Pueblo City's 2017 General Election (#4)
A water board member seat is up for grabs in Pueblo City this year. Pueblo City has 5 water board members, & they serve 6 year terms. The purpose for Pueblo's water board is to formulate & dictate policy regarding Pueblo's waterworks (including storm water & sewer), keep Pueblo's water clean, review & approve a budget, & bill the city's water customers at rates they set.
James H. Gardner, the incumbent, has stepped down from his water board seat, because he's "old". Gardner reassures us - we the public - that he "can shoot [his] age in golf".
This leaves the Water Board seat wide open for any takers. Will there be any takers?
Gardner was appointed to the water board July 1999. He won that election that year (1999). Puebloans must have adored James H. Gardner's work, because they reelected him in 2005 for another 6-year term, & once again in 2011. Gardner has served Pueblo City as water board member for the last 18 years.
During the drought of 2001 & 2002, Gardner helped to acquire 32% ownership of the Bessemer Ditch. Gardner was worried that the people on the Western slope would take the water streaming through the mountains, preventing Pueblo from getting us - we the people - some water. Since Pueblo City owns 32% of Bessemer Ditch, the "federal government can't mess with us", said Gardner.
In 2011, nobody ran against James H. Gardner. James H. Gardner received 18,800 votes in that uncontested election. Gardner received nearly 19,000 votes in 2011, when all he needed was 1 vote to win. Of course Gardner won an uncontested election. A giant Big Boy statue would have won an uncontested election (I'm sure 1 person would have voted for it).
Why was it uncontested? Did all of the people of Pueblo really decide that Gardner was the best man for the job, so therefore, no single Puebloan challenged him? That's not it, at all. Most Puebloans didn't know about the Water Board position. Not this year, or the previous years. Even a secretary for the City Clerk didn't even know about the Water Board member race going on this year, or that the Civil Service Commissioner seat was also up for grabs this year. Recently, only because I happened to be looking at Pueblo City's last elections, I found out about the city school board race myself, 5 days before the deadline to turn in the required 25 or 50 signatures.
Both Autobee & Cafasso, current water board members, were appointed to the Water Board. Autobee was appointed in June 2004; Cafasso in March 2007.
The government & the media aren't informing the people of Pueblo City with all of the news thats fit to print, so they know everything they need to know, to be well-informed citizens. The government & the media should have reported what elected positions are up for grabs this year, and what the process is for getting on the ballot. We the people should also get some time to look at these complicated ballot measures - which are chock-full of high-falutin legalise - so we know precisely what in sam hell is going on before November 7. While the government & local media must carry most of the blame, because if they reported it, lots of people would have heard their clarion call for democracy, and we the people would have plenty of choices this November 7. But all of this information is also information that we can find out for ourselves, especially in the postmodern information age. Bernie Sanders said he felt compelled to get into politics because that's how he could affect meaningful change. Puebloans can run for office if they wanted to, and those who chose not to, are effectively turning their backs on the rest of Pueblo, allowing others to run the city, when a healthy democracy calls for universal participation. Are the people of Pueblo ignorant about local politics, or is it their lack of a civics education? Perhaps they just don't give a flying fuck. Why don't they? Are there no Bernie Sanders in Pueblo City?
Pueblo's public education system should be teaching civics, & democratic practices. The reason we have uncontested races is because:
1) many Puebloans weren't taught civics & democratic principles from District 60's universal public schools;
2) the government & media aren't covering local politics comprehensively, &;
3) Puebloans aren't educating themselves.
Since Gardner isn't running for water board this year, will anybody run for his old seat? How pathetic would that be if no Puebloan ran for water board? Nobody cares if our water is clean, and affordable? Storm water, sewage... the water board ring is an easy political position that anybody could have picked up. Literally, anybody. There's the ball Pueblo... does nobody want to pick it up? Winners want the ball. Water board member, dogcatcher, these are great introductory positions into government! First, become water board member. Then, become City Manager. The chances of 1 radical shaking up a well-oil water board machine made-up of 5 members too excessively is zero. A newcomer wouldn't be able to destroy the machine, though they could introduce novel ideas not considered before, to make it better.
Is Pueblo City's democracy so dead that every single individual citizen decided that it would be best if the water board themselves just appointed a brand new government bureaucrat, without public scrutiny, without any actual true blue candidates, without an election? Is that what all 120,000 citizens of Pueblo City want?
