Daryl Glenn, El Paso County commissioner, held a town hall meeting at the community center in Black Forest March 16. In a post-meeting interview, Glenn said issues from transportation to the legalization of marijuana to sequestration were discussed.ìI always start my town hall meetings with transportation updates,î he said. ìI bring a county engineer to give an overview of the ongoing projects. Black Forest people are very concerned with 105.îGlenn also discussed the countyís Citizen Advisory Board, which has had a significant impact on snow removal this year. ìPeople call or email with issues directly in their area; it has helped a lot with snow removal,î he said. ìI tell the community that this way they can be my eyes and ears in their areas. You can get real time information this way.î The Citizens Advisory Board is available through Glennís Facebook page. ìWe get a lot of groans when we mention Facebook, but social media is the reality of the world today,î he said. Residents can also report issues or concerns to Glenn on the county website at (http://bcc.elpasoco.com/Pages/District1DarrylGlenn.aspx).Residents also brought up the federal government and sequestration, which means across-the-board spending cuts. ìWe are waiting and monitoring the impacts of sequestration,î Glenn said.How will sequestration affect defense spending, private contracts and ultimately the economic health of the area?Glenn said the unemployment rate (in Colorado) was already 1 percent higher than the national average. ìWe could be looking at a recession here,î he said. Itís estimated that defense spending cuts could impact El Paso County by 4.5 billion dollars each year for the next decade, Glenn said.
