Salida Council Member Interviews

August 16, 2019

Current council members and the mayor of the City of Salida have been separately interviewed recently and their responses contributed to One Salida. In the interviews, each was asked to respond to the following five questions.

What has gone well with the current council?

What has this council accomplished?

What are the “works in progress”?

What are the “lessons learned” and the changes or improvements that resulted?

What are the shortcomings? What could be done better? What are your hopes for the new council going forward?

During the last election One Salida strove to provide factual information about city government operations to voters. Information was supported by source documents and city records. In a continued effort to be a resource to citizens, the responses of the council members are presented here, without editorial comment.

Question 1: What has gone well with the current council?

Dan Shore:

This council has excellent staff and council morale; there has been a restoration of civility and cordial behavior among council members and between council and staff.
We spend significantly less time in executive session.
Legal fees are substantially lower while we have a pool of experts in municipal law with vast experience who attend our council meetings and serve as a helpful resource to council and staff.

Cheryl Brown-Kovacic:

This council has a different vision than past council. Past goals were narrower in terms of being focused on limited government engagement. Goals now are those that came from the community – housing, preserving community character, broader issues that impact quality of life – like day care.
We have a great staff in place and council and staff work well together.

Harald Kasper:

The culture of the council. The retreat with council and the city administrator was very constructive. There was respect, laughter, listening, arriving at clear goals. We don’t always agree with each other but there is enjoyment.
There is so much potential now for new things to sprout. So much groundwork has been done and issues resolved so we can plan and work together. It’s an exciting time to be on city council.
I’m most proud of the theme of civility during council meetings. It has a lot to do with the individuals on council. The results are good.

Justin Critelli:

There are very competent department heads in all departments available with answers when we need them, in addition to legal counsel that is present and available for what we need to know.
Council has a willingness to say yes and hear things out.
The conversation is good. We focus on the issue at hand, make the point and move on.
Once a vote is done we move on. Dissenting voters are able to accept and move on, there’s no axe to grind.
The resolution to be civil is an accomplishment. It’s more inclusionary. What citizens say to council is reflected back so people know they were heard.
There are civility posters in council chambers – it’s night and day from the past.
Offering a statement of intention for the meeting adds a human element – it’s not just about rules of conduct.
There’s been no public tie-breaker votes, no use of a gavel.
There’s been judicious use of executive sessions.
Council members come prepared – do the work and the reading. It makes me want to be a better council person – there’s lots of mutual respect.
Mayor and council work more than they have to. They want to hold each other up and get things done.
Because of healthy council discourse I’ve felt more emboldened to do better, to participate and makes a point of extending compassion and civility.

Jane Templeton:

Internal communications are excellent. The administrator conveys weekly updates to council about internal meetings, outcomes and plans.
Council has been very professional and courteous; if someone disagrees it’s ok. Everyone listens, we vote, we move on.
Council is perceived as a unit – not as individuals or blocks.
We have no trouble laughing at ourselves, no exclusions – everyone is part of the joking and camaraderie, no one stands out as an outlier.
PT runs an excellent meeting – keeps us focused and on task. He has excellent knowledge of procedural rules.
Active listening during public comment has been great. It seems to have shifted the public comment is delivered to council also.

Mayor PT Wood:

What’s going well is how incredibly well city staff is functioning, it’s an amazing team. They all get along, they are all competent and are doing jobs at a very high level. It’s fun to watch.
Council works well with staff. It’s absent any awkwardness. People seem to enjoy being on council and staff seems to enjoy going to work.
No matter your political stripes- the collegiality and civility has been very gratifying.

Question 2: What has the current council accomplished?

Both Cheryl Brown Kovacic and Mayor P.T. Wood provided a list of accomplishments which follows. Many items were reiterated by other council members below .

Kept water rates at current level
Expanded staff to deal with City growth
Corrected inherited financial difficulties, bringing audits, state and agency reports, balances, etc. up-to-date and in line with state requirements
Code changes to incentivize affordable and rental housing
Code change to require mix of housing economic levels in all new construction with incentives to builders
Conducted TABOR refund
Kept water rates at current level
Legal work to return Vandaveer property to the city
Paved and replaced streets, sidewalks and water/sewer infrastructure
Improved outdoor patio regulations
Increased amount of Community Funding to non-profits
Airport improvements
Increased work and funding for Salida Tree Board planting and maintenance programs
Completed repairs on F Street bridge
New pickle ball courts in Centennial Park
Golf course water rights to fill ponds
New all-purpose maintenance building for use of Fire, Police and Public Works Department
Established goals for year
Completed and opened Scout Hut (using grant funding)
Adopted 2 budgets
Raised Occupational Lodging Tax
Increased Community Grant funding by 25%
Establishing responsibilities for elected treasurer
Began exploring a vision for growth on Hwy 50 (Grant funding)
Received a grant for electric car charging stations, installed 3 dual port level 2 chargers
Bringing fiber optic broadband to city buildings and Riverside Park
Free Wifi downtown

