Citizens for a Better Falcon, an issue committee investigating a possible Falcon incorporation, suffered a setback this summer with the loss of the group’s leader, Mike Hurd.Following the deaths of two family members, Hurd left Falcon to take a job in San Diego to be near his daughter.”We’ve regrouped since Mike left,” said Lynne Bliss, committee member. For starters, they’ve welcomed a new member. Sandy Martin joins Bliss, Frank Gonzales, Brian Swanson and Byron Cutting.At a poorly attended town hall meeting Aug. 13, Bliss said the committee is reviewing the documentation Hurd left behind – in particular, the proposed city’s budget.”We’re going through it line by line to make sure we’ve got the answers,” she said. “Hopefully, we’ll have that in the next couple months.”The delay leaves little time to place an incorporation question on the November 2011 ballot. Colorado law requires that elections involving taxation must be held in November, so that pushes any ballot question to establish a city of Falcon to November 2012, Bliss said.Bliss handed out a list of the committee’s reasons for incorporating:
- Paying taxes for nothing, such as the $107,000 a year in Pikes Peak Rural Transportation Authority sales tax. Falcon residents pay for bus service but do not get it.
- Protection from annexation by Colorado Springs of Falcon’s commercial area; owners of commercial property could negotiate with Colorado Springs for reduced costs in return for being annexed. Sales tax revenue paid by Falcon residents would go to Colorado Springs without that city having to provide services to Falcon taxpayers.
- Local control over issues like oil and gas development and police service, with a proposed city police force responding to calls in less than seven minutes; Falcon calls to the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office have doubled in the last year and the total number of calls doesn’t include vandalism calls, where there is no suspect.
Bliss said the boundaries of the proposed city are still changing, but the map won’t be updated until the intent of the 40-acre parcel owners within the proposed boundaries is known. According to Colorado law, by default, 40-acre parcels inside the proposed boundaries are not included in the city. Their owners have to explicitly opt in, if they want to be included as part of the new city.”We’ll have a lot of enclaves if we don’t contact these folks,” Bliss said.”If you’re an enclave, eventually after three years, you can be incorporated; but if you’re on the edge, you can opt out permanently,” said Barry Springer, Mountain View Electric Association director for the Falcon/Black Forest area.Springer also said MVEA has contributed money to Citizens for a Better Falcon.”It’s purely a business decision. If the area is annexed to Colorado Springs, then all of those accounts go to Colorado Springs (utilities),” he said. “We’d like to keep them within Mountain View.”In a separate e-mail, Bliss said MVEA is the committee’s only cash contributor.”A few of us on the committee have donated ‘in kind’ for such things as paper and toner for posters,” she wrote.The Colorado Secretary of State requires that the committee report its contributions by Nov. 1. No contributions were reported in 2010.The committee has to come up with a $15,000 or $25,000 bond to put a question on the 2012 ballot, so fundraising will be an issue for the next year, Bliss said.”The bond must be paid before the county will place the issue on the ballot,” she wrote. “Even though an issue committee can legally borrow money to fund its activities … CFABF has no intention of doing so.”In a separate interview, John Seetch, who lives in The Meadows (which has been allowed to opt out of incorporation), said he is concerned taxpayers will end up paying for the bond needed to put an incorporation question on the ballot, in addition to pro-incorporation campaign costs.The repayment would be included in the city’s charter – which is written after the voters approve the incorporation question – and would come out of the city’s general fund. It’s what happened in Centennial, Colo., when they incorporated. It’s typically the way it’s done, Seetch said.In her e-mail, Bliss responded:”One of the differences between the Centennial incorporation and Falcon is that Centennial formed as a statutory city, so they did not have to put a charter before the people for a vote.”We intend to be home rule and residents will have the opportunity to not only vote on it, but participate in the development of that charter beforehand. We are seeking folks who would be interested in serving in that capacity.”Seetch also said crime is not a reason for Falcon to incorporate.He said the crime rate is “ridiculously” low. “The facts from the El Paso County Sheriff bear that out,” Seetch said. “The police protection we get from Sheriff Maketa and El Paso County deputies is outstanding and completely appropriate for the level of crime in our area.”
