Click here to submit your opinions, editorials or rants!  We will post them quickly as you have written them.  
Please be polite.  We will not post profanity.

To Website Speakout Visitors:

Please find below the text from a letter I sent on March 24, 2010 to the Chaffee County Commissioners describing concerns and asking questions about several aspects of the process of purchase, remodeling and renovation of the old hospital complex in Salida into the Touber Building (formerly known as the City and County Community Services Complex).

My questions relate primarily to the Chaffee County portion of the facility. Although this is a political party website I don't think these are partisan political questions or issues. I think all residents and citizens should be entitled to ask questions and receive information on expenditures of public funds.

Please note that to be more precise Item 2 should indicate that payment of the Certificates of Participation obligations could come from any legally available (i.e. unrestricted) funds. I assume these represent many of the current revenue sources.

As noted in the letter I welcome any corrections or clarification to the information and hope that the questions will be answered. To date I have only received a response from Commissioner Glenn. He noted that he did not agree with many assumptions in my letter and that he did not want to be misconstrued as agreeing with any of my thoughts but he thought any other response should come from the Chairman of the Board of County Commissioners. Deferral to the current Chairman may be polite but many of the process elements in question were undertaken in 2008 before two of the current Commissioners, assumed office and while Commissioner Glenn was Chairman. Commissioner Glenn also indicated that he did agree that taxpayers deserved recognition. I have not heard from the other Commissioners and have not received any specific corrections or clarifications to the information in my letter. If I do receive any such information I will try to pass it along.

I hope that you will please consider this information and these questions. Although some of these items are past I believe that addressing these concerns can help improve future government actions. Also, some of the concerns relate to items such as operations expenses and facility leasing provisions that extend into the future. If you find any of these concerns or questions particularly interesting or meritorious you might communicate that to the County Commissioners.

Thanks for your kind attention.

Larry Kier

--------------

Dear Commissioners:

The official opening of the Touber Building (formerly the City and County Community Services Complex) is approaching.

I congratulate those involved in bringing this project to completion.

At opening ceremonies for such facilities there are usually recognitions and acknowledgment of the contributions of politicians, government employees and citizens involved in the project. As an additional and, unfortunately, all too often forgotten recognition, I would like to suggest that acknowledgment also be given to the taxpayers who provided funding for this project. They may not have had the opportunity to vote on this project but surely their contribution of part of their hard-earned income to the public funds used for the project deserves some recognition.

This project will provide many benefits and a useful function for a building that has historic value. However, there are some concerns that I have regarding this project. These are listed below. I have communicated some of these before. As always I would welcome any corrections or clarifications and would appreciate any answers to my questions you would care to provide. If I do not receive a response I will assume that you don't have corrections or clarifications or don't care to communicate these or answer the questions.

1. As far as I can determine the decision and commitment to purchase the hospital building preceded obtaining a definitive and accurate estimate of the cost of remodeling and renovation as well as a clear indication of from where the money would come to pay for remodeling and renovation. When I contacted Commissioner Glenn and Administrator Christiansen in June of 2008 I was informed that no such estimate or firm funding sources were available. As of early September, 2008 (after the County had committed to purchase a share of the building) I learned that final cost estimates were expected in October and would be put in a $2M DOLA grant application. As late as December, 2008 the 2009 County budget did not have 2009 expenses or revenue allocated to this project.

It should be noted that the ultimate overall cost of renovation for the county portion of the building (exceeding $1.9M) was a really big factor in the total cost and greatly exceeded the county purchase price of $875K.

It seems that the County may have committed to purchase a share of the building before having an accurate estimate of the cost to renovate and remodel the building and a firm funding source. Haste in making a purchase commitment does not seem at all warranted in this case because the building had been on the market for quite a while without a sale. Making such a commitment decision in these circumstances does not seem prudent. Is it correct that the commitment to purchase the building was made before there was a firm renovation cost estimate and funding source? If so, why was this decision made in the absence of such information? If there was a reasonable cost estimate and funding source available prior to the commitment why was this information not communicated?

2. Substantial funding for the county portion of the project (about $2M) was provided by a Certificates of Participation approach. This approach seems to have substituted for earlier plans to apply for a $2M DOLA grant. It is my understanding that George K. Baum & Company worked with Chaffee County to provide advice on financing approaches and this company also received commissions or fees relating to the sale of the Certificates of Participation. It is not clear whether other professional financial consultants were hired. It may be worthwhile to review or consider best practice guidance, such as that of the Government Finance Officers Association, which advocates hiring a financial advisor separately from a broker or underwriter because of possible conflict of interest.

It appears that the Certificates of Participation essentially incurred an obligation for the County to pay installments in the range of $177-181K annually for 20 years. Although these are not revenue bonds, I believe that payment of the obligation can come from any source including general county revenues. Voters should at least be made aware that Chaffee County government deliberately decided to incur a very considerable long term obligation without submitting this obligation question to the voters.

