Civic service
For over the last 11 and a half years, I have served the town of Carbondale in one capacity or another. First, as a member of the Parks and Recreation Commission for four plus years, then as a town trustee for over seven and a half years. It has been both an honor and a chore that I have enjoyed. I want to share some of the things that I have learned.
First, you need to be fiscally responsible. It is not your money, but the taxpayer’s money you are dealing with. Second, no matter what you decide on for any given issue, half of the town will disagree with you. You are trying to make the best possible decision with the information which you have available. Some things you can foresee, some you cannot. No one could have predicted Covid or the impact it had on the town and real estate prices. Please, keep in mind that you should hire the best staff that you can, and then follow their recommendations most of the time. When you do not want to follow their recommendations, please inquire why they suggested what they did. There very well may be reasons that you did not even consider.
We serve not as Democrats or Republicans, but as members of the community. As I leave office, I would ask some of the many people who have found fault with our efforts, to step up to the plate and serve, whether on a commission or by running for office.
Interested in filling one of the three vacancies coming up on the Carbondale Board of Trustees? Please see the town clerk and get a petition, then get 40 signatures from Carbondale residents (only twenty-five are required, but get some extras), advocate your agenda and serve your community. If your choice is to step up to the plate and run for office, I thank you for your time and effort to make our community a better place. Please keep in mind all of those who have helped shape Carbondale through the years. Potato farmers, ranchers, hippies, crafts people, miners, educators and small business people.
Help keep Carbondale the strong vibrant community that we love.
Marty Silverstein, Carbondale Trustee
Thank you, USPS
We want to thank the Carbondale Post Office for the yeoman work they did this past holiday season.
Not only was our post office understaffed, underpaid and undersupplied by the U.S. Postal Service, but they were overwhelmed by some very rude customers, very long hours and overtaxed by the volume of boxes that were sent through the post office.
We don’t know why Amazon and other retailers have made the decision to have their boxes delivered by the local post offices across the country (perhaps a big Government contract?), but it only adds to the volume of mail that our post office has to handle on a daily basis.
Yes, our post office is short on staff, short a postmaster, short on supplies, but they try every day to fulfill their obligations to our zip code.
Let’s start the new year fresh with a new attitude and a sense of appreciation for all at the Carbondale Post Office. It’s a great resolution!
Janet and Arvid Johnson
“Trees” (1913)
By Joyce Kilmer
I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.
A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the earth’s sweet flowing breast;
A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;
A tree that may in Summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;
Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.
Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.
Submitted by Nancy Morey, Glenwood Springs
Real estate transfer fee
I was shocked to read the bill being presented by State Representative Elizabeth Velasco. For her to think a 4% real estate sale transfer fee is a good idea really upset me. In a world where everything cost us more, this would be the largest single tax burden on our Garfield County communities. We need to elect people who protect our property and families. I will be sure to continue to vote in my local elections in an effort to elect individuals with common sense policies.
Matt Pickett, Glenwood Springs
Holiday Baskets
The Holiday Baskets Program, ran entirely by volunteers, was once again a joyful community effort. For over 40 years, this program has provided new toys, gifts, clothing and food for people in need in our Valley. This past holiday, we served 264 families and 1,091 individuals!
We are so grateful to the more than 300 volunteers who purchased individual gifts, shopped for entire families, sorted, wrapped and transported gift bags. And, we certainly appreciate those who made monetary donations which enabled us to gift over $45,000 worth of City Market food cards.
In addition to all of our volunteers, I especially wish to thank our Steering Committee: Elaine Bonds, Marsha Cook, Kathy Dreher, Suzi Jenkins, Elizabeth Parker and Bobbi Teliska who spent countless hours and lots of energy matching families with Holiday Angels and making sure all the gift bags were ready on pick-up day. We also thank the 11 agencies who referred the families and delivered their gift bags. We are extremely grateful to Mike Garbarini who developed an online system allowing us to go paperless this year! We greatly appreciate the Aspen Chapel Gallery for serving as a drop-off site for gift bags and wrapping, and St. Peter’s Church in Basalt for providing space in which to coordinate and distribute the thousands of gifts and gift cards.
It was truly a joyful experience to witness the generosity and caring nature of so many members of our community!
Anne Blackwell, Holiday Baskets
For America’s sake
As we mark the third anniversary of the January 6 insurrection, it’s important to remember how we got to that moment and who was responsible for it. Donald Trump and his allies engaged in a months-long criminal conspiracy after the 2020 election. They spread lies about voter fraud and used those lies to put pressure on state officials to illegally overturn election results. When their scheme to interfere with Congress’ certification of the 2020 election results failed, Trump and his co-conspirators incited a violent mob to attack the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
MAGA Republicans nationwide have continued this assault on our democracy by introducing radical voter suppression bills in Congress and state legislatures, spreading false election conspiracy theories and threatening to overturn election results they disagree with.
Now, Trump is running for president again and he and his allies are planning for a second term that is even more extreme and authoritarian than the last one. If he is re-elected, he plans to pardon himself and his supporters, use the Department of Justice to exact revenge on his enemies, and purge the federal government of anyone who doesn’t agree with him until there’s no one left to say no.
