Brief by Central Staff
Journalism – October 2002 – Colorado Central Magazine
One pleasant addition to the Saguache Crescent in recent months is the reporting of town board meetings by the “Friends of Saguache.” Granted, it’s not exactly “objective journalism,” but the accounts do explain what happened, and best of all, they’re a pleasure to read.
From an account of the July 18 meeting, we read of a hearing where “There were citizens in the audience that expressed legitimate concerns that passing these ordinances might simply be robbing Peter to pay Paul and that similar shuffling of money from independent funds (like the water and sewer) would be a sleazy or behind-the-back way to finance future overspending in the general fund. The Board tried its best to assure those citizens that this is a one-time thing, prompted by the urging of the Town’s independent auditors, and necessitated by the need to reconcile the books. The Town Clerk assured all in attendance that the town is currently operating within its budget. She also reminded us that it would be very helpful to the Town’s cash flow if folks would pay their property taxes forthwith.”
The town remained solvent at the August 15th meeting, although “Tax revenues are down since the closing of the grocery store and the absence of traffic violation fines” (presumably since there isn’t as much traffic on U.S. 285 this summer, on account of drought, forest fires, and construction delays on Wolf Creek Pass).
That was a busy meeting with a long agenda and a considerable discussion of policies for the rental of the community building. And yet, the account concluded with “All of this, and more, happened, and it was only 9:15. That’s right, only 9:15 p.m. All were shocked! What should be done to fill the time? Executive session? No takers. Revisit an agenda item? No such motion. Potty break? Just one.”
Although we have our suspicions, we don’t know who the Friends of Saguache are. We do encourage them to continue this journalistic venture.
