By Carl Cole.
Hello Crestone,
You may remember me for initiating a recall election against Mayor Danforth in 2021. I tried to present a factual, direct, and open campaign, based on the issue of mismanagement.
Today, every town office employee has resigned, the budget is blown, and the community is debating the same complaints. Have we gained any ground on reaching a compromise or equitable solution?
They say there’s two types of people. In this case, you’re either for public gatherings or against them.
I have a friend who works in hospice care. She also has a saying. “They say there’s two types of people, but there aren’t. There’s only one type of people. People who die.”
Bukowski finishes the sentiment:
“We’re all going to die, all of us, what a circus! That alone should make us love each other but it doesn’t. We are terrorized and flattened by trivialities, we are eaten up by nothing.”
I’ve had some people asking me to run for town council, or even Mayor again. I’m not going to.
During my campaign, when people asked why I was running for mayor, I likened it to discovering a backed-up toilet. Do I want to deal with cleaning it up? Absolutely not. Was I willing to? If I had to. Back then.
Now, it’s more than just a clogged toilet. Now the septic is backed up completely and the town government has become hobbled and poor and completely incapable of getting the sewer working.
There’s been more historic turnover at town hall in the last few years, between staff and board members, than in previous decades.
I was willing to help fix what I saw in 2020 and 2022. This current mess, I don’t want any involvement.
Since no one asked and no one listened last time, and I’m not running for office, I’ll give my opinion on the matter.
To those angered by the sound of events, understand that even if the town board bans all events, events will still happen. People will still gather in the park and downtown. They’re going to make music and play and just be loud and disturbing, as people generally are, especially Crestone people.
Passing laws against existing behavior never stops that behavior from happening. Prohibition, the war on drugs, and a century of speeding tickets prove that.
The town tried to fine me, took me to trial on Friday, and I still had Pato Banton play in the park on Sunday with no one’s explicit permission. It was probably the loudest concert ever in town.
The Crestone Town Board should only engage in conversations and disbursement of public funds towards public works and infrastructure.
That’s it. When it comes to everything else — from public events and social complaints to the stars in the sky — the town of Crestone, as a government entity responsible for collecting and distributing tax dollars, doesn’t have the resources to engage in those conversations anymore.
If a crime is being committed, call the police. If not, then it’s a “you” problem. Stop calling and writing letters. We neither condone nor condemn public events in our public parks.
It’s time for the Town of Crestone to take a long hiatus on social items and focus on the civic necessities of infrastructure and upkeep. To those who want to maintain community events, you’ll have to do so without the support of the Town of Crestone.
It’s up to us, as a community, to organize, plan, and fund those events within and amongst ourselves.
In actuality (and I know this from experience) if you’re not hurting anyone, and you’re not destroying anything, our town board has little to no ability to enforce the public behavior codes they choose to codify.
While our local government is bickering about a noise ordinance and event permits again, the sewer is backing up, the bridges are falling down, all the employees have either quit or been fired, and the money is all spent.
Hopefully, whoever wins this next election could adopt the strategy of a recovering alcoholic. Maybe the serenity prayer would be a good way to start local meetings.
In that manner, maybe the town board can focus on the things they can change and stop wasting time and money on opinions they can neither logically justify nor logistically enforce.