Last year, I finally persuaded the Board to hire four engineers for the Department of Transportation. They were assigned to projects previously sent out to private consultants. On average, for each new $75,000 employee, we would save much more on outside consultants, whose hourly rate was up to $150 per hour. One example was paying outsiders $300,000 to $500,000 for two drainage basin studies that one new engineer could do yearly for $75,000.One commissioner objected reflexively to hiring new staff. She implied I was a hypocrite, since I regularly advocate limited government. Let’s see. We save up to $425,000 a year per employee, times four employees ($1.7 million/year), on projects that are needed and proper county functions. I think that advances the cause of limited government. I think we should replace more pricy county consultants with lower-cost employees. I think the savings should go to property tax relief. What do you think? (Verify the details with the DOT at 520-6460.)*****************The county finance director told the Board a while back that one sales tax auditor had been hired, and has so far discovered over $800,000 that had been misdirected from El Paso County to other governments. The state collects the sales tax and then distributes it-not very accurately, as you see. These screw-ups have been going on for 19 years. The county didn’t even know! I suggested we hire a second auditor for the backlog, who would also more than pay for his or her salary cost. No, that was too logical. It “requires further study.”******************One county expense is $625,492 for CSU-Extension programs. Sound warm and fuzzy?The county attorney confirmed it is not a state mandate. So what are your federal, state, and county taxes providing? Classes in “microwave cooking, cake decorating, sign language, rocketry, theatrical arts, leisure education and leadership, and manure management.” That last one sounds like a seminar the county could use.********************At a recent meeting, we were informed of the upcoming county fair in Calhan (July 22-29). Last fall, my colleagues refused to turn the fair over to the Fair Association, private volunteers who had originally owned and loyally served the fair for decades. The Board preferred to continue to lose $35,000 plus yearly. Now I understand why. The county proudly announced a new program-Cow Chip Bingo. I won’t describe it to you, but it’s yet another milestone by CSU-Extension. And make sure you don’t miss the several chances to learn The Scoop on Poop. (So now you know how the Board recycles its agenda items!)One commissioner appeared baffled that I would forgo a chance to have my photo taken for some county fair publication. I e-mailed her back that I did not take this job for the photo opportunities. I might as well have answered in Swahili to a stone.********************Speaking of publicity, did you know that June 15 was World Senior Abuse Awareness Day? As I have said from the start, I don’t vote either way on such meaningless political posturings, some of which are listed on my Web site. This resolution was so sloppy that the title included “World,” but the text and the calendar did not. Were we “protecting” aging Zulus and Mongolians, or not? I asked which it was, but no one knew or cared. They wanted that photo opportunity. I was relieved they did not use a black-and-blue grandma as a prop.I slipped a note to the county administrator during this farce. It said, “I was planning to beat up my 89-year-old mother that Thursday, but now I will have to wait until the weekend.”I received an announcement at my desk of a NEW government service. Oh, boy! It’s a program to phone 211 for even MORE welfare handouts, provided in English and Spanish.I call it “Dial-a-Check.” Their menu? Food, clothing, rent payments, utility costs, health insurance, support groups, counseling, financial assistance, job training, education, child care, transportation, camps, mentoring, “And Much More.” Who says government doesn’t need more taxes? So why bother with work? Just dial their one-stop shopping center-managed by your friendly neighborhood Big Brother.During a discussion of a land use issue, the meaning of a 1956 deed from Manitou Springs arose. One commissioner, an attorney, said, “I can’t understand what this deed means. It was written before I was even born!” Now you know why politicians don’t bother to read and follow our 1789 constitution, much less read great books. If it’s over 50 years old, “”It’s Greek to me.” Let’s “move on,” as our chair likes to say.On another humorous note, part of my job seems to be proofreading, since no one else does. An official resolution presented to us mentioned the Public Trustee, but left out the letter “l” in “Public.” Big Brother is getting a bit too personal, don’t you think?A slide show on the new land use code referred to adult bookstores as “sexually oriented businesses,” with new zoning under that acronym. Any day now, some bureaucrat will knock on my door and notify me that, based on occupancy, my home has been reclassified to “SOB zoning.”********************If you would like to invite me to your church service, or to speak to groups of 25 or larger, just give me a call. I promise not to act the way I have been portrayed!Contact me at (719) 520-6412, by email at DouglasBruce@elpasoco.com, or by writing me at 27 E. Vermijo Ave. Colo. Spgs. CO 80903. Audiotapes of all BOCC meetings, both simulcast and in archives, are available at www.elpasoco.com. Back issues of my monthly reports are at my website, www.DouglasBruce.com. Reports can be emailed to you monthly.
