A popular government without popular information, or the means of acquiring it, is but a Prologue to a Farce or a tragedy or perhaps both. Knowledge will forever govern ignorance; and the people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power, which knowledge gives. – James Madison, 1822. Father of the US Constitution, author of the Bill of Rights, fourth President of the USA
As the first year of the second decade of the 21st century dawns I’d like to see the Chaffee County government agree to a new year’s resolution whose time is past due. In 2010 I’d like to see the Board of County Commissioners make a resolve to lead county government to greater heights of democracy through the implementation of policies and tools to instill transparency throughout county government. To riff on a line from OpenTheGovernment.org: If the saying ‘Information is the Currency of Democracy’ has meaning, then the taxpayers of Chaffee County are being pick-pocketed.
No-bid contracts and conflicts of interest are standard operating procedure here. Most recently, as last year drew to a close the commissioners approved a budget which included allocating $30,000 to a fledgling economic development group comprised of a handful of local Republican business leaders appointed by Republican Commissioners Frank Holman and Dennis Giese. Commissioner Tim Glenn, a Democrat, cast the dissenting vote over concern for the composition of the inaugural board, not its purpose. Subsequently, a short-term startup business plan, to be funded by the county, was put forth by appointee Mike Allen, who also serves as Nestle Waters North America’s local development liaison. Allen’s a bright guy and a savvy businessman so the plan is likely very intelligently laid out. However, when the county spends that much tax money on an issue so many concur is vital to our future, it would be prudent to issue a formal request for proposal to explore other approaches to creating a sustainable effort for an issue that enjoys widespread non-partisan support. From a public relations perspective, though I have the utmost respect for the individual members of the fledgling economic development corporation I personally know, the semblance of backdoor politics as usual and the aura of secrecy casts an unsavory pallor over the group that was entirely avoidable. Unless this group is able to quickly get off its feet and become self-sufficient before the next regime change in the commissioners’ chambers, this latest chapter in the county’s economic development saga is doomed to failure as its many, equally well-intentioned, predecessors.
The Chaffee County Visitor’s Bureau provides another example of how little regard the county holds for transparency. Board members enjoy no-strings-attached contracts and grants ranging from $500 for videography to some $40,000 for advertising for a company of which one board member is a shareholder, albeit that the company is hugely important to the winter tourism economy,. Meeting minutes indicate CCVB Chair Michael Varnum seems to consider financial oversight micromanagement. Meanwhile, the CCVB’s contract marketing director is using tourism tax dollars to pay for office supplies and equipment totaling upwards of $3,000 that, according to the terms of her contract with the county, she should be paying for out of her own pocket. No bid contracts and overly cozy relationships between board members, vendors and contractors with a near complete lack of accountability mean conflict of interest in decision making and budgetary matters is inevitable and considerable.
When public funds are on the table there is a compelling responsibility to conduct business with the utmost transparency and integrity. Where there’s smoke there’s fire. The likelihood that the CCVB is the only enterprise or department in the county guilty of financial and ethical conflicts is slim. Transparency benefits the entire community by building trust, and making government more accountable to the taxpayers funding it. As OpenTheGovernment.org maintains: “The public’s right to know promotes equal and equitable access to government, encourages integrity in official conduct, and prevents undisclosed and undue influence from special interests.”
Thankfully there is a way to help the county shine a light on its finances, operations and political appointments. The advent of social media and its associated technological advances make real-time information sharing easier and more affordable than ever which has, as a result, contributed to elevating the people’s right to know as a central social value.
However, the simple fact is that government at every level will only become transparent when we demand it of them and hold our elected officials accountable for it. That’s why I resolve to join with the Sunlight Foundation to bring to the local level their campaign to let government know that what it does is public information, and today, “public” means online and in real-time.
I am encouraged about our chance for local success by organizations like OpenIllinois.org, OpenMinneapolis.org and even our own federal government as they make strides toward greater transparency.
To that end the county needs to provides a complete, itemized, clear and searchable online description of all expenditures, including but not limited to all contracts, vendors, and grants. All expenditures must have a detailed account of the payment’s purpose and who authorized the payment. The information already exists in the county finance office, it just needs to be organized for sharing online.
The same goes for political appointments, which if transparency were already the norm, would have mitigated the political wrangling going on over the appointment of the land use code advisory committee. In this technological age there is no reason why the criteria and deadlines for application for posts, credentials of appointment seekers and broader community dialogue on candidates and appointees – as well as proposed land use code revisions and other matters of public interest – can’t easily be made public for all to see and comment on, not just those with the ability to take time off work to attend mid-day public hearings or make personal phone calls and visits to the commissioners.
