood Springs Post Independent "Council OKs library, parking garage plans"

Is it the nature of the beast?

Or are the 'horror stories' that get spread around about architects, designers, builders and trades really true?

Or is it possible that just maybe those construction professionals really do know what they're talking about and communication is the key?  Granted, it's usually communication that is not pleasant by any standards.

A special thank you again goes out to city councilman Mike Gamba and Todd Leahy for standing up at the hardest part, for a very brief time and accomplishing what previous council and many on current council could not get done in years worth of effort.

The library can now finally move forward.

John Stroud:
"“I know that wasn't a pleasant situation for anyone,” Gamba said. “But what we have now is a design we can all support..."  (Read more?  Click title)

"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."

SandBox Comments: Glenwood Springs Post Independent "City council declines to discuss Re-1 override resolution"

Here is a terrific example of how well the folks are doing in catalyzing the entrenched Valley politics of the past into a more balanced voice of all our social communities.

It could be said that the folks have 'literally been held hostage' to that very powerful social and economic class that have run most of our local governments and business communities for the past decade or more.

The past three years have seen a rising up of the more 'common man' with an emphasis on that movement taking hold in the past year or so.

We have sat major change into our county commissioners spanning the Roaring Fork Valley and both sides of the I-70 corridor.  Same on our City Council and Trustee seats.  Volunteer boards now hold voice of the citizens and not just powerful business people who focus on individual bottom lines.  We have a lot of activism going on out here and the emotions, including anger, are at times palpable.

It is a very good feeling to watch the earlier stages of this movement to balance now be at a point where our new leadership is slowly starting to empower the folks.

A very special thank you to Glenwood Springs City Councilmen Todd Leahy, Mike Gamba and Ted Edmonds for voicing on behalf of what is actually the majority out here.  When you count the shadows too.

Let's take a look at some excerpts from John Stroud's reporting:


“I think it is important for us to chime in on all issues that impact the community, and this is one of them,” Steckler said. “If it fails, there will be all sorts of impacts in terms of maintaining strong schools. It's part of our leadership responsibility to discuss such matters.”

"Added McKinney, “The people of this community deserve to know where we stand, and I think that's very important.”

"Opponents of the measure say local taxpayers deserve a break, and that the school district should have to adjust its budget accordingly with the downturn in the economy."

“Every community has different politics, and we have to respect those individual barometers,” he said. (Matt Hamilton)"

“It's not appropriate for us to advise citizens how to vote on something that's not directly part of city government,” Councilman Ted Edmonds said at the Thursday evening City Council meeting."

“There are a lot of reasons to support the tax, and I've heard a lot of arguments on the other side,” said Councilman Mike Gamba. “But it isn't our place to advise citizens how to vote.”

Now, let's see what the 'kids' have to say.

(Learn more?  Click title and comment to start discussion)
"Truth goes through three stages. First it is ridiculed. Then violently opposed. Finally, it is accepted as self-evident."

SandBox Comments: Glenwood Springs Post Independent "Council OKs West Glenwood house, driveway in hillside zone'

If this had been a similar, stacked deck type of council we've had for the past decade, Scott Balcomb would have never been approved.

“What they've put in front of us is as good as you can get, unless someone wants to buy it as open space,” said Councilman Todd Leahy. He said the lot comes with an entitlement to build, and it wasn't the city's intent to wipe out such entitlements when it imposed the Hillside Preservation Overlay Zone..."
(John Stroud)

How good it is to see leadership that is finally starting to represent more than just a very small faction of the Glenwood Springs community.

(Learn more?  Click title or comment to start discussion)
"Truth goes through three stages. First it is ridiculed. Then violently opposed. Finally, it is accepted as self-evident."