From the Styx by Peggy Tibbetts

As the winds of change blew across the nation last week, we could only watch it all on the TV. We did not feel the change here in Garfield County.

Republicans hold on to GarCo commission seats

Here we remain deeply divided – Obama and McCain tied with 11, 223 votes each. Unbelievable. I mean really unbelievable. We still have a lot of work to do. 

2008 Election Results in Garfield County

The gas & oil industry’s iron fist holds its grip even more firmly on our economy and our future, yet here they are whining about their victory. 

And in Silt, nothing happened.

At the October 27 SiltBOTs meeting the Mayor seemed especially crispy. During the meeting he verbally attacked Trustee Bobby Hayes and Trustee Nicky Leigh. I don’t remember the specifics. It came across to the TV audience as stop-talking-while-I’m-interrupting. We’ve all pretty much gotten used to that. The Mayor will ask one of the SiltBOTs or staff a question and then interrupts repeatedly when he doesn’t hear the answer he wants.

A curious thing occurred at the end of the meeting. The SiltBOTs talked about going into Executive Session. At first the Mayor acted like he didn’t know what they were talking about. Attorney Duran said the Executive Session was requested in a letter to the Board by Trustee Tibbetts. Then the Mayor es-ploded. He waved a piece of paper and accused Tibbetts of having a vendetta against him. Consequently the Executive Session didn’t happen and the Mayor followed Tibbetts out of Town Hall yelling and screaming at him.

So what was that about?

It took a few weeks but I finally put the pieces together. Last month, a citizen showed Tibbetts this article in the October 9 Citizen Telegram:

Affordable housing planned for Silt
Around 100 units to be built          

By Baron Zahuranec
Citizen Telegram Staff

What could be the first affordable housing project in Garfield County is planned for Silt, with a new subdivision east of 16th Street on the north side of Grand Avenue.

“I’ve heard the cry from the (Garfield Re-2) school district and the towns that we need more affordable housing,” Mayor Dave Moore said.  “I’ve been to symposiums and conferences and up until now it seems like it’s all talk and no walk.  To our knowledge, this is the first, complete, affordable housing project in Garfield County.”

The Camario subdivision will be a multi-family development of 70-odd units in six condominiums, and 34 stand-alone deed-restricted units, with around 5,000 square feet of commercial space and mixed zoning, Moore said.

“What a restricted deed is basically saying is that it has to do with affordable housing and will protect the economics of the community,” he said. “It will attract responsible buyers and, above all, provide affordable housing to many well-deserving people who can’t otherwise afford it.”

Plans have been in the works for two years and the project will go to the Silt board of trustees and planning and zoning commission for preliminary approval.

The appraised values of the homes will be around $300,000, but after deductions from Habitat for Humanity, could be as low as $200,000 or less, Moore said.

Construction on the infrastructure of roads, sewer and water lines, and utilities will start in the spring and the buildings shortly after, Moore said.

“They’ll be following the best practices in energy-related areas,” he added.

Insulation in attics will exceed standard codes and all windows will be energy-efficient.  The condos share a joint wall to help with heating in the winter and cooling in the summer, Moore said.

[Copied from the October 9, 2008 issue of the Citizen Telegram]

The citizen asked Tibbetts if the Mayor was supposed to be talking to the local media about a development that is coming before the Board. Tibbetts sent a copy of the article to Town Attorney Duran, and posed the same question.

The following week, October 16, this correction appeared in the Citizen Telegram:

What we really meant …
     A story on page A5 of the Citizen Telegram about affordable housing in Silt contained several mistakes:
     * The number of affordable units planned is 34, not 100.
     * The location of the subdivision with those units is west of 16th Street, not east, and on the north side of Main Street, not Grand Avenue.
     * The name of the planned unit development with the affordable units is Autumn Ridge, not Camario.
     * The actual number of deed-restricted units is unknown at this point.
     * Habitat for Humanity will not contribute money to the project nor deduct from the sales price of the townhomes.
The Citizen Telegram apologizes for these mistakes.

[Copied from the October 16, 2008 issue of the Citizen Telegram]

So the reporter got it all wrong. The Mayor wasn’t promoting Camario (Phase 2 is pending before the Board), he was ACTUALLY promoting Autumn Ridge, HIS OWN development that is also pending before the Board.

In the meantime, the Citizen Telegram removed the October 9 article from their website – that’s why there’s no link.

Why didn’t they keep the article posted, with the correction?

Did someone demand that they remove the article?

The more important question is: Should the Mayor be promoting HIS OWN development in the local media? Which he did on February 29, on October 9, and also at a joint public meeting between the School Board and the Town Board in mid-October.

On October 20, Tibbetts wrote a letter to the Town Attorney and the other Board members which outlined the Mayor’s actions, and asked for an Executive Session to discuss whether the Mayor’s actions were appropriate, or in violation of Silt Municipal Code 2.04.110 (E1):

E. Direct Financial Interest or Personal Interest.
1. Any official who has a direct financial interest in any matter proposed or pending before the town board of trustees, any board, commission, agency, committee or entity shall disclose such interest to the governing body of such entity and shall not vote thereon, and shall refrain from influencing or attempting to influence the decisions of the other members of such entity in voting on the matter.

All of which led up to the Mayor’s outburst at the October 27 meeting. Again, the Executive Session never happened. So the discussion never happened. And according to Tibbetts, “Nothing happened.”

Whatever that means.

It’s really just Secret Trustee Code for “I can’t talk about the issue, so don’t ask.”

Now wait just a damn minute!

Peabody, turn on the Way Back Machine. Remember when Tod got into BIG TROUBLE for some things I said on my blog about Autumn Ridge?

Check your civil rights at the door

They can’t muzzle me by punishing Tod

That sure wasn’t nothing happened. No way. For TWO WHOLE MONTHS the Town Attorney and the SiltBOTs talked about me and my blog in public, behind closed doors, in retreat sessions. They scolded Tod. They told him I was inappropriate. They said I had written things that influenced his and the public’s opinions about Autumn Ridge. They said my opinion could be perceived as HIS opinion. They said he should be recused from hearing the Autumn Ridge PUD because of my blog. They said I was a naughty girl who said nasty things. They said Tod should be punished because of me.

A letter from our attorney and $2,100 later, the motion to recuse Tod from Autumn Ridge died a long, slow death on the floor. A total cop out.

Confus-ed yet? I sure hope so. Cuz I am.

OK. Let’s see if I’ve got this straight. According to the Town Attorney and the SiltBOTs, it’s NOT okay for ME to post MY OPINIONS on MY BLOG about land use issues before the Town because the PERCEPTION might be that those are Trustee Tibbetts’ opinions, too. But evidently it’s perfectly okay if THE MAYOR promotes HIS OPINIONS in the local media, about HIS DEVELOPMENT which is pending before the Board.

But isn’t that like, a double standard?

Wiki sez:

Double standard
When judicial processes are applied more strictly to some people than others, such double standards are seen as unjust because they violate a basic maxim of modern legal jurisprudence: that all parties should stand equal before the law.

Huh.

So. If you’re THE MAYOR and you YELL and SCREAM loud enough and BERATE and BULLY the other SiltBOTs, you can do anything you damn well please. And furthermore, it’s not up for discussion. HA-RUMPF!

Oh. Now I get it.

Same Silt – different day.

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