Cheryl Brown-Kovacic

CBK added the following to the list above —
We created incentives to builders to create affordable housing like density bonuses, setback variations, discounted and delayed fee payments.
Our Inclusionary Housing requirement resulted in 8 permanently affordable homes in Two Rivers.
We have commitments to move to 100% solar with a contractor who will reduce costs.
Short Term Rental regulation enforcement and compliance have improved with a half time position dedicated to this.
Every department is running smoothly with accomplished, knowledgeable department heads. The city has a solid base and is running smoothly.

Mayor PT Wood:

PTW added the following to the list above —
An accomplishment and a work in progress are the decisions made and direction taken to create a sound financial base for the city.
Much effort has been put into insuring that the city is financially strong with a plan for the future. Hiring Aimee Tihonovich as financial director was a great step in that direction.
We are bringing on an expert financial advisor and we selected a city administrator capable of guiding us through a bad budget situation.
The decision to bring on a municipal financial consultant is to create a 5 to 10 year capital improvement plan with a roadmap rather than having a knee-jerk reaction to needs. We’ll know how best to invest municipal assets for the best return. We’ll know the best way to pay for large projects when they arise and how to plan for them – like a new fire station for example.
This master plan will keep our planning realistic – for example – how can city facilities pay for themselves? How do we set aside funds for the SteamPlant and Pool while keeping them accessible to our locals?
There is a much greater awareness of concrete financial needs and priorities. We can see where we need to plug something in to a capital improvement plan, and what year to plug it in.

Dan Shore:

We increased merit pay for years of service from $100 to $1000 for 40 years.
We did the right thing and settled Dara Macdonald’s severance pay.
We’ve hired qualified, knowledgeable, experienced department heads.
As a result of hard work and persistence with the UP Railroad we have more public parking.
We changed the City attorney scope of work with checks and balances in place to prevent things like investigations at taxpayer expense into the lives of private citizens and council members with dissenting points of view.
We supported A Church which is an excellent community asset rather than losing it to partisan politics.

Harald Kasper:

Fighting and law suits from the past have been cleared up so we can make Vandaveer an actual benefit for Salida. Now we can start the community engagement process.
There are studies in place and expert opinions being gathered to make the next steps happen at Vandaveer.
Inclusionary zoning was implemented. The one year review is coming up so we can assess how it has worked.

Mike Bowers:

The City has Vandaveer back.
Vandaveer is very important and is a priority. It was hung up for a long time for many reasons. We need to make it happen.

Justin Critelli:

We’re embracing the needs assessment about housing needs and grasp what is truly involved in the housing crisis. .
We’ve implemented inclusionary zoning. There is a willingness to be bold, to do what it takes, like donate land, be flexible with fees and regulations.
We’re making efforts towards better broadband so support a remote workforce – we were able to get that issue on the ballot.
Many of my constituents are in the marijuana industry. We got the marijuana license transfer on the ballot and addressed it.

Jane Templeton:

We talk regularly about what we can do about affordable housing.
Paying severance pay to Dara Macdonald sent a great message to current employees that we care about justice and fairness.
We hired an independent company for the evaluation of Drew Nelson. The consultant sought out a range of individuals in the process with a range of opinions. Council was prepared to accept the recommendation of the impartial consultant.
There is great communication between council and Drew Nelson.
PT and Drew Nelson were able to get a difficult agreement with the Union Pacific railroad for parking.

Question 3: What are the “works in progress”?

Both Cheryl Brow- Kovacic and Mayor P.T. Wood provided a list of works in progress which follows. Many items were reiterated by other council members below .