Just last month, Trump said if he was reelected, he would attempt to be a dictator on “day one.” We need to take him at his word. Too much is at stake for the American people to allow Trump to take back power. It’s up to all of us to say no to a second Trump presidency now, before it’s too late.
Peter Mertz, Carbondale
FS disturbs right-of-way
The U.S. Forest Service has bullied this town to get its new building, and to conduct demolition of historic buildings and mature trees. Claiming that town rules do not apply to federal land and projects such as they want, the local federal bureaucrats have pushed through with their chosen building plan and demolition. However, rules do apply, even to such as they. The feds do not own or control Carbondale’s sidewalks or streets.
Today (Jan. 9), fencing went up around their federal compound, including taking over five public parking places on Carbondale streets. Our sidewalk is closed and signs tell pedestrians to use the Post Office side of the street. This is a heavily traveled sidewalk, contiguous to a bus stop. Public safety requires the removal of the fencing and the return of our streets and sidewalks. Our own town government should assert the town’s right to control what is ours. Our own town should demand, and post on the town website, the construction mitigation plan.
Permits are required in Carbondale to block sidewalks and parking places. Storage and taking of public rights-of-way are prohibited, except with temporary permits from the town. If the town granted these permits to the Forest Service, the town should revoke these permits until a public hearing can be held on community benefits and safety. No permits were posted on the fence or sign as of Tuesday.
We of Carbondale control our streets and sidewalks. It is a municipal violation and a misdemeanor to block public egress. If the Forest Service wants to continue their project against the wishes of Carbondale, then it should be required to do it within their own compound.
No parking of workers’ vehicles on our streets by the Grand Junction contractors.
No parking of tree removal trucks blocking Main Street or Weant.
No fences blocking our sidewalks from our citizens.
No closing of traffic and bike lanes for demolitions and building. Safe traveling on our streets is paramount.
The Forest Service is the disruptor to Carbondale’s downtown, and the burden is on them to show why our town should agree to their demands to use our streets and sidewalks; particularly when the Forest Service has informed us they can and will do whatever they want: constructing new buildings and destroying healthy trees and historical buildings.
Kathy Goudy, Carbondale
End the war
Many of us have been holding our tongues for months over Israel’s war in Gaza, but it is time to speak out and demand a stop to the unrelenting violence being inflicted on innocent Palestinian civilians.
After the horrific attacks by Hamas on Oct. 7, we naturally stood in support of the Israeli people, and we still do. They suffered a devastating tragedy and a blow to their security. However, the Israeli government’s response to the attacks has been completely disproportionate, resulting (so far) in 23,000 civilian deaths, with 90 percent of Gazans now literally starving. It is a historic humanitarian crisis of Israel’s making.
On top of that, the war is a historic strategic blunder that is perpetuating generational trauma on both sides and will only make Israelis less secure, not more.
Israel is supposed to be an ally of the United States. We give them $3 billion a year in military aid. Instead of supporting this morally unjust bombing, the U.S. should be using its leverage to de-escalate the conflict.
The violence must stop now. People all over America are organizing to demand an immediate ceasefire, unrestricted humanitarian aid to Gaza and the denial of U.S. military aid to Israel for this war. You can support this effort by calling our Colorado Senators Michael Bennet (202-224-5852) and John Hickenlooper (202-224-5941). For more information and to get involved, see www.ceasefirenowrfv.substack.com
Dave Reed, Carbondale
350 Roaring Fork film series
2023 was the hottest year in recorded history and scientists estimate it was the warmest in 125,000 years. Beautiful, historic Lahaina, Maui was wiped off the face of the map and over 100 people were killed by a wildfire exacerbated by extreme drought and winds from Hurricane Dora.
Canadian wildfires began in April and are still burning, incinerating 18.5 million hectares to date and covering much of the North American continent in smoke. Maricopa County in Arizona, the massive jurisdiction that includes Phoenix, experienced an entire month of temperatures above 110 degrees fahrenheit.
Climate change is no longer an event we need to prepare for in the future. It’s here now and mankind must react. In keeping with this urgency, 350 Roaring Fork is showing a series of six climate-related films this winter.
Screening at the Carbondale Library Community Room at 6pm will be:
Jan. 11 – “Bidder 70” is the tale of a Utah teenager who set out to disrupt a BLM oil and gas lease sale by outbidding all participants.
Jan. 31 – “Kiss the Ground” extolls the virtues of regenerative agriculture.
Feb. 22 – “American Outrage” is about a pair of Native American women struggling to protect their grazing land from oil and gas development.
March 13 – “Happening: A Clean Energy Revolution” is a film where Robert Redford’s late son, James, gives an upbeat view of climate solutions.
March 27 – “A Land Out of Time” describes the harmful effects of oil and gas drilling in western Colorado and southwestern Wyoming.
At the Glenwood Springs Library Community Room at 6pm on Feb 24, “Fracking the System” will screen, and describes how a fracking operation was moved from a white neighborhood to a BIPOC community. Filmmaker Brian Hedden will be there to discuss and answer questions.
Understand what our planet is facing and learn remedial action by attending all or some of these film screenings.
Fred Malo Jr., Carbondale
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