Government

By Raleigh Burleigh Sopris Sun Editor

First, an admission. Last week, The Sopris Sun printed the incorrect date for the town’s Spanishoutreach meeting both in English in our calendar and in Spanish in Chisme del Pueblo. Moreover, we will not have this article translated until next week. These shortcomings are unintentional and evidence of the work that we share toward better access and representation.

Despite room for improvement in publicizing the outreach session, there were enough guests to fill the hour and a half allocated on the Aug. 16 agenda. All but one participant addressed the trustees in English, though Convey Language Services was present to interpret the meeting live, in-person and online.

Maria Judith Alvarez Quiroz, speaking in Spanish, thanked the trustees for making an effort to include more voices in their decision process.

Alan Muñoz Valenciano and Bryan Alvarez-Terrazas thanked Alvarez Quiroz for speaking the “language of her heart.”

“We’re here to listen, we’re here to learn, then we’re here to act,” said Mayor Ben Bohmfalk. He opened the session by quoting from Carbondale’s mission statement about supporting an ethnically and culturally diverse community. “We’re building on a long history of Carbondale taking pride in diversity,” he said, recognizing that more translation of public messaging and core documents, while a good effort, “is not the end of the road.”

The town has also sought to hire more bilingual police officers and experimented with interpretation when trustee meetings went virtual in 2020 and 2021. That service was discontinued due to its price and the lack of participation, with reportedly no one utilizing it.

Guests were invited to sit among the trustees and offer ideas for better two-way communication.

Omar Sarabia, who arrived to work at Sustainable Settings from Mexico in 2015, recounted encountering a Chihuahuan carnicería and feeling convinced to stay. He is now the director of Wilderness Workshop’s Defiende Nuestra Tierra.

“I would love to see more infrastructure for our Latino community,” Sarabia told trustees, “like a piñata pole at the park. … People are struggling to hang up piñatas from trees, climbing on roofs … a single piñata pole can make a difference.”

“That’s an easy ‘yes’ right there,” responded Bohmfalk.

“The real work starts with building trust,” offered Muñoz Valenciano, an organizer with Voces Unidas de las Montañas, “understanding there is a power dynamic and starting to break down that barrier first.”

On the question of whether Town Hall, with its proximity to the police department, is overly intimidating for immigrants, Officer Paul Lazo suggested that “schools are a big factor, people feel like school is a safe place.” Yet, “even the school district has struggled getting parents into outreach, we're not the only ones.”

Lazo continued, “For so long, we haven’t had a voice. … I’m not a citizen, I’m a permanent resident. I can’t vote. I don’t have a voice, even municipally, even after being here for so long in this country. It’s a surreal moment of feeling silenced.”

Trustee Luis Yllanes, who organized the session, proposed forming a special commission that would act as an intermediary between Latino residents and trustees.

“I think it's a great idea, I fully support it,” said trustee Colin Laird. “Our commissions are reflective of our priorities.”

Alvarez-Terrazas, project manager of the Equity Action Project at MANAUS, observed a lack of monolingual Spanish-speakers included in the invitation to this outreach meeting and recommended the trustees invest in a fulltime outreach position.

On interpretation, “it can seem not worth it if no one is using it,” said Alvarez-Terrazas, “but if there's no consistency that leads to the distrust piece.”

“Build trust with consistent communication,” agreed Brianda Cervantes, Roaring Fork Schools’ school-community organizer. Cervantes also suggested that childcare and food be provided at meetings so parents are not faced with a choice between civic engagement and other responsibilities: “be there or be a mom.”

Trustee Erica Sparhawk agreed, “childcare during meetings benefits any parent with a child” that wants to address the town on an issue. “This increases accessibility to everybody.” Regarding interpretation at trustee meetings and even commission meetings, she concluded, “People need to be able to speak in the language of their heart.”

“As far as next steps,” explained Bohmfalk, “the way we work in work sessions, they’re an opportunity to crack open an issue.” Although specific actions won’t occur immediately, Bohmfalk listed recommendations and committed to keep the conversation rolling.

