May 9, 2013
A Colorado Community Media Publication
ourarvadanews.com
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County Evening surveys in finances Jeffco budget assessments begin By Glenn Wallace Preliminary meetings began in April between Jefferson County Budget Director Tina Caputo and the Jeffco Board of County Commissioners, where they have discussed general budget policy and the timeline for assembling next year’s budget. Adoption of next year’s budget will take place in December. The fiscal year begins Jan. 1 The 2013 budget, which totaled $468 million, may just be entering the second quarter, but Caputo said she already had several questions, mostly about process and general budget policy, that she wanted county commissioner direction on, including whether to hold strategic budget meetings with department heads, and whether to let the commissioners do more of the early sorting of capital improvement project planning. In discussions so far, the three commissioners — District 1 Commissioner Faye Griffin, District 2 Commissioner Casey Tighe, and District 3 Commissioner Donald Rosier — seemed to prefer a blended approach on both topics. Information-only meetings, designed to give each department an overview of the county’s finances are to be set up for later this year. “It’s important to get all the information in front of everyone, to make sure they feel it’s open and transparent,” District 3 Commissioner Don Rosier said at the April 24 budget discussion meeting. Rosier added that he would not want to see those meetings extend into budget decision-making though. On the question of capital improvement projects, the commission decided to request copies of all county project proposals as they are submitted by different departments, while still asking the budget office and county management staff develop a recommendation list. “I wouldn’t mind seeing the whole list, since we end up hearing about them anyway,” District 1 Commissioner Faye Griffin said, also at the April 24 meeting. The early budget meetings revealed some good news. End-of-year accounting found the county overcharged some county departments for IT and facilities costs according to Caputo. Much of the reimbursed money ($3.1 million) will stay in the General Fund, but will be available to different departments to help offset 2013 costs. Among the bigger beneficiaries are Opens Space ($119,000), Social Services ($634,000), and libraries ($30,000). Future financial pressures look to be increasing for the county. Caputo told the commissioners that the early county budget projections showed only a 2-percent rise in property tax revenue in coming Budget continues on Page 23
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PHOTOS BY SARA VAN CLEVE Seniors from the region enjoyed the Silver Sneakers Senior Prom May 3 at the Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities in Arvada. The prom featured a dinner, the crowning of a king and queen, dance lessons and a lot of dancing. The event’s theme was “Evening in Paris.”
Prom Queen Kathleen Mullen, left, and King William Scheeley are crowned during the annual Silver Sneakers Senior Prom May 3 at the Apex Center. Senior Prom royalty is selected at random from the seniors in attendance at the event each year.
Members of the Rockyettes CanCan Dancers, a dance troupe led by Ann Kennedy at the Apex Park and Recreation District Community Recreation Center, perform during the Silver Sneakers Senior Prom May 3 at the Apex Center.
Ceremony for fallen U.S. service man Golden resident, brother going to France for Memorial Day ceremony honoring their uncle By Glenn Wallace
gwallace@ourcoloradonews.com One American family is invited to a small city in the south of France each year to participate in a Memorial Day ceremony honoring the U.S. servicemen who fought and died in a little-known but very important battle of World War II. This Memorial Day, May 27, Golden resident Stephen Katz and his brother, Jeffrey Katz, who lives in New York state, have been invited to that special ceremony at the Rhone-American Cemetery and Memorial in Draguignan, France, where their uncle Jerome is buried. Often overshadowed by the D-Day invasion of Normandy on June 6, the Allied Forces conducted a second, smaller invasion of south France code named Operation Dragoon, which began Aug. 15. Stephen Katz confesses that growing up, the brothers had assumed their uncle died at Normandy. “We just knew he had died during the invasion of France,” Katz said. Some historic sleuthing by Katz’s younger brother eventually revealed the truth, that Jerome Katz, 19, had died during the
first day of Operation Dragoon, somewhere near to the city of Draguignan that is believed to have been the inspiration for the invasion’s code name. “I’m bringing a plaque from Golden (City Council), recognizing the City of Draguignan for all they have done to honor U.S. servicemen who gave their lives to help liberate France,” Katz said. The official presentation of the plaque will take place at the May 9 Golden City Council. Golden Education & Healthy Communities Coordinator Julie Brooks worked on the proclamation and plaque, and said she was surprised by what her research discovered. Jerome Katz “We live in an era where people are used to seeing us bring our soldiers home, one way or another. I think a lot of people would be surprised at how many we still have overseas — about 125,000 war dead buried and another 94,000 on tablets of the missing,” Brooks said. According to Katz, he first visited the gravesite in 2000, but had never managed to make it to the big Memorial Day celebration. His wife, Margaret, who was the Collections Conservator for the Colorado School of Mines, was always busy that time of year with thesis paper work. Katz says the trip will be a bittersweet
one. His wife passed away in October of last year due to cancer. The two met at graduate school while attending Tulane University, where they both were earning degrees in French. For years, they made annual vacations to France, and eventually joined the group Souvenir Franco-American, which maintains the cemetery in Draguignan, located roughly 20 miles west of Cannes. “They really do wonderful work, and it’s all to give thanks to the men who gave their lives to liberate their country,” Katz said. There are 860 American graves at the Draguignan cemetery, most marked by crosses, interspersed with the Star of David for Jewish soldiers, like the one marking the final resting place of Jerome Katz. Jerome had been part of the Army infantry that had “slogged his way up the beach,” according to Katz. “We’re not exactly sure where he was killed, but it was the first day, that much we know,” Katz said. Katz’s father also served in the Army in World War II. He was part of an armored division that fought under General Patton. Katz said his father did not speak very much about the war. Jerome died two years before Katz was born, and his father died when he was a young man, making the pilgrimage to the gravesite a way of reconnecting to the past, he said. “It does help to feel closer to my uncle, and also my father,” he said.