Recent good news about has gone a long way toward easing concerns about state finances, but it won’t erase the budget shenanigans that have gone on at the Capitol this session. We’re speaking specifically of allegations of routine closed-door meetings among budget negotiators, an issue raised in a in The Durango Herald. The story said the six-member Joint Budget Committee tends to “take abrupt recesses and retreat behind closed doors whenever a thorny issue crops up.”
“I’ve done that a lot,” said Rep. Cheri Gerou, who chairs the influential committee. “Whenver we get to a point that’s tense, I’ve been trying to release the tension.”
That may be well and good for the committee’s interpersonal dynamics, but if they’re discussing policy out of public view, it’s likely a violation of the . The public’s business should be conducted in public, no matter how contentious it gets.
If at first (and second and third) you don’t succeed … The third time apparently wasn’t the charm for a that is vitally important for Colorado green energy jobs. On Thursday, yet another effort to convince the U.S. Senate to extend the production tax credit failed. The tax credit is set to expire at the end of 2012, and its continuation is crucial to the capital investment decisions that those in the wind energy industry will make.
After the defeat, Sen. Mark vowing to persevere in getting the credit passed. His colleague from Colorado, Sen. Michael Bennet, is on board with the effort as well. We hope they passed. Maybe the fourth time will be the charm.
Not the way it’s supposed to work. We were dismayed to see the reverse 911 system that was supposed to warn mountain residents of an approaching wildfire approximately 12 percent of the phones closest to the Lower North Fork fire. Clearly, something’s not right.
What’s even more puzzling were the comments from the vendor who installed the emergency notification network. He was quoted in a Denver Post story as saying the “system worked exactly as it was supposed to.” It surely doesn’t sound that way to us. Along with people not getting calls, the story mentions instances of notification calls going to places as distant as Texas.
We’re glad to see Jefferson County officials are appropriately concerned about the situation and are pledging to get to the bottom of it.
Short Takes is compiled by Denver Post editorial writers and expresses the view of the newspaper’s editorial board.
