Your Turn

Making commissioners accountable
Representation needs to be supplemented by accountability, transparency, and evaluation (RATE). Power should flow from the bottom up, not from the top down. I propose setting up an independent citizen’s group as the second point of my 10-point plan to restore the bond of trust between our county government and the citizens they are elected to serve. The group of nine people will be made up of one independent, one Democrat and one Republican from each of the three commissioner districts. At least one person from District 3 must be from the Roaring Fork Valley. None of the people on the group should be current elected officials; they should all be “regular people” who represent a cross section of Eagle County. The reason for this is that the Board of County Commissioners gets feedback from elected officials through many other venues.

This group will evaluate large spending proposals and budget items before they are acted upon by the county commissioners. This includes large spending proposals that are discussed in executive session like the B&B project and Stratton Flats.

RATE:

Representation — The people will be represented by their elected officials as well as friends and neighbors in a non-partisan manner.

Accountability — Elections every four years are an inefficient way of determining our priorities, since priorities can change in that time. Taxpayer preferences could be elicited directly by providing a detailed breakdown of how their funds were spent in the past year, accompanied by an invitation to express a preference about priorities. The key to the success of the RATE program is to do this in advance of the budget process or when large spending commitments are made. This way the community gives input about priorities during the first phase of the process, not just approval after the budget process is 99 percent complete.

Transparency — County commissioners' decisions made in closed-door executive sessions will be rated by this group. This will give the community more opportunity to weigh in on these closed-door decisions aside from the afternoon Board of County Commissioner meetings that are difficult for working people to attend.

Evaluation — The spending oversight group will rank all spending proposals according to a cost-benefit analysis and evaluate their countywide implications to achieve our state mandated goals versus discretionary spending.

This program will be a safeguard against any commissioner spending our taxpayer money on pet projects. It will also give the community more opportunities to give their opinion to the Board of County Commissioners.

Debbie Buckley, Avon
County commissioner candidate

Obama's New Yorker problem
For almost a week we’ve heard Barack Obama express his discontent regarding the satirical New Yorker cover.

The New Yorker portrayed Obama as a Muslim; he thought it to be an insult to Muslim Americans. His wife, Michelle, was depicted as a fashionista terrorist; an illustration he also found offensive.

However, in all his discontent regarding the New Yorker cover, it’s what he didn’t say I find most disturbing.

I want my president to put America first. Never once has Senator Obama made reference to the burning American flag (in the Oval Office) in the cartoon. Most of the cartoon is laughable; but this part of the image is not only offensive, it’s sad.

America is special. We deserve a leader who puts our country first.

It’s more than a missed opportunity for the Obama camp, but a terrific reminder of the sacrifice John McCain made for the love of his country.

God bless America!

Jennifer Biehn, Edwards

Fossett search hurt Nevada
Shame on Mrs. Peggy Fossett. The disappearance of her husband in 2007 is not only devastating to her, but also to the people of Nevada, and in particular to its youth.
According to reports in the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the state of Nevada was held responsible for $687,000 in costs for conducting a search for her husband. She was billed $486,000 by the state in June 2008, but refused to pay.

State financial woes are forcing legislators to make painful budget cuts that will affect school districts throughout the state. According to the Las Vegas Sun, this will result in “bigger class sizes, fewer special programs and a requirement that students pay to play sports” as the Clark County School District, the fifth largest school district in the nation, faces millions in budget cuts. To reduce expenses, the district also changed transportation policy so that buses will not be provided for any student who lives within a three-mile radius of a school. This means that first-graders whose parents cannot transport them will have to walk three miles to and from school in 100-degree heat (Most elementary schools in the district are year-round schools). In addition, 400 district employees have been laid off. These budget cuts cause severe hardships for the school district that still needs to hire more than 700 teachers to fill classrooms for the school year.

Higher education will face drastic loss of funding as will other state agencies. The state has been forced to close a 500-bed prison. Human services will have to cut $150 million out of its budget, resulting in fewer services provided for needy families.

The courts estimated that Steve Fossett’s estate is in excess of “eight figures in liquid assets, various entities, and real estate.”

Mrs. Fossett, how do you explain to the people of Nevada that they will be unfairly penalized because you refused to pay for the search for your husband? Is this your way of thanking the many Nevadans who joined in the search?

My condolences go out to you for your loss, but I am more remorseful for the many people who will suffer because of your self-serving decision not to take responsibility for the expense of the search.

Barbara Garrett, Henderson

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