This is a recent exchange between a citizen and a Colorado Springs Councilmen. You be the judge, should we be treated this way by our elected officials? Citizen comments in blue & Councilman comments in red.

Sent: Wednesday, August 12, 2009 8:25 AM
To: Councilman
Subject: RE: Please don't repeal Tabor

Councilman,

Thank you again for you response.

I made the mistake of thinking you wanted to hear from your constituents, the people who have hired you.

If I had an employee that had such a smart mouth he would be out before he finished his sentence.

You are demonstrating yet again that we are justified in NOT trusting our officials.

Unfortunately you are proving my point.

I regret having supported you.

See you at the polls.

Colorado Springs businessman

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From: Councilman [mailto:@springsgov.com]
Sent: Tuesday, August 11, 2009 5:29 AM
Subject: RE: Please don't repeal Tabor

I guess the only response I would have is, "Why aren't you sitting up here if you think we are doing such a bad and un-trustful job?"

I know, you don't have time, have a business to run or a job, or a family to raise, or ...

I, and the other council members, took on this job, not for the $91 per week stipend, nor to line our pockets with cash nor for the power, but because we have a love for our city and want to do what we believe is in the best interests of the majority of our citizens. It certainly wasn't so our every action can be criticized by people who find it easier to complain, not so easy to perform.

Don't get me wrong, I know that listening to citizens is very important and I try to respond to every e-mail and phone call, and I get a lot. I don't appreciate the personal attacks and threats of "I'll never for you if you do such and such".

We were elected by the majority of those citizens who even bothered to vote to represent them and our city. We can't base every vote on the relatively few e-mails we get (maybe 40 out of over 300,000 voters). We are not a direct democracy, we are a representative democracy.

We DO hold the city's checkbook and we do approve every expenditure either by approving the budget or authorizing additional spending. We must prioritize spending and balance the budget. We must decide which services to fund and at what level and what to cut. This is not an easy decision. We CANNOT raise taxes and we must "live within our means". If we see a need, we have the responsibility to go to the taxpayers and ask for an increase.

You say you are not insane. Some would say I am insane for taking on a job like this. I certainly didn't have to. I work full time and have grandkids to visit. I could just as easily sit home and pounded out messages of complaint to my elected officials rather than get involved in finding solutions.

Perhaps I'll see you in group theory some day!

Sincerely,

Council Member
City of Colorado Springs
(719) 385-XXXX (Council Office)
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Sent: Mon 8/10/2009 9:37 AM
To: Councilman
Subject: RE: Please don't repeal Tabor

Dear Councilman,

Thank you for taking the time to explain the problem to me in detail. I have read it and believe I understand the dilemma.

My follow-up question is this:

How come tax increases are always based upon a cry for better fire, police and street services but whenever it comes down to it we are adding domestic medical benefits for same sex couples and building new arts buildings or a multimillion dollar facility for a privately run Humane Society and a no-bid contract to AMC?

I am not ignorant.  Who would argue that we need more police and fire and street services?

Tabor requires that you present the Police, Fire Street repair need to the people and we approve of it or not. You now must ASK first. We do not trust you (the city council) and that is at the root of all of this. If we TRUSTED our government to, as you say, do what we believe is in the best interests of our community as a whole and not just one single group or test which way the wind is blowing before we vote, and you (City Council), had a track record that justified that trust we would never have gone for TABOR to begin with.

But we don’t.

You are charged with providing the daily, necessary services and I understand and appreciate that. Handing you the check book would be insane based upon your (City Council’s) track record.

I am not insane so I am not interested in doing that.

Councilman you may have the best in mind for us but as a group the City Council has violated our trust too many times to count. If you got the slight variation to TABOR you seek maybe you, like a good father would do what is good and right but the Council has shown it does not. That is why many of us do not trust you to do the right thing and must monitor, guard and watch you the whole way.

Don’t get me wrong. I and others lament the fact that we cannot trust you. It hurts to think that if given an inch you’ll take a mile EVERY time. Citizens have other things to do than to babysit its administrators. We don’t like being put in this position. But we must do what is right for our children just as you claim that you are motivated by what is best for you children. More toys is Never “right” for our children.

Respectfully,
Colorado Springs Businessperson
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From: Councilman [mailto:  @springsgov.com]
Sent: Monday, August 10, 2009 4:25 AM
Subject: RE: Please don't repeal Tabor

Mr,

Thank for your comments on TABOR. I do not support making any changes to TABOR in November. I do believe that changes are necessary as explained below, but think we need to take a measured approach and not rush something through.

The city does have a requirement to live on a balanced budget and, unlike the federal government, we can't print more money when we need it. We have cut services, laid off people, and taken other efficiencies to maintain a balanced budget. Unlike our personal budget, the city can't use a credit card or an overdraft line of credit to see us through an economic downturn. While you and I can borrow to replace a failed washer, for example, our city cannot.

Please see my comments below on why I think we need to correct the problem in TABOR of the "ratchet down" effect. This is what will prevent us from recovering critical services and those additional services that contribute to the quality of life we enjoy in Colorado Springs. As I have received several e-mails on this topic, I am forwarding you my reply (to a particular e-mail, so some of the comments will not apply to your e-mail) that addresses some of your concerns. You should know that your City Council is charged with providing the services that our citizens deserve and expect. Sometimes this means we have to have the courage to do what we believe is in the best interests of our community as a whole and not just one single group or test which way the wind is blowing before we vote.

