The Board of County Commissioners is about to rip you off. Over my vehement objections, my four colleagues plan to put you in debt for $31.4 million, plus interest, without your consent, in violation of the state Constitution and their oaths of office. Their excuse for this illegality is the mantra of all big spenders: ìWe need the money.î If debt is such a good idea, why not let us vote, as the Taxpayerís Bill of Rights (TABOR) Amendment, which I wrote, requires?Here is an excerpt from the state Constitution regarding the commissionersí legal duty:ìDistricts (governments) must have voter approval in advance for:(b) …creation of any multiple-fiscal year direct or indirect district debt or other financial obligation whatsoever.îIs that unclear? A 20-year payback ñ isnít that ìmultiple-fiscal year?î The countyís dummy corporation borrows the money, then launders the countyís repayments ñ isnít that ìdirect or indirect?î The county borrows $31.4 million and repays it with millions more in interest ñ isnít that government ìdebt?î Even if not labeled ìdebt,î isnít it another ìfinancial obligation WHATSOEVER?îTheir excuse is that our corrupt Supreme Court has said TABOR applies to general obligation bonds only, which required voter approval before TABOR was passed. So, all those other inconvenient words mean nothing! Why did those judges do this? All are liberals appointed by TABOR-hating Democrat Gov. Romer? All are government employees, paid by and working for big government. They claim itís not debt because we can default and let our creditors own the courthouse (which the county has another constitutional duty to maintain). Thatís like saying your mortgage is not a debt because after paying for 29 years, you can default and lose your home.My colleagues are also liberals, dedicated to growing county government at the fastest possible rate. Clark and Hisey have voted for 100 percent of all spending requests; Williams and Bensberg voted for over 99.5 percent of all dollars requested in the past 25 months.Every elected official swears to obey the state and federal constitutions ñ NOT ìopinionsî of the Supreme Court or the county attorney. When the two conflict, our legal and moral duty is to the written Constitution. But my colleagues, like 99 percent of other Colorado politicians, have never READ the constitutions. They treat oaths as words to recite to get paid. Their interest is not what the Constitution says, but what government courts and lawyers say they can get away with.Where is the money going? The one sensible project spends $2.5 million to reuse the downtown jail for a work release program. Inmates will pay between $1 and $2 million yearly to spend the night there and work during the day. That is a 40 to 80 percent annual return, a no-brainer.This project costs only 8 percent of the loan. We donít need to borrow with interest for 20 years for a one-year construction project repaid in two years. Does the county have $2.5 million available? Yes. That is barely 2 percent of its $115 million general fund budget. We needlessly hand $3.3 million yearly to the city, with a budget over twice our size. We give the health department, a STATE agency with a $14 million budget, $2 million more yearly than state law requires. There are dozens more examples.The county also wants to buy an office building. That cost is $4.5 million; gross rental income is $214,000 yearly. Thatís under a 5 percent return; we earn more at the bank.The bulk of the money goes to the courthouse. Do you now see the connection? Dishonest judges wonít enforce the Constitution when the alternative is more money spent to benefit them.Twelve-million dollars completes two floors of the new courthouse ñ more space for more judges, plus, adding parking spaces required by the city. Ten-million dollars vacuums remaining asbestos from our 1970s courthouse. Thirty percent was removed already for ìonlyî $400,000. Asbestos is safe unless disturbed; even then, stray particles in the attic or floating down when light fixtures are changed, are not a crisis. Thousands of safe buildings in Colorado have asbestos.Socialist schemers whip up hysteria to promote such obscene, illegal money grabs. Government always screams ìcrisisî to justify its own expansion. Afterwards, it never returns to its previous size. This ìneedî is created by government, for government. Asbestos issues arise from county government construction and federal bureaucratic studies. City government parking mandates cost the county a $2.2-million office building torn down to erect, and now expand, a multi-million dollar parking garage. State judges urge us to rush spending over $10 million to remove dust sitting harmlessly for 35 years.Phone the commissioners: Wayne Williams, 520-6411; Sallie Clark, 520-6413; Dennis Hisey, 520-6414; Jim Bensberg, 520-6415. FAX your objection to 520-6397. E-mail them by typing their name and adding @elpasoco.com.I think itís time for four recall petitions.The county now has about $200 million in debt payments, none voter-approved. (When voters were asked to approve debt, they said ìno,î but prior commissioners imposed it anyway.) Do you support your right to vote? Do you object to being enslaved to another $31.4 million, plus millions in interest? Or, will you just turn up the TV and ignore your duty as a citizen? Stand up or shut up; the choice is yours.*************Contact me at (719) 520-6412, by e-mail at DouglasBruce@elpasoco.com, or by writing me at 27 E. Vermijo Ave. Colorado Springs, Co. 80903. Audiotapes of all BOCC meetings, both simulcast and in archives, are available at www.elpasoco.com Comcast cable broadcasts are on Library Channel 17 at 7 p.m. Mondays and Thursdays, repeated later both evenings. Back issues of my monthly reports are at www.DouglasBruce.com Sign up to get free reports and notices of quarterly town hall meetings mailed to you regularly.
