I guess I didnt get the memo from the Daily Sentinel that one had to be running for office to take a position on an issue. That will certainly decrease the number of letters to the editor to be printed. The reason I weighed in on the matter of 38 Road is two-fold: As new board members are elected they are not always aware of previous agreements. And the public is often unaware of decisions that are made when the media doesn’t attend important meetings, as was the case several years ago when the county was asked to support the Fruit and Wine Byway. My comments weren’t a reflection of the importance of ag or tourism to our economy, but rather the fairness of favoring one industry over others with regards to road improvements. When any other business (who also support our economy) builds or expands, they are required by the city and the county to cover costs of transportation improvements. If the belief is that the county or city should cover those costs with existing revenue, and not expect the businesses to pay those costs, then that position should apply to all businesses, and not just those in the ag and tourism industry. The editorial completely overlooks other industries in Mesa County that support our economy. The energy industry is a significant economic driver for Mesa County. In terms of well-paying jobs, wages in the energy industry far exceed those in ag or tourism. Taxes paid by the energy industry also far exceed those of taxes paid by ag. In addition to paying the highest rate of taxes of all businesses in Colorado, the energy industry pays to build or maintain the roads they use. Chevron paid several million to improve the road north of Debeque in Garfield County. The Mesa County Road and Bridge Department works agreements with all the energy companies to keep and maintain the roads they use. For every road the energy industry uses, they either provide the funds to help the County to maintain or maintain the roads themselves. If we are going to take the position that because ag and tourism are good for our economy therefore we shouldn’t expect them to pay their fair share for road improvements, then we should apply that to all industries and refund the millions spent by every other businesses when they developed. At least thats the opinion of this non-candidate... ;)
Posted on: Fri, 08 Aug 2014 19:25:09 +0000
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