3. A contract of over $1M to upgrade the HVAC for the facility was awarded to a company without an RFP and open bidding process. This was done following a procedure for performance energy contracting advocated by the Governor's Energy Office. Some aspects of this contracting process seem to be beneficial such as having an energy performance guarantee. However, avoiding an open bidding process removes some assurance that the contracted cost of the project is competitive and that public funds are being wisely spent.

4. According to the remodeling RFP plans the portion of floor space allocated to the city is more than 3,500 sq. ft. more than the floor space allocated to the county. The county paid a larger share of the purchase price from the DOLA/Mineral Impact grant and apparently split (50/50) most of the other costs such as the general contracting remodeling and renovation cost and the HVAC upgrade contract. Splitting the costs could be interpreted as meaning that the county subsidized the extra 3,500 sq. ft. of the city portion of the facility. Unless the utilities and other operations costs are being billed separately for the city and county portions on a floor space basis the county will continue to subsidize operations costs for the extra floor space of the city proportion of the facility. The 3,500 sq. ft. of extra floor space might seem small to government but it probably represents a very considerable space to the average home or small business owner and means that the city will have almost 20% more floor space than the county in the facility. Is this information correct and did the county subsidize purchase and remodeling of extra floor space for the city and will they continue to do so for operations costs?

5. According to the 2010 County Budget, $52K of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) county maintenance of effort funds will be spent on the Touber Building capital budget. I earlier asked the Commissioners in letters of September 25, 2009 and November 3, 2009 why TANF funds were being spent on the facility when such expenditure would encumber the facility and when Colorado Works guidance advises "extreme caution" when spending TANF funds for capital construction. I never received a response to these concerns and, in view of the 2010 budget, it appears that the County Commissioners decided to ignore the Colorado Works guidance and deliberately encumber the building. Why?

6. It appears from the floor plan and other information that some of the Chaffee County portion of the building was specifically designed and remodeled for organizations such as the Chaffee People's Clinic that are not officially part of the Chaffee County Department of Health and Human Services and are not a Chaffee County government organization. Because this facility is a public project funded in whole or part by public funds the public should be entitled to information regarding the use of the county portion of the facility by organizations that are not official Chaffee County government organizations. Such information would include how much of the county floor space is or will be allocated to organizations that are not part of Chaffee County government and the identity of these organizations. It seems that some of these organizations are being given lease provisions specifying cost below an appropriate market rate. Is this true and, if so, to what extent is the county subsidizing these organizations by providing space at a rate lower than a competitive market rate?

Thanks as always for your service to Chaffee County.

Sincerely,

Larry D. Kier

Riot in Township Harbor

Local merchants and town's people went aboard ships in the Harbor last night vandalizing the cargo of tea. This and the ongoing boycott on tea should send a message to the parliament and the King. We will no longer be treated like slaves. We will not be taxed to support the King or the English elite.

Our fore fathers fought and died to set us free. It was about taxation without representation. The colonists in America were being taxed without a vote or representation to support England which was thousands of miles away. Today we take taxation and deficit spending in stride. There are states that pay taxes and there are states that suck the coffers dry. There are people who pay taxes and there are some people who feed at the government trough. Taxation without representation is an issue today, but we are too cowardly to take back our government. Some of us are organizing a peaceful protest at 3rd & D Street, 5-6 pm on Wed April 15. Join us before it is too late. Let your voice be heard.

Ear marks are still rampant. Our congress buys and sells votes under the table by approving special projects for congressmen when their votes are needed to approve a big spending project. Those earmarks are not voted on; they are bought and sold in secret in committee meetings. We are such cowards, compared to the founders of this country. Why do we allow our congressmen to use secret earmarks? We should be mad.

What do you call it when we our congress asks our Federal Bank system to create money to keep the banks afloat? We have to know this is inflationary. Every dollar you hold is worth a little less when that happens. The government is making your money worth less so they can bail out the banks, so the banks can lend money to someone who has no intention of paying it back. It sounds like taxation without representation to me. Why are we not rioting in the streets? Many of these bailouts and the expansion of our countries debt is occurring in some cases without spending bills being voted on. They are calling on the Federal Bank like it is some rich uncle. The Feds will recover that money by making every dollar you hold worth a little less.

Who is mad about the Federal debt? Obama is putting spending and budgets in place that will have huge deficits as far out as 10 years from now. That is taxation without representation. Our children and grandchildren who are not even born yet will be paying off that debt long after we are dead and gone. We will be spending the money over the next 10 years but our children will still be paying interest on the borrowed money 20 year from now. They are being taxed without representation before they are born. What gives us the right to mortgage their birthright today before they are even born, let alone old enough to vote? You can make the case that deficit spending and debt can be used to stimulate the economy in the short term. The same economists that argue for deficit spending in the short-term, will tell you to curb deficit spending once the economy recovers. There is no justification for deficit spending today that will be stealing from our children and grandchildren 10 and 20 years from now.

Billy Carlisle