"A single piñata pole can make a difference," Omar Sarabia told trustees. Photo by Raleigh Burleigh

By James Steindler Contributing Editor

The Garfield County Commissioners began their public meeting on Monday, Aug. 15, by issuing a letter to the acting director of Colorado Parks and Wildlife, Heather Dugan, requesting answers to a list of questions regarding the process by which Sweetwater Lake became Colorado’s 43rd state park.

Sweetwater Lake is owned by the U.S. Forest Service, but Colorado Parks and Wildlife manages it as a state park. The commissioners felt like they were left in the dark throughout the process. “The declaration was a surprise to Garfield County,” the letter reads, “and a marked departure from the process of establishment of other state parks in the State of Colorado.”

“We’re just saying … they moved so fast that nobody followed their own rules and regulations with Sweetwater Lake,” Commissioner Tom Jankovsky stated. “We’re just trying to get everybody to slow down, follow the rules and regulations and give the Garfield County Commissioners and the citizens of Sweetwater a chance to give input into this particular project.”

In addition, the commissioners sent a letter to the executive director of Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO), Jackie Miller, with a list of questions regarding its issuance of an “interestfree loan for up to $7 million to The Conservation Fund (TCF)” to purchase Sweetwater Lake and the surrounding property. Chairman John Martin noted that TCF is an out-of-state organization.

In their letter to GOCO, the commissioners argue that at the time the loan was approved, GOCO did not have the authority to issue loans. “In fact, it was not until March 18, 2021, that GOCO adopted a policy for loan eligibility,” the letter states. Even then, the commissioners claim the renewed policy still “fails to identify any authority for GOCO to issue loans.”

As reported in a Sopris Sun article titled “Input sought for Sweetwater management” in its Feb. 3rd edition, “TCF transferred the land to the U.S. Forest Service to be added into the White River National Forest.”

“Sweetwater, for those who don’t know, is in Garfield County,” stated Commissioner Mike Samson, “and I think it is a travesty that something like this happens without consultation and working with the county commissioners and the county government.”

Steve Beckley, representing the Colorado River District (CRD), appeared before the commissioners to give the organization’s quarterly report, summarizing the focus of CRD’s July 19 board meeting.

“First of all, we had a great rain last night — this has been a great monsoon season,” Beckley began, “but, unfortunately, we are still in year 22 of a very extreme drought and we’re down to a critical time for the Colorado River.”

Beckley told the commissioners that CRD’s recent board meeting revolved around a statement made by Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Camile Touton to a U.S. Senate committee on June 14.

Beckely read directly from a CRD report, stating that Touton had announced to the committee “‘that the seven states in the Colorado River Basin need to develop a plan to reduce their total consumption use by between 2 and 4 million acre feet of water before the middle of August’ — so, that’s today,” continued Beckley. “‘If states are not able to do so, the commissioner indicated that the Bureau of Reclamation will take unilateral action to reduce system consumption.’ So, everybody is pretty much scrambling to figure out what that means,” stated Beckley.

Included in the notes from CRD’s July 19 board meeting (provided to the commissioners), is a quote from Colorado State Engineer Kevin Rein. “We are in compliance with the compact,” Rein reportedly stated. “When it comes to using our allocation, we are way under. At the state engineer’s office, there is nothing telling me to curtail. In fact, if you have the legal right to water, and a beneficial use to put to it, then I’m encouraging people to use their water.”

The state’s position, Beckley concluded, is that Colorado is already under consuming its portion.

Beckley added that the Lower Basin states did cut back to 7 million acre feet this year, but that the inflows into Lake Powel will only be between 3.5 and 4 million acre feet. “The math just doesn’t add up,” he stated.

On Aug. 16, the U.S. Department of Interior (DOI) announced “urgent action to improve and protect the long-term sustainability of the Colorado River System,” reads a DOI press release which goes on to explain that downstream releases from Lake Powell and Lake Mead will be reduced yet again in 2023.

“In the Lower Basin, the reductions represent the second year of additional shortage declarations,” the press release continues, “demonstrating the severity of the drought and critically low reservoir conditions.” For specifics, readers can refer to the Bureau of Reclamation’s Colorado River Basin Aug. 2022 24-Month Study, at www.usbr.gov/uc/water/