In that vein, recently the Obama Administration began to publish online the names of everyone who visits the White House offices; provide online access to White House staff financial reports and salaries; disclose and limit lobbyist contacts; publish the membership of Federal advisory committees in downloadable form; and create unprecedented ways to track how the government spends taxpayer dollars. From online listening tours and chats to web-based brainstorming by government officials with the American public, the White House and federal agencies are opening up the way they work to improve accountability in government and deepen the roots of democracy. Last month, to mark the publication of the Open Government Directive every one of the White House Cabinet Departments launched a brand new open government initiative.
If a giant bureaucracy like the federal government can do such things, we Chaffee County taxpayers can and should demand parallel action in our own local government. By following the White House’s lead and making government data available in real time and inviting greater public collaboration in developing new products and tools for the public good, the county could take the values of openness and transparency and translate them into practical ways to address local priorities.
Together we must join in demanding less secrecy and more democracy of our local elected officials, their appointees, contractors and transparency and accountability in the operations and services they provide.
This is a shameful opinion Op-Ed written by the disgruntled former marketing director of the CCVB. The inaccurate data, twisted logic and laughable conclusions make it difficult to pick a place to start….however, I shall:
1) The writer indicates that the CCVB has little transperancy. This is simply a lie. Monthly Board meetings are open to the public, all information including financial are public record, and the budget process started in August of every year details the extent and nature of the marketing targets.
2) The writer indicates that $40,000 was spent for merketing Monarch ski area. In fact, the amount was $30,000 and done thru a matching program wherein Monarch provided over $80,000 in cash, tickets, and services. Hello! The CCVB mandate is to market the valley in an attempt to bring in Visitors. In winter there is really only one game in town that counts…..Monarch. To suggest that no funds be spent in winter because a board member is part of Monarch is ridiculous.
3) Cozy relationships, no bid contracts and lack of accountability? I think the writer is delusional and needs to remember the process by which funds are spent and approved by the CCVB. This is an allegation that is baseless, She soils herself by making such claims when she well knows the CCVB process.
4) With no supportable documentation that there is any kind of financial malfeasance, the writer goes on to claim that the CCVB is not the only County entity that is guilty of “financial and ethical conflict”. From the nonexistant position of proving any wrongdoing to the leap across the Grand Canyon of guilt, we again have groundless and unsupportable accusations by this “intrepid hack”.
I personally find it amusing that the Obama administration is held as the example of transperancy, soldiers against lobbyists, and all around good guys looking out for you and me. But, that discussion is for another day.
The writer sacked herself in her former position as CCVB marketing director. Her experise was limited, plans unsuccesful and vision included self serving interests.
I had the occasion to take this writer to task one year on the unprofessional and misdirected nature of the Visitors Guide. After an hours worth of whipping she could only acknowledge that the entire process was screwed up.
She was paid per her contract but found ways to feather her nest further: by overbilling the county on advertising by way of take of cut of the cost, charging extra for work on the Visitors Guide which was part of the scope of her contract, taking time off but still billing for her “services”, and finally spending over $50,000 on a CTO function in New York of all places (does anyone recall the last time we had more than 3 New Yorkers in the valley at any one time…..I can’t think of a single one) which did zero for the County, but did produce some nice air time on the Today show for another one of her clients, Jackson Kayak……interesting.
I challenge the writer to produce a shed of evidence to support her baseless allegations and challenge this venue to better represent itself when allowing ridiculous opinion pieces to masqurade as News stories. You can do way better than this.
Bob Nicolls
Monarch
I think Monarch is a terrific ski area and a community asset that deserves CCVB support – $20K? $40K? more? less? – especially since we can all imagine how bleak winters would be without it. With three people with a direct ties to Monarch now at the helm of the CCVB, it’s at least interesting to note that Monarch’s share of CCVB resources has doubled since I left. Grotesquely misrepresenting the facts of my tenure with the county to suit your own Monarch-centric objectives is not surprising. I stand by the article as written and have green bars, county budgets, documents and conversations with county officials to substantiate the points raised. Which brings us full circle to the primary point of this opinion piece. As stated above, the public’s right to know promotes equal and EQUITABLE access to government, encourages INTEGRITY in official conduct, and prevents undisclosed and undue influence from special interests. In this country, those are completely reasonable and desirable outcomes and if everything is above board, there should be no qualms about providing greater transparency. To that end, I’ve posted an open query to the CCVB – http://salidacitizen.com/2010/01/open-budget-query/ – in hopes of getting answers to questions first requested Dec. 1.
As I say in response to your other BS “news article”, go to the meetings and present yourself as a responsible human being and ask for the data.