If nobody in Pueblo runs for water board, that's a unanimous city-wide decision: nobody knows what in sam hell is going on, & nobody gives a shit. For them, elections are more about popularity contests, to sell more advertisements, to validate their own egos, instead of good governance, such as rock solid policy formation, cutting back costs, streamlining services to be more efficient, & making Pueblo's water is clean, & affordable.
The Water Board is similar to Pueblo's City Council & Pueblo City School (District 60) & the Civil Service Commission. All of these boards are elected by the people, and once elected, they - amongst themselves - choose themselves a Captain of the Ship to lead them.
Seth Clayton is that Ship Captain for Pueblo City's Water Board. Seth Clayton was hired by the current 5 water board members (including Gardner) to be the executive director on November 18, 2016. Seth Clayton is in charge of 137 employees, & all of the city's waterpipes, storm drains, & sewers. Hell, picking the executive director is the most important decision the water board makes. How many Puebloans can honestly say that they knew that Seth Clayton is the current Director of Pueblo's Water Board before right now?
How about all of the architectural accomplishments of James H. Gardner? Gardner designed the School Board Administration Building (District 60), with that weird mural circle thing out in front, in 1978. Gardner also designed the Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District building (1999), Coldwell Banker building (2004), Buell Children's Museum/Sangre de Cristo Arts and Conference Center, Pueblo Community College's Academic Center and Learning Facility, & the Pueblo City-County Health Department building.
The other 4 water board members are Nicholas Gradisar, Kevin F. McCarthy, Thomas V. Autobee, & Michael Cafasso. Gradisar, an attorney, was elected in 2003, and his term ends in 4 years (2021). Kevin F. McCarthy was elected onto the water board in 1987, and he's going to be on it until 2019. McCarthy has held that same position for the last 30 years. Man! Move up Kevin, why don't cha? Make some room for some newbies. I remembered working for a Shift Manager at Ruby Tuesday, and he advised, "If you want to move up in the corporate world, then train somebody to take your current job." Now that I think about it, did Gardner choose a successor? Did he groom any young Pueblo politician to take his place? Thomas V. Autobee, a dentist, was appointed to fill a vacancy on June 2004. Autobee will be a water board member for 4 more years (until 2021). Michael A. Cafasso, VP of Operations for St Mary-Corwin Hospital, was also appointed to fill a Water Board vacancy on March 2007. Cafasso won that November 2007 election, and his term ends in 2019.
Pueblo City's Water Board meets the 3rd Tuesday of each month at 2:00 p.m. in the Board Room on the third floor of the Administration Building, 319 W. 4th Street. Meetings are open and the public is welcome to attend. #pueblopolitics
James H. Gardner, the incumbent, has stepped down from his water board seat, because he's "old". Gardner reassures us - we the public - that he "can shoot [his] age in golf".
This leaves the Water Board seat wide open for any takers. Will there be any takers?
During the drought of 2001 & 2002, Gardner helped to acquire 32% ownership of the Bessemer Ditch. Gardner was worried that the people on the Western slope would take the water streaming through the mountains, preventing Pueblo from getting us - we the people - some water. Since Pueblo City owns 32% of Bessemer Ditch, the "federal government can't mess with us", said Gardner.
In 2011, nobody ran against James H. Gardner. James H. Gardner received 18,800 votes in that uncontested election. Gardner received nearly 19,000 votes in 2011, when all he needed was 1 vote to win. Of course Gardner won an uncontested election. A giant Big Boy statue would have won an uncontested election (I'm sure 1 person would have voted for it).
Why was it uncontested? Did all of the people of Pueblo really decide that Gardner was the best man for the job, so therefore, no single Puebloan challenged him? That's not it, at all. Most Puebloans didn't know about the Water Board position. Not this year, or the previous years. Even a secretary for the City Clerk didn't even know about the Water Board member race going on this year, or that the Civil Service Commissioner seat was also up for grabs this year. Recently, only because I happened to be looking at Pueblo City's last elections, I found out about the city school board race myself, 5 days before the deadline to turn in the required 25 or 50 signatures.
Both Autobee & Cafasso, current water board members, were appointed to the Water Board. Autobee was appointed in June 2004; Cafasso in March 2007.