Establishing responsibilities for elected treasurer
Creating a vision for growth on Hwy 50
Donation program for water and sewer utilities for families in need of assistance
Agreements with Poncha Springs for utility and police support
Grants for soaking pools and other improvements
Grant for electric car charging stations
Plan for new fire department
Grant for repairs of RR caboose at end of F Street
Intersection improvements at Highways 291/50
Trails and open space purchases
Donation program for water and sewer utilities for families in need of assistance
Grants/plans for outdoor soaking pools
Moving to 100% renewable electricity saving the city nearly $500,000 over the next 20 years
Additional open space and trail access
Blue Point 2.0 Film Festival Grant
Hwy 291 plan
Downtown parking study
PROST master plan (Parks and Rec Open Space and Trails)
Water storage and use study
Chapter 16 code rewrite

Cheryl Brown-Kovacic:

CBK added the following to the list above—
Hiring code/zoning review to create more consistent regulations regarding affordable housing

Mayor PT Wood:

PTW added the following to the list above—
Work force housing is a work in progress. We have directed staff to identify shovel-ready city-owned land to get some projects moving in conjunction with Habitat for Humanity and Chaffee Housing Trust. We’re looking at lease scenarios and other possibilities to make this happen.
We’re looking at how to incentivize building of ADU’s to increase density and housing options where we don’t have lots to building.
We’ve got Vandaveer back on track to begin real plans. We will have planning and citizen input process actively underway around the first of the year. Then we’ll put that plan together the right way – to take best advantage of the possibilities, with the right focus. We don’t want to do it wrong and have to redo it.

Dan Shore:

Affordable housing still needs lots of attention
Parking study,
Highway 50 study
Recreation study

Harald Kasper:

We’re being cautious with spending in anticipation of a possible recession and the impact that would have on sales tax revenue. We’re looking into the long-term vs the immediate year to year.
We’ve gotten a grant for a thorough analysis of building codes and zoning in order to streamline and add consistency.
The Highway 50 access plan, Future 50, and discussions with CDOT are ongoing. The community is involved in the discussion.
Experts are looking at building code issues on the highway such as changes in setbacks, parking requirements, how the highway has to change in order for the speed to change.
We are working on a Parks and Recreation Masterplan and looking at the whole picture, not just this park or that playground. Council provided funding to seed the process of this planning.

Mike Bowers:

Affordable housing is at the top of the list. We’re trying to get something going with Chaffee County Housing Trust and Habitat For Humanity to provide housing on city land, but we can’t give the land away.
Working on lights at the basketball field
There is real interest in a new skate park and we’re working with the rec department on this.

Justin Critelli:

We want to keep housing in the forefront and not get off on tangents.
It is a work in progress to keep our relationships with staff strong. There are very competent department heads which makes our jobs easier. It’s a joy to have a question and to also have an administrator or attorney who is present with an answer.

Jane Templeton:

The Parks Rec Open Space Trails plan is underway
We are conduction a Parking Study and the Future 50 Study
There is an RFP out for a Communications plan. We are seeking expert assistance to create a comprehensive and cohesive communication plan for letting citizens know what we’re doing, what we’re working on, what help we need from them.
We’re bringing in professional financial advisor for long term planning.
Vandaveer is a work in progress. We are doing the necessary information gathering to assess infrastructure needs so it’s not done in a haphazard way.

Question 4: What are some “lessons learned” and the changes/improvements that resulted?

Dan Shore:

We learned many lessons in the hiring of our City Administrator. It was a perfect storm of circumstances including a traumatic brain injury of the man running the hiring process and loss of his records, the Mt. Mail not running Mr. Nelson’s disclosure of the incident prior to the hiring announcement, the absence of advance community input that his announcement would have created. These factors overshadowed the extensive due diligence that was conducted including conversations with law enforcement, psychological assessment and extensive reference checks.
In the future we will still do the same extensive due diligence, we will still hire a very qualified person to interview and hire a prospective administrator, however, we will do more to insure the communications in the news media are timely as intended. We will create more open community involvement such as a citizen task force participating in interview and hiring process.

Cheryl Brown-Kovacic:

There have been a number of lessons learned that point to a variety of necessary improvements.
We need better process for scrutiny of contractors doing work for the city.
The future hiring of a City Administrator could be much improved by utilizing a citizen advisory committee.
We need to make some parcels of city land available for housing needs.

Harald Kasper:

Information distribution has not always been managed well. In the future communication is priority for any critical decisions mean. No surprises. Public involvement would have been a healthy thing in the administrator’s hiring.
Personally I learned a great lesson. My biggest mistake was not checking with the local media to be sure an important article was released before the hiring of our city administrator. Mr. Nelson and P.T. went to the paper with Drew’s story before the final hiring decision was made. Had the paper published that article two weeks ahead of the hiring decision as was intended, the community would have had the information and an opportunity to respond then. Instead, that article sat on a desk and was not published. I share the responsibility for not checking with the paper to be sure that happened.