Please understand that we are faced with a serious budget deficit for 2010 and we will have to cut essential services, including police and fire, to balance the budget. As I explain below, the biggest problem with TABOR is the ratchet down effect and that is the only part of TABOR that I am trying to fix. Please contact me if you have further questions after reading this. Thank you.

Here are my comments:

While our quality of life might not depend on the size of city government, it certainly depends on the ability of city government to deliver those services that contribute to our quality of life. These include adequate police and fire departments; well maintained streets; safe and available parks, trails, open spaces, and recreational centers and programs; a viable transit system that includes transportation for the disabled, etc.

We currently have about 688 sworn police officers (fewer now with recent deaths and retirements) for a city population of about 415,000. That's about 17 officers per 10,000. In 2004, the national average was 23 per 10,000 according to the US Department of Justice. By that standard, we should have about another 266 officers (and remember our 688 includes the chief and detectives and supervisors, not just those on patrol). I'd like to quote one of our police officers who retired on July 30, 2009, after 41 years as a Colorado Springs police officer:

On his way out, [Commander Harry] Killa worries that funding shortages at the Police Department are threatening some of the biggest gains of the past few decades. Police officers are running from call to call, making follow up investigation difficult or even impossible; cutting-edge programs such as the neighborhood policing units have been disbanded; and the investigations department has been drained of its resources, forcing detectives to turn their focus from property crimes to violent crimes just to keep up with the rising tide of assaults and rapes, he said. “I never thought I’d see the city and especially public safety in the position that it is,” he said ("Policeman ends 41 year career", Colorado Springs Gazette, August 1, 2009).

Notice that Commander Killa is concerned about the state of our entire city as well as public safety.Our city is 194.5 square miles in size with 1,576 miles of streets. That is a lot of potholes to fix and streets to pave and plow.

We have over 15,260 acres of parks and open space. Many citizens enjoy everything from small neighborhood parks to Red Rocks open space every day. This is a significant quality of life issue for our city and it costs money to water, weed, fertilize, maintain, and improve them.

All of these services cost money. Colorado Springs residents pay the lowest per capita tax of any Front Range city and El Paso County residents the lowest of all 64 Colorado counties.The basic premise of TABOR that those who pay taxes should have a vote on increasing taxes is a good thing and will not be changed by the Independent's proposal.

Allowing government to only grow based on the previous year's revenue plus a factor based on growth and inflation is a good idea, in principle. What Mr. Bruce didn't consider, or maybe he did and doesn't care, is the so-called "ratchet down" effect. In 2007, our city budget was $242,000,000. The 2009 budget is $228,000,000 and the 2010 budget will be about $205,000,000. In the years since 2007, our need for services has not declined while the cost of providing those services has increased. Our over dependence on sales tax has resulted in less money to provide essential city services as well as quality of life services in this down economy. We do live on a balanced budget and, therefore, had to cut services and lay off employees.

To balance the 2008 and 2009 budgets, more than 100 city employees were laid off and another 100 vacant positions were eliminated. Some vacant positions in the police department have gone unfilled. We combined city departments, demoting some department heads. We have cut the fat and muscle - we are now faced with cutting bone (core essential services).

You state that "Government spending is allowed to grow under TABOR". Well, the spending levels of recent years and for 2010 prove that wrong. Our spending can only grow if people pay enough taxes to allow it to grow. And, the ratchet down effect will not let us recover those lost services anytime soon. Should the economy improve quickly, our 2011 budget will be based on 2010 revenue (as capped by TABOR) and we will only be able to increase our services based on growth and inflation in 2010. But the 2010 budget was artificially low due to the down turn in the economy.

Because of this TABOR limit, we will never recover our service level, much less get to where we should be.In ideal times, as the population grows and the need for services increases, our budget would likewise grow as allowed by TABOR. But the TABOR model doesn't take into account what happens when the need for services continues to increase but the revenue stream does not.

This is the part of TABOR that needs to be fixed. The Independent's proposal would completely eliminate the TABOR cap on spending. I have offered an alternative that would set the "base" year for the city's TABOR spending cap as the highest year in the past 5 years rather than the most recent year. This would allow us to more easily recover from an economic downturn without raising taxes.
But, the people of Colorado Springs will get to decide on how best our city government should provide

the quality of life services that many appear to want but some don't want to pay for. I only want to leave a city to my grandchildren that they can be proud of and enjoy.

Sincerely,
Council Member
City of Colorado Springs
(719) 385-XXXX (Council Office)

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Sent: Sun 8/9/2009 8:27 PM
To: Councilman
Subject: Please don't repeal Tabor

Dear Councilman,
Please don’t repeal Tabor. It is the only thing that has restrained our politicians from burying us in the debt the other states are in. It forces the government to only provide the services that the citizens are willing to pay for. That sounds like a pretty good plan to me! And it has worked fabulously!

Thank you for your consideration of my point of view.
Colorado Springs businessman