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Archive for the 'El Paso County Commission' Tag

Commissioner wants to produce ‘YOYO’ booklet

July 19th, 2011, 9:54 am by

El Paso County Commissioner Peggy Littleton left July 17 for Emittsburg, Maryland, home of the Emergency Management Institute, one of several training facilities for the Federal Emergency Management Agency. She’ll be there until July 29, taking emergency preparedness training.

Littleton has embraced the concept of being prepared for a disaster, as one of her focuses as a commissioner. She also took a course through the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office and has seen the emergency operation centers at the five military bases in Colorado Springs, as well as the city.

She said she wants to create a “YOYO” booklet (You’re On Your Own) that discusses personal responsibility during emergency situations and how people can prepare for natural and manmade crises.

“We may not have a tsunami in Colorado Springs, but I think people sense the impending financial tsunami nationwide,” she said. “None of us has ever gone through the type of financial Depression that I think we’re getting ready to face. I’d like to do a ‘personal responsibility for dummies’ type of booklet , so people can learn what they need for a week’s worth of supplies and other aspects,” she said.

Posted in: El Paso County • El Paso County Commissioners • • • • | 10 Comments »

County to hold work session on Doewood Drive

May 16th, 2011, 1:22 pm by

El Paso County commissioners will hold a public work session to discuss a traffic study on Doewood Drive in Woodmoor, 2-5 p.m. on Tuesday, May 17 at the County Office Building, 27 E. Vermijo, third floor hearing room.

County staff will present information on the projected costs and impacts of leaving an emergency access gate that blocks public access to this dirt road in Woodmoor in place, closing it entirely or making it a through street.

Neighbors also will have a chance to weigh in on the issue that has divided the community since 1996, when the gate was installed at the request of county commissioners at that time.

The area has been built out since then, which prompted a review of the transportation requirements.

“There are residents who believe that no changes are necessary and the emergency access gate should remain in place. But there also are residents who want to see the road closed permanently, and some who want it to open to through traffic,” said Commissioner Darryl Glenn, who represents District 1, which includes the Monument area. “I see this work session as an opportunity for the entire board to hear the concerns of the neighborhood and get all of the information on the table before we decide to make changes.”

No formal action will be taken. The item is scheduled to be presented at the board’s May 31 meeting.

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Hearing for PT’s Showclub Thursday

April 27th, 2011, 3:54 pm by

El Paso County Commissioners will decide Thursday whether to suspend PT’s Showclub’s liquor license for more than 15 days or permanently yank it.

The gentleman’s club, owned by the publicly traded VCG Holdings, is facing numerous allegations of liquor license violations, some that undercover police detectives said they observed in December and some in March. 

The board of county commissioners is the licensing authority over bars, liquor stores and other outlets that serve alcoholic beverages in unincorporated areas of the county. Metro Narcotics, Vice and Intelligence, a regional drug enforcement agency, conducts periodic undercover checks of the businesses.

The PT’s hearing was postponed from the April 14 commissioners’ meeting because of the additional alleged violations noted in March. Thursday’s hearing will address all of the issues, which include serving visibly intoxicated patrons, dancers asking patrons to buy them drinks and others.

The meeting starts at 9 a.m. at Pikes Peak Regional Development Center, 2880 International Circle.

Posted in: El Paso County • El Paso County Commissioners • • • • | 2 Comments »

County Commission weighs procedural change

March 25th, 2011, 12:11 pm by

A small procedural change at county commission meetings may turn out to be one of those “small step,” “giant leap” kind of things. Or not.

County employees have always presented an applicant’s request for a land use change or a liquor license issue or any case in which staff has worked with an applicant who is seeking some approval from the county commission. The applicant gets to speak after county staff and answer any questions from the commissioners. Then the public is invited to weigh in.

At Thursday’s biweekly meeting, the applicant for a zoning request to expand the capacity of a retreat center in Black Forest made his case first, and then a county employee followed up with his presentation.

The switcheroo came at the request of county Administrator Jeff Greene, who said some staff believe that having the applicant give a presentation about the request first is more “objective” and “transparent.”

With staff presenting first, he said, some think that gives the impression that staff are supportive of the applicant and nonobjective.

Max Rothschild, director of the county’s development services department, said the change is intended to “make the applicant and a project the focus of the meetings.”

When there’s opposition to a request, such as one neighbor not wanting another neighbor to operate a home business, the impression is that county staff members are giving advice to the applicant.

“We’re not necessarily; we’re supporting that the applicant meets all the requirements,” Rothschild said.