Mike Bowers:

Vandaveer has been the biggest downfall. It has caused division and distrust. We need to make it usable for development. We need solutions, not just complaints. We need to quit procrastinating on this.
We need to make everyone on council feel included. There have been times I have not felt that.

Justin Critelli

We need to keep improving transparency and communication. There’s a frequent perception that if something isn’t out there for public view then government is intentionally hiding it. The biggest lesson is to always take the more transparent route, even if it’s not legally necessary. Otherwise people think we’re being devious, and that’s just not who these members of council are.
While the outcome has appeared to be wrong sometimes, there has been no devious or malicious intention on the part of these council members.
We need good communication with as much citizen input as possible. We do take pains to be transparent but sometimes things happen quickly and personally I can get impatient. But we need to take the time to involve the community.

Jane Templeton:

Since I’ve been on council there have been no real problems or incorrect handling of anything. I’ve been proud of how council has conducted themselves and city business.
I see a very effective process now – which probably resulted from correcting processes that didn’t work well before.
We are more open and transparent than we’re required to be. We do this not because it’s required but it’s the right practice; to be open and transparent as much as possible.

Mayor PT Wood:

The communication piece has to improve. There needs to be open communication about what we’re doing and what people want us to be doing.
We know we’re not perfect. We’re making ongoing efforts to listen better, include people better. We’re practicing reflective listening and seeing lots of different people feeling comfortable about speaking during public comment.
We’re interviewing a company to help structure improved communication. We want citizens to know we’ve heard them. The City retreat came up with 4 pillars and Improved Communications is one of them.
We need a strategic communication plan about how to best interact amongst ourselves internally and how to share the conversation with community. How do we illicit and process feedback for idea creation and collaboration? We need a better model than just public comment and council reaction.
We need to make the website more user friendly – for community to have ready access to information and updates. This needs to be artful and thoughtful – not haphazard.
There has been a lot of reacting and shooting from the hip in the past. Now we’re planning for the future and preparing.
We had a great retreat with council and the City Administrator. We decided as a team that we want to provide good quality public service. Our four pillars are 1. Communications. 2. Community infrastructure. 3. Financial Stability. 4. Affordable housing – laying the groundwork for housing to happen.
We need to think more about how to make our facilities revenue generating such as the SteamPlant and the pool.
We also need to better understand the capacity and demand of our water and wastewater infrastructure; evaluating this so we can be prepared for future needs and not be surprised.
We need to deal the best possible way with water sources in a changing climate.

Question 5: What are the shortcomings? What could be done better? Hopes for future council?

Dan Shore:

We need to do a better job of communicating.
Additionally for improved communication we would like to see a quarterly newsletter, more proactive responses to community concerns, a better job of refuting misinformation and more information in City press releases.

Cheryl Brown-Kovacic:

We need to improve communication with the community that isn’t dependent on local media alone. A newsletter or social media forum would be helpful.
A citizen advisory committee could be used in a wider capacity.
We need to make some parcels of city land available for housing needs.

Harald Kasper:

I would like to see things move a little faster.

Mike Bowers:

We need full transparency, no surprises.
Council needs to have conversations with the community, not just say “this is the way it is”.
People want to know where the city money is going. There used to be an ad run by the city reporting on the budget. When the public doesn’t know enough it makes them suspicious. When we involve them they respect and admire us.
Citizens want council to be part of the community.
We need to encourage volunteering.
The community should know their police officers – city personnel need to get out there and be known by the people.
Recreation is OK but we have a housing crisis. That is the priority.
We need to improve regulations and enforcement of short term rental licenses.

Justin Critelli:

With housing it feels like we’re doing a lot of talking and collecting ideas but not planting the seeds. In an effort to include everyone’s ideas three are so many branches that can be distractions. This delays making something concrete happen. When you’re in a crisis don’t keep it at arm’s length for fear of setting a precedent, just get it done. I speak from experience – the Hostel is not a resource for homelessness but can be treated as one when there aren’t any options.

Jane Templeton:

I hope the collegiality and non-partisanship will continue. I hope people will continue to express themselves and be heard, even when disagreed with.

Mayor PT Wood:

There has been a lot of reacting and shooting from the hip in the past. Now we’re planning. Planning for the future and preparing. That should continue.
Council’s dedication to providing good quality public service must continue.