A recent Camera letter asked how it could have happened that subdivision homeowners were not aware since 1995 that the county had virtually abandoned maintenance on their roads.
The answer lies in a combination of factors. 1) The county commissioners never publicized their unilateral decision to reduce maintenance in any responsible fashion; and in what they communicated they used commercial roads and parking lots as examples of what they intended.
2) Over the years when citizens groups met to address the problem the commissioners withheld important information that they were redirecting road funds to a reserve fund for other uses.
3) Subdivision owners like everyone else face the time demands of everyday life, leaving precious little time to “watchdog” their “public servants.” When “public servants” take office, their oaths of office either explicitly or implicitly bind them to honesty, integrity and a commitment to represent all the citizens they are serving.
It should not be necessary for the citizens they supposedly are serving to establish a “shadow” watchdog capability to insure their elected officials are acting honestly and with integrity. Furthermore, the county budget breakdown of specific spending versus income sourcing does not lend itself to an easy understanding of line-item spending and how that was arrived at.
Boulder County could learn from Larimer County whose budget is transparent and easy to understand. Boulder’s is opaque and confusing (either accidentally or by design). In fact, no one gets to vote on specific expenditure programs except the Boulder commissioners themselves. Thus there are no checks and balances on how subdivision property taxes are spent.
That is how we got to where we are on subdivision road maintenance.
Janix Hogle