The new procedure could result in excess duplication, he admits.

Commission Chair Amy Lathen said she thought the new order “went well,” the first time around, and wants to give Commissioner Dennis Hisey a chance to see how the process works before making a permanent change.

Hisey is on a church mission trip in Mexico for Spring Break.

Greene said it’s the board chair’s discretion, with a consensus of the board, to decide in what order information should be presented.

Will the order of presentation matter to applicants? Will it change their chances of getting approval for their request? Will it make staff seem more objective?

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County keeps downtown development plan active

February 9th, 2011, 3:53 pm by

Renovating one of the old Intel buildings has been a major focus for El Paso County facilities officials. The county intends to move nearly 1,000 workers into what’s being called the Corporate Ridge Administration Building on West Garden of the Gods Road by year’s end.

But that doesn’t mean a long-range goal of buying more property downtown to build new county offices is off the books.

“If we had the money, we’d buy the whole block,” deputy county administrator Monnie Gore said, referring to the south side of East Vermijo Avenue between Cascade Avenue and Tejon Street, where the current county office building is.

“We’re making a huge commitment on Garden of the Gods Road, but this downtown plan is still a viable option,” he said.

That’s because of the central utilities plant on the first floor of the county parking garage on East Costilla Street, Gore said, which is a valuable asset in the downtown development plan. Two county-owned buildings now are connected to that plant;s heating and cooling systems, with two more connections underway. The goal is to connect all downtown county buildings, for utilities savings.

The development strategy calls for the county to acquire space that two lawyers offices and a restaurant currently occupy on East Vermijo Avenue. With those acquisitions, the county would own the entire block and could raze several of the buildings to build a new building. The county currently owns along several nearby properties that include:

n    Centennial Hall, 200 S. Cascade Ave.

n    The County Administration Building, 27 E. Vermijo Ave.

n    Court Care, 309 S. Cascade Ave.

n    The Pikes Peak Center, 109 S. Cascade Ave.

n    The Costilla Parking Garage, 50 E. Costilla St.

n    The Sahwatch Parking Garage, 225 S. Sahwatch

n    The Robert Russell Professional Building, 105 E. Vermijo

n    The Technical Support Building, 325 S. Cascade Ave.

n    The Terry R. Harris Judicial Complex, 270 S. Tejon St.

n    The Jurors’ Parking Lot, at Vermijo and Cascade

But it could be a really long long-range plan.

“A new building doesn’t make sense right now,” Gore said. “The reality is that new commercial construction costs $200 to $250 a square foot, and we don’t have the money.”

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No computer camp for special-needs, at-risk kids

February 4th, 2011, 9:16 am by

Twenty at-risk, special-needs youth were supposed to attend a three-day computer camp starting today, Feb. 4, and running through Sunday.  But they don’t get to.

With a 3-2 vote, the El Paso County Commission last week rejected a federal grant of $38,520, which would have funded the camp. Participants were local youth, ages 16 through 21, enrolled in the federally funded Workforce Investment Act Youth Program, which the Pikes Peak Workforce Center administers for El Paso and Teller counties.

The camp would have provided an introduction to laptop computers, including the Windows platform, MS Office skills and Internet-based employment assistance. The intent: to provide the youth to become “self-sufficient and independent job searchers, career explorers and entry-level workers.” They also would have received a laptop computer, upon completing the camp.

Commissioners objected to the expense, even though the federal government would have picked up the tab.

“I think this is an outrageous fee for taxpayers — $1,920 per kid,” said Commissioner Peggy Littleton.

Commission Chairwoman Amy Lathen agreed.

“We cannot sustain these kinds of programs. Citizens pay federal income taxes, and at at this point, they’re funny money; they’re not federal dollars,” she said.

Littleton, a former state board of education member, said the youth could get computer training through school or other avenues.

Lathen said the program seems redundant .

Pikes Peak Workforce Center Chief Executive Officer Charlie Whelan said he understood the commissioners’ concerns and that he would try to find another way for the youth to receive laptops and computer training.

Posted in: El Paso County Commissioners • Pikes Peak Workforce Center • Uncategorized • Youth • • • • • | 14 Comments »

Freethinkers object to commission’s prayerful agenda

January 14th, 2011, 4:01 pm by

El Paso County Commissioners didn’t waste any time with an agenda change, as decided by new Commission Chairwoman Amy Lathen earlier this week.

At the request of newly installed Commissioner Peggy Littleton, every meeting now opens with praying out loud. See my story for details.

