Dear City, County and State
Officials, the Press, and Citizens Exercising Their Rights Under The
Constitution:
As the Wyoming Tribune Eagle
pointed out in Sunday's paper, it's time for a more transparent government here
in Cheyenne and Laramie County.
We saw that need for
ourselves after citizens, loyal to the Constitution, braved insults from their
representatives and planning staff--and even as emails surfaced from employees with the MPO and city that
demeaned citizens opposing PlanCheyenne--citizens began seeing what has become a
culture of
systemic hostility toward their voice that seemed to
put any hope of being
heard in 'clear and present danger'.
Here's what's next on the
"Sunshine" list: (and we thank the WTE for their Sunday edition, both exposing
any problematic 'fixing' of the
discrepancies in PlanCheyenne, as well as bringing
additional exposure
to schemes that
cry out for
constitutional exposure.)
1. Even as we thank County
Commissioner Amber Ash for skillfully applying the searing branding iron of
constitutional changes to PlanCheyenne, we caution her apologetic and face-saving need for, "finding
middle ground". Her job is to align all actions with the Constitution. Period. The 17
citizen-proposed amendments that exposed constitutional infringements provided
her a streamlined process in which to fulfill her duties. She then sprinted to
the lead even as other faltered in theirs.
2. A constitutional refresher for
Commissioner Buck Holmes, and especially for Commissioner Troy Thompson:
neither of you represent
the MPO or its director. Anyone observing last week's (March 11) meeting would
have thought
otherwise as those attending braced against unmasked hostility aimed at citizens
in attendance and the fawning apologies to both MPO Director and a Clarion Associates official for
the citizens' presence there.
3. Both the County and City
representatives need to explain why at least two public officials--one
with
the city, the other the county,
were not a part of amendment negotiations regarding PlanCheyenne
that
were presented without prior notice
at the City Council meeting on March 10th. If true, secret meetings took place that excluded elected
representatives and, in effect, citizens themselves.
This is a
potentially critical violation.
4. Both City and County need to
answer to the redlining map that exposes private property owners to
a
potential 'taking' of their land
and a confusion that does not favor those affected private property
owners.
By the way, there seems to be a
refusal to state facts: We did not have to pass the update of
PlanCheyenne;
the mandate is to have a
plan; not necessarily this plan.
Other constitutional concerns
during this, "Sunshine Week":
Watchdog the Downtown Development
Authority, citizens! Christie DePoorter, DDA executive,
wants
to burden Cheyenne with even more taxpayer debt by
appealing to state government to do what the
DDA can't due to budget
restrictions. ("Revitalize: DDA wants to be able to issue its own bonds."
WTE,
Sunday, March 16, 2014, pg
A9.)
REMEMBER: DDA is pushing for
ArtScape in downtown Cheyenne. Here's a little
'sunshine':
ArtScape is a national real estate
developer who uses public funds to gain ownership of others'
property
with the blessings of government under the guise
of bankrolling struggling artists. (www.artscape.org)
Please
be aware of what
happened in nearby Loveland, CO. Loveland Historic Preservation Council and
City gave preference to ArtScape over a private developer on a property for sale there. The
private developer was willing to take on the risk, but government won out. Now
the taxpayers of
Loveland have taken on the estimated $8.9M risk. This is the reality of
'public/private partnerships'. The DDA and the City of Cheyenne both need to be put on
notice of constitutional infringements on this scheme before it goes further.
Citizens, this is pure sunshine
here today. Let's never, ever let it go. Our country needs us, now more than
ever.
Watchdoggedly
yours,
Citizen Scranton
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