A Challenge to those that can surf...the internet.

In reading this board and Pinecam and Parkbull, and having read boards for years before coming to Park Co., I have noticed something....this area has a lot of controversy, and it seems much more than most. We also have very large local government, many regulations and extremely high expenditures on education. All of these seem to be high to me, higher than I could have ever imagined having lived in rural places my whole life and never seeing such systems.

So here is my challenge, two fold.

1. Find another community message board where people are as worked up about local politics, expenses and regulation.

2. Find another community that is willing to build new schools, IT centers, have 3 vehicles per officer and have ratios of officers to the public as high as we do.

Please, limit your searches to rural communities. We are less than 17k in a huge county. We would likely be comparable other counties out west of similar dynamics or communities east of the mississippi that have groups of small towns with say less than 400 people per town.

For great comparable info, please feel free to post median home prices, % change in the last 4 years, expenses paid per student, average income, etc. etc.

What I am trying to figure out is whether we are really that bad off or this the standard now. I know in the NE that many communities built new schools, fire houses, police stations etc. about 5-10 years ago because they felt rich, with much tax revenue. Now they are regretting these buildings, but we are about to start this process in the worst of times. So if these robust communities cannot make this stuff fly in the best of times, how can we, as a slim and slightly desperate community, make this stuff fly in the worst of times?

I think the answer is we cannot, but we will not know this for a few years. Somehow most feel that as a community and financially we are just fine. Do you agree, do you feel like your neighbors' personal finances and the counties finances (including all special districts) are fine or are they headed for some eye opening shortfalls?

Bottom line is that I would like some thoughtful and even analytical perspectives on our community vs. others.

Only one I know of that's comparable is Cheyenne, and I heard that from my sister, who lives up there. I'll try to get the local forum - I believe it is newspaper linked - for you.

Just a side note. I wonder if local goverment hates boards like these. It used to be if you were upset with local goverment, you would maybe tell 10 people if you were especially motivated, now you can find hundreds of people to support you. It is like the weekly letter to the editor, but you can post every hour of every day now.

IMHO the controversy is relative to one fact. Up until just recently, we have not had a board or forum that had the foresight to allow this controversy as you point out, to flourish. Kudos to the management of 285Bound for allowing us to have this forum to vent, to engage in intellectual debate, to even get upset, argue, etc.

Nmysys wrote: IMHO the controversy is relative to one fact. Up until just recently, we have not had a board or forum that had the foresight to allow this controversy as you point out, to flourish. Kudos to the management of 285Bound for allowing us to have this forum to vent, to engage in intellectual debate, to even get upset, argue, etc.

I was with you until the "intellectual debate" part...Because honestly some of you teabaggers make the Drag Room at the Ft. Logan Mental Health Facility look like a Think Tank.

Lost you on the Intellectual part, what a shame!! Tell us about all your experience at the mental health unit, I know someone might be interested.

He's just having a hard time with things he cannot master, Nymsys.

VL, another classic LOL

SS109 wrote: Just a side note. I wonder if local goverment hates boards like these. It used to be if you were upset with local goverment, you would maybe tell 10 people if you were especially motivated, now you can find hundreds of people to support you. It is like the weekly letter to the editor, but you can post every hour of every day now.

Interesting, I had a conversation with both our clerk and our dist 3 comm. Both told me straight out (and this was before 285bound), that these message boards are ridiculous and that they flat out ignore them. I find that very troubling, as they often ignore you when you speak with them directly, so if they are not listening to me when I talk to them and they don't listen these boards....and they personally plant all of the letters to the editor in the flume (even if it is not true mr. and mrs. flume, that is how it looks), who are they listening to and who are they running the county for?

So to answer your comment, I think they are listening to the same amount of feedback as 1976, just that now there is 100x as much feedback to ignore.

If they really cared, there would be more voting by us on issues in stead of secret voting by them when we are all working hard to pay their fees and salaries and vehicle expenses. Unfortunately there is no avenue to get your issues to them. Talking, posting, even marching has no effect. The winners around here are those in local govt or those that have kids, everyone else is just here to support them, regardless of need (for either govt or financial support).

But the point of this thread was to see if we could come up with a (or even a few) areas with more controversy. I am assuming that it will be hard. If we have the same amount as dozens of other communities than perhaps it is an issue of the times and excess govt. all over. I suspect it is a significant local issue. If we cannot find another community or many, I think it would make a good letter the flume. Specifically calling them out for the warm and fuzzy letters sent, while upon a challenge that we could not find a rural community with this much controversy. Then ask why none of it ends up in the paper besides some Hartsel fire stuff. Why are they not reporting about the vehicle usage, the excess fees, the massive regulations added in the last couple years, the credit card issues, the long term budget predictions etc. They only report something if someone else has already cracked the nut. I have learned, next time I move, If there is ever value in south park homes again, I will read the local message boards and see if the paper paints a warm and fuzzy picture of the community. Bad boards and warm editorials mean a place not to move. That is south park right now.

and in not reading these boards, the BOCC, etc. forget that these are now the new marketing tools for a community (should be in my letter too) and that we would be better off ignoring our schools than these boards if we want people to move here. While 10 people with kids may move here for our new school, 100 will not because of the threads on this board.

Challenge still on, let's see some links.

I think all communities have some problems, as evidenced by these links:

http://www.leadvilleherald.com/main.asp ... onID=1&S=1

http://www.leadvilleherald.com/main.asp ... onID=2&S=1

And note that this newspaper is owned by the same organization as the Flume.

In these cases, the information WAS printed in the local paper, and action WAS taken.

In Park County that doesn't seem to happen much.