The meeting we had many years ago was a direct result of your crappy work on the Visitor Guide that year. Of the 15 or so content pages, 1.5 were devoted to Winter. Similarly, the budget at the time reflected this gross imbalance. As you know 40% of the lodging tax comes in during ski season and we demanded then and ask now, that a similar percentage of time, talent and funds be spent on Winter advertising.
The results of the good efforts of the CCVB, and April Prout have produced the biggest start to a season ever at Monarch. I can very well imagine that more dollars per skier are actually spent in the valley by destination travelors, so all have benefited, not just Monarch.
If you want to be involved, GO TO A MEETING
Bob – thank you for so graphically illustrating my point. There is no record of you publicly participating in CCVB meeting yet you seem to be quite knowledgeable about its operations. One of the main goals of transparency is equal access to government info, not just for those who can afford to require their employee to serve on the CCVB board. That same employee/shareholder also has a hand in setting the budget and other directions that serve as marching orders for his roommate girlfriend, the CCVB marketing director. Now you boast that Miss Prout is spending her time on the county’s dime to promote Monarch which is unarguably good for business in Salida but also makes you, as the majority owner of Monarch and her boyfriend, more profitable which, by most standards, sets up the potential for a textbook case of conflict of interest. Monarch rightfully has a place on the CCVB board. All I’m asking for is greater transparency to ensure integrity in official conduct especially allocation of publicly funded resources, and prevent undisclosed and undue influence from special interests such as you have brought to light.
Pilgrim
I’ve been to many many CCVB meetings in the past. While I have not read the by-laws about information procurement, I have received all information requested when I have shown up it the past.
As a former director you well know the process. To insinuate wrongdoing is disgraceful on your part. Go the the meeting with a list of your requests and then show us where funds have been misspent.
I find it personally insulting that you would allege:
1) Monarch owners/employees who are providing their expertise and services as volunteers would be involved in wrongdoing
2) That other volunteer members of the CCVB Board and the County Commissioners would be so a aloof and disinterested as to not carefully consider the specific funds spent for winter advertising and the budget as a whole.
You well know this is not the case. You are a disgruntled former director who QUIT. You have groundless allegations that have not been proven. Your Op-Ed piece is a sham. Get your facts straight before you soil yourself further.
* reaches for another handful of popcorn
is it time for a joke…let the healing begin
Lee
I would love to work with you on bringing Chaffee County into the light. THis is a great post. Please contact me at any time.
Nisha THompson
Sunlight FOundation
Online Organizer and Outreach Coordinator
nthompson(at)sunlightfoundation(dot)com
Nisha
Yes bring your flashlight and sleepbag to Salida and together we will come into the light! In former days, though I hate to admit it, I was an auditor, so bring our green lampshade and visor and give me a date.
Bob,
I have to say that whether you or Lee have validity with the views and facts as you have stated, your manner in presenting yourself and your side is rather sad. You may disagree with what is being said but the fact that you feel it necessary to defend as you do is lacking in tact to say the least, and only causes more question as to why you have your hackles up.Facts are one thing, name calling another.
If the facts are as YOU say, there should be no reason for defensiveness. It is one persons opinion about the dealings or not, behind closed doors. There should never be offense taken to wanting to look at the so called “books”….unless there is something to hide. The fact that you are offended is understandable if you feel YOUR honesty is being questioned and you are an honorable man, but instead of getting mad and personalizing the suggestion for more transparency, understand that that is a rare commodity in a lot of areas these days and it is only hurting us all. Being open to scrutiny, in a lets say less hostile environment, again is only a good thing. You are only causing more attention to be drawn to you instead of bringing the issues to light and creating a solution that is best for the whole where ever the chips may fall.
Please work with the intention to bring people together instead of tearing them apart. Let the windows be cleaned or more installed so all that feel it necessary to question (or look inside) will not be afraid they’ll be shot for doing so…or I believe from one of your narrative suggestions lead to “hung at high noon”. Hopefully as a people we have evolved from that time period… lets not regress so far as to the next time around that we would need to suggest a phrase of “release the lions.”
Anne
You failed to grasp the nature of what is happening here. Lee Hart is the former Director, who performed a terrible job and now accusses others of wrongdoing with zero evidence.
Sorry, I call a spade a spade.
I welcome her proper request for information and when a spec of evidence is presented of any wrongdoing I will apologize. In the meantime, this is nothing but a mean spirited attempt to smudge others good work.
Lee, prove your bs or apologize
….and I believe I DO see the whole picture. She is only asking for transparency…and so what if she’ is disgruntled, or making things up, or whatever you think she is doing. It is her opinion, just as you have yours.