The government & the media aren't informing the people of Pueblo City with all of the news thats fit to print, so they know everything they need to know, to be well-informed citizens. The government & the media should have reported what elected positions are up for grabs this year, and what the process is for getting on the ballot. We the people should also get some time to look at these complicated ballot measures - which are chock-full of high-falutin legalise - so we know precisely what in sam hell is going on before November 7. While the government & local media must carry most of the blame, because if they reported it, lots of people would have heard their clarion call for democracy, and we the people would have plenty of choices this November 7. But all of this information is also information that we can find out for ourselves, especially in the postmodern information age. Bernie Sanders said he felt compelled to get into politics because that's how he could affect meaningful change. Puebloans can run for office if they wanted to, and those who chose not to, are effectively turning their backs on the rest of Pueblo, allowing others to run the city, when a healthy democracy calls for universal participation. Are the people of Pueblo ignorant about local politics, or is it their lack of a civics education? Perhaps they just don't give a flying fuck. Why don't they? Are there no Bernie Sanders in Pueblo City?
Pueblo's public education system should be teaching civics, & democratic practices. The reason we have uncontested races is because:
1) many Puebloans weren't taught civics & democratic principles from District 60's universal public schools;
2) the government & media aren't covering local politics comprehensively, &;
3) Puebloans aren't educating themselves.
Since Gardner isn't running for water board this year, will anybody run for his old seat? How pathetic would that be if no Puebloan ran for water board? Nobody cares if our water is clean, and affordable? Storm water, sewage... the water board ring is an easy political position that anybody could have picked up. Literally, anybody. There's the ball Pueblo... does nobody want to pick it up? Winners want the ball. Water board member, dogcatcher, these are great introductory positions into government! First, become water board member. Then, become City Manager. The chances of 1 radical shaking up a well-oil water board machine made-up of 5 members too excessively is zero. A newcomer wouldn't be able to destroy the machine, though they could introduce novel ideas not considered before, to make it better.
Is Pueblo City's democracy so dead that every single individual citizen decided that it would be best if the water board themselves just appointed a brand new government bureaucrat, without public scrutiny, without any actual true blue candidates, without an election? Is that what all 120,000 citizens of Pueblo City want?
If nobody in Pueblo runs for water board, that's a unanimous city-wide decision: nobody knows what in sam hell is going on, & nobody gives a shit. For them, elections are more about popularity contests, to sell more advertisements, to validate their own egos, instead of good governance, such as rock solid policy formation, cutting back costs, streamlining services to be more efficient, & making Pueblo's water is clean, & affordable.
The Water Board is similar to Pueblo's City Council & Pueblo City School (District 60) & the Civil Service Commission. All of these boards are elected by the people, and once elected, they - amongst themselves - choose themselves a Captain of the Ship to lead them.
How about all of the architectural accomplishments of James H. Gardner? Gardner designed the School Board Administration Building (District 60), with that weird mural circle thing out in front, in 1978. Gardner also designed the Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District building (1999), Coldwell Banker building (2004), Buell Children's Museum/Sangre de Cristo Arts and Conference Center, Pueblo Community College's Academic Center and Learning Facility, & the Pueblo City-County Health Department building.
The other 4 water board members are Nicholas Gradisar, Kevin F. McCarthy, Thomas V. Autobee, & Michael Cafasso. Gradisar, an attorney, was elected in 2003, and his term ends in 4 years (2021). Kevin F. McCarthy was elected onto the water board in 1987, and he's going to be on it until 2019. McCarthy has held that same position for the last 30 years. Man! Move up Kevin, why don't cha? Make some room for some newbies. I remembered working for a Shift Manager at Ruby Tuesday, and he advised, "If you want to move up in the corporate world, then train somebody to take your current job." Now that I think about it, did Gardner choose a successor? Did he groom any young Pueblo politician to take his place? Thomas V. Autobee, a dentist, was appointed to fill a vacancy on June 2004. Autobee will be a water board member for 4 more years (until 2021). Michael A. Cafasso, VP of Operations for St Mary-Corwin Hospital, was also appointed to fill a Water Board vacancy on March 2007. Cafasso won that November 2007 election, and his term ends in 2019.
Pueblo City's Water Board meets the 3rd Tuesday of each month at 2:00 p.m. in the Board Room on the third floor of the Administration Building, 319 W. 4th Street. Meetings are open and the public is welcome to attend. #pueblopolitics
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