Littleton’s appeal came at the Tuesday, Jan. 11 meeting, and two days later, at Thursday’s meeting, Commissioner Sallie Clark led an invocation.

To prevent what happened in previous years — that it became too difficult and time consuming to line up clergy to lead prayer before meetings — commissioners, county staff, community leaders and regular old folks can now give the invocation, Lathen decided, based on Littleton’s suggestion.

Prayer before elected bodies convene is legal, according to a 1980s U.S. Supreme Court ruling, and many groups now pray together or have a moment of silence before they meet.

But not everyone likes the idea. The Freedom From Religion Foundation filed a formal letter of complaint on Jan. 13, on behalf of an El Paso County resident.

In the organization’s letter to the commission, Co-President Dan Barker said that government prayer is “unnecessary, inappropriate and divisive.”

“Calling upon commissioners and citizens to rise and pray (even silently) is coercive, embarrassing and beyond the scope of secular county government,” he said. “Commissioners are free to pray  privately or to worship on their own time, in their own way. They do not need to worship on taxpayers’ time.”

The Freedom From Religion Foundation, based in Madison, Wis., is a national association of  freethinkers, otherwise known as atheists and agnostics.

All five commissioners said they supported increasing the frequency of public prayer before meetings. The commission has been incorporating invocations since 2006, but in recent years, it’s occurred only once a month.

Posted in: El Paso County Commissioners • Prayer • Uncategorized • • • • • • | 18 Comments »

New county leaders take over

January 11th, 2011, 5:09 pm by

Seven elected county officials, five 4th Judicial District Court judges and six El Paso County Court judges, were sworn in Tuesday. Jan. 11, during an oath-of-office ceremony at the Pioneers Museum.

Commissioner Darryl Glenn

Among those taking office are two new commissioners: Darryl Glenn and Peggy Littleton.

Peggy Littleton

At the county commission meeting immediately following the ceremony, Commissioner Dennis Hisey stepped down as chairman of the board. Commissioner Amy Lathen took the gavel and became Commission Chair.

Commissioner Sallie Clark is the new Commission Vice Chair. And Hisey will be the third chair and will run the meetings if Lathen and Clark cannot.

Commissioners also established liaison responsiblities for county departments, offices and agencies, and other commitments.

The list is available at this link.

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County staff, elected officials recognized for service

January 4th, 2011, 2:57 pm by

Eileen Wheeler, center, flanked by (from left) Jeff Greene, county administrator; Commisson Chair Dennis Hisey; Bill Louis, county attorney; County Commissioner Wayne Williams; County Commissioner Sallie Clark; Bob Balink, former clerk and recorder and now county treasurer; and County Commissioner Jim Bensberg.

She’s only 48, but Eileen Wheeler says she deserves to retire.

And that’s what she’s doing.

“I paid my dues,” Wheeler said Tuesday, after El Paso County Commissioners recognized her achievements during the 26 years she’s worked for the county clerk and recorder’s office.

Wheeler says she has no idea what she’ll do now: “I’m going to regroup and see what comes my way.”

Wheeler was hired as assistant to the deputy clerk to the board in 1984. She was promoted to manager of the department in February 1989, during the asbestos evacuation of the clerk and recorder office in Centennial Hall.

“They kept offering me the position, and I kept turning it down,” she said. “But everything kicked into high gear when we had to evacuate, and I like it when things are chaotic.”

Wheeler has served four county clerks and worked with 21 county commissioners. She was responsible for the records of more than 2,000 commission board meetings.

She became an expert on liquor codes, open meetings laws and the Open Records Act, as well as Parliamentary Procedure.

Wheeler also took the lead in reducing paperwork and converting from typewriters and hard copy to computers and electronic filing and recording.

A parade of county staff attested to her attributes at Tuesday’s commission meeting. Past and present co-workers used words like “efficient,” “gracious,” “calm,” “cooperative” and “helpful” to describe Wheeler’s nature.

“Eileen is a leader among leaders,” said Robert “Bob” Balink, who has been the clerk and recorder for the past eight years.

“She’s been one of the strongest county supporters of using technology to improve efficiency and reduce the cost of doing business,” said Bill Miller, from the information technology department.

The commission also approved meritorious service resolutions for three elected county officials leaving their posts: Balink, who became county treasurer on Jan. 1; surveyor Chris Brewer; and treasurer Sandra Damron. The latter two will vacate their positions Tuesday, when newly elected county officials are sworn into office.

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