Surely as a kid you learned that there will always be someone that leaves the game and either tattles, or makes things up or is just a poor sport. The people that played the game know what really happened. If the principal and the parents are allowed to watch that game, the results will be different. No matter what the kid that leaves says, it won’t matter as THEY have now witnessed what went on. That is ALL that is being asked for. Who cares what that kid says, YOU know the truth….unless……You get my drift.
You are still too angry, for whatever reason, as you have proven again by your response to me…and I’m not even a player. I just see where transparency is a must. Don’t let us believe you are afraid of someone that left the game or that name calling is the answer to bring people together…I’m not quite sure where the apologies should start but sometimes we each have to stand up and be the hero….not the bully.
Anne
Gee sorry if I am too angry for you, but not for me.
As you can see from my posts, there is/has been/always will be complete transparency at CCVB. Lee is simply grandstanding and attempting to put smoke into a clear situation.
Maybe you should go to a meeting and see for yourself.
Again, until someone/anyone shows me where there is a problem, all that this affair has been is a poor attempt by a disgruntled former Director to throw mud. It is what it is, and sorry that I call em how I see em, and don’t let someone get away with BS
“Release the lions”.
By all means, but they’ll leave as lambs
Bob,
You still don’t get it…and maybe you don’t know that story. Let me try again and then I’m done.
Unless you (or they in this case) are a hell of a gladiator or there are enough gladiators the lions eat the humans….
I’m still suggesting that if you or anyone else has nothing to hide, you should welcome any inquiry or question as to ALL that is being done with CCVB or anything else that ANYONE is doing when you are involving PUBLIC FUNDS. You should welcome their “right to know” attitude.
But maybe that’s not what YOU want, so OK, you win…some people don’t want to get beyond that this is not about you personally, or anyone else for that matter unless YOU make it so.
I truly wish you to have a great day, and without intonation available in these messages…I DO mean it with all my heart.
Anne E
Yes, I am well aware of “that story”, but rather than Gladiators slicing up the lions, I have suggested that any Lions will leave with their tails between their legs because this is “much ado about nothing”. Maybe you know that story too.
You have not thoroughly read my emails. I object to Lee’s insinuations that there have already been wrongdoings. I have welcomed anyone (including myself) obtaining information, then drawing conclusions. Information is obtained in due process, which is to show up at a meeting.
Lee wrote this article with an agenda and without facts. That is to place blame immediately prior to viewing anything. She has a bone to pick, as a failed Director of CCVB, with the CCVB and new Director who are clearly succesful.
The next meeting is 1/26 and I’ll be there.
YOU own the collusium, THEY (the gladiators) are the public and their funds, and YOU own the lions. If your lions leave with tails between their legs, then THEY (the gladiators, ie public, taxpayer dollars) win.
Good story. Due process, which should always include transparency, is a winner for all…we AGREE! There is hope.
I was originally expressing that we should all not regress to ancient times and the way things were either good or bad depending on the greatness or not of the kings and queens in power at the time…it still at times DOES seem to be where we humans go…rather brutal way of dealing with issues don’t you think?…and again, it was nothing personal.
I am truly done now. From what you have written we all want the same thing. There should always be question, it keeps the environment healthy for open discussion and understanding, eliminating the fear of being eaten. The truth will always come out.with transparency, not grandstanding.
Again, have a great day!
Anne
I don’t really see it as the Roman thing. For the Valley to suceed, there has to be cooperation between attraction and town, winter and summer.
In winter, we are the real only attraction (therefore our involvement and expertise in spending what should be 40% of the CCVB budget is necessary and critical) and must work with the valley businesses (lodges, restaurants, shops) to make sure that the visitor experience goes well. Hardly a Roman/Gladiator/Christian/Lion relationship.
My issue is that the original article accusses wrongoing of which there is none, and further that no transparency exists, which it does. Lee Hart, being a former Director knows very well that the meetings are open to the public and the information is as well. She has an ax to grind as a failed Director of the CCVB and can’t seem to go away without soiling herself. So be it. SHOW ME WHERE CCVB AND MONARCH HAVE DONE SOMETHING WRONG!!!!!! It is all right there at the meetings. Nothing has been forthcoming.
This rag is little more than the typical liberal victimization of someone or something. No facts, no solutions, just knee jerk bitching.
“every one of the White House Cabinet Departments launched a brand new open government initiative.”
LOL!
Trey and I have offered Lee Hart the same opportunity as everyone else to write articles, op-eds and comments. This invitation is open to all of you. This brand of equal access, and unmoderated dialogue is the essence of the site.
Trey and I saw in Mountain Mail letters, and on the street, a lack of education about important topics that impacted our lives in the valley, and even an occasional belligerence in tone that we felt was unhealthy.
We wanted a venue where ideas could be proposed and discussed openly (preferably with links and materials to back up ideas or claims), with equal access to all.
We started the Citizen for many reasons. But, the disparity of background experiences and the varied ideologies in the community were not issues that we saw as problems. To the contrary. People on the left and right, old or young, are vital to a thriving community —and good discussion.
Many municipal representatives and elected officials are reading the Citizen. If you wish to see a smarter approach to decision making and idea exchange, as well as have your ideas respected, it starts with you, and your approach to others. Consider the Citizen a big table where you can pull up a chair.
This is worth reviewing, it has been here since the Citizen’s launch: http://salidacitizen.com/about/
OK, I’m off my social media reminder stump. Thank God we’re not in China. If you have anything you wish to discuss, or want to submit, please don’t hesitate to call, or write to me directly 539-0177
Thank you for ALL of your participation -bd
Bill D,
My time for acquiring information is limited so I seek sources I can trust.
Yours is a worthy endeavor but it comes the responsibility to insure information is accurate and fair. To do otherwise would be irresponsible and arguably unethical.
I am not judging this particular piece one way or the other. I don’t know the facts and I don’t have the time, or the desire, to investigate any of the allegations made by its author.
What I am judging is if The Salida Citizen can be a trusted source for information. That should be the job of you and/or your staff. If you find a piece to be inaccurate or unfair, you should remove it with an apology to those who may have been harmed. If you find it to be right on, you should say that and stand behind it.
Lou, you raise good points. Though, to ensure everything that’s written is accurate and fair is akin to opening a bar and making sure nobody tells any lies.
This is because we are not an online newspaper per se. Thousands of words have been written on The Citizen by people that we don’t know, about subjects that we know little about. We hope that people will write respectfully, and believe the Citizen, as a whole, attracts a thinking lot.
The Citizen, and New media in general, is a strange animal. Per my link above, the opportunity to research an author’s claims, and then offer immediate and open access to write a comment about that post, puts a heavy burden on the author to do their homework, or back up their statements. In the case of this piece, it puts a burden on Lee to provide the data that backs up her accusations about the CCVB as Bob has asked.
So, perhaps a question that speaks to your point is the level of responsibility we place on our readers to interact with an author? In a discussion on the street, we do not expect passivity when something is being said, and to this point, we are often surprised when nobody comments on certain simple, but well-researched written pieces, such as this: http://salidacitizen.com/2010/01/water-group-lacks-leader-on-land-use-committee/.
If we pay someone to write a story, which we have done a few times recently with Ann Marie, we must place a certain amount of faith in her reporting. Like any critical thinking author, she knows there is more to every story, and I know she looks forward to see what comments she receives. If written with integrity and honesty, comments can help to further a discussion, add depth and understanding to a subject and create a dialogue that helps educate us all. It should, in theory, move us all towards a better understanding about the subject —and in the case of the Citizen, our community and the people who live here.
A tall order? Perhaps. I will not argue that it is not a social experiment. But, hopefully our readers will agree that unedited, and open discussion about local topics, as a whole, represents virtually limitless opportunities for communication, and good communication is, of course, at the heart of a functioning community.
In this day and age, I hope you appreciate that with no buck to make off “the news”, and no desire for sensationalism, (we) are working at becoming a good source of information through humility and sincere curiosity —but, we need your input. In the voices section you will find pieces written by people with specific expertise in certain areas. We are looking to expand those areas, where credibility is a baseline. Sometimes it’s easy; Tim Klco has installed a significant majority of the solar power systems in the valley, and we have checked out his work. http://salidacitizen.com/salida/voices/tim/
But, in the case of this comment stream it can be more difficult to figure out what we’ve learned.
As far as seeking sources you can trust, I applaud this journey. My resolve in this search was to (find Trey) and create a tool that sought honesty. It may sacrifice accuracy at times, but with a little moderation, and the fact that every reader has immediate access to world’s greatest knowledge base at their fingertips, it is my hope that we are getting at truth.
It can be messy. But, the constructive guidance in your comment is helpful. Keep us in check!
I am not from Salida, nor do I make my home there. I just visit from time to time at our little cabin we have in the area. I actually live in Texas (I know, I know, you guys hate us).
anyway, I follow the site on Twitter and rather enjoy the deep dialogue. small town issues mirror national issues it appears. the media’s attack on business small or large is funny. the rhetoric coming from this author about “transparency” is laughable at best.
Keep up the good fight Bob Nicholls and Lou.