To the editor:
Has our world come to expecting our neighbor to take care of
what makes us uncomfortable? Do you know what I’m referring
to?
When each of us makes the decision to bring an animal into our
lives, whether it’s a dog, cat, horse, llama, bird or whatever –
just before that decision, we all need to think of “what if.” We
must promise in our heart to take care of one of God’s creatures no
matter what has happened or is happening. Whenever, it becomes
sick, whenever it gets hurt in some way, we must provide for it –
whenever it cannot live without being in pain or whenever we no
longer can monetarily take care of it.
Those decisions, my friends, must be made responsibly.
As the biggest percentage of you are aware, there has been an
individual in our county who could no longer take care of the
animals she had been entrusted with. Whether it was a monetary
problem, her own thought process gone awry or just giving up hope –
bad things happened.
My job is to manage the Elbert County Fairgrounds, being
employed by Elbert County. As was the case during the Hayman fires,
the Douglas County Fairgrounds (among other fairgrounds) made the
facilities available to the evacuees and also the firefighters. The
chance to help others in need is always good for all of us. I’m
glad out fairgrounds was not involved in the busy time of our year
with rodeos, horse shows, team ropings, the county fair, etc.
Because of it being October, we are able to offer temporary housing
for the animals I’ve been telling you about.
But, the lesson I have learned now and many of you in this
community are also learning, is that we cannot expect others to
shoulder the responsibility that alone should have been our own. I
am not lecturing – only saying please, one and all, think before
you take that sweet, adorable little creature home with you. Think
about the “whatevers” that will eventually be on your
shoulders.
Thanks for taking the time to read my thoughts.
Carol Vonfeldt
Elbert County.
To the editor:
On Oct. 15, I attended a meet the candidates panel discussion at
Frontier High School. The panel was supposed to consist of the four
candidates for two seats on the Elbert Board of County
Commissioners. The event had been publicized far in advance and,
like similar functions conducted before the August primary
election, was intended to be an open forum at which residents could
ask questions of all the candidates. Things didn’t work out this
way.
Only two candidates, Ron Young and R.J. Steele, appeared and
submitted themselves to public scrutiny. Their opponents didn’t
show up. Instead, they were replaced by two representatives of the
Republican Party, who explained that they couldn’t really speak to
the issues for the AWOL candidates but would present the Republican
perspective on issues.
The candidates who didn’t appear are Suzie Graeff, the county
administrator running against Ron Young, and county commissioner
John Metli, who is running against R.J. Steele. The Republican
surrogates explained that Ms. Graeff’s excuse was that she had
received an e-mail saying the forum was cancelled. No one told the
audience the source of the e-mail, nor was the text revealed to us.
Ms. Graeff apparently made no effort to verify the accuracy of the
alleged communication. She missed a similar event I attended Oct.
8, claiming she had to be at a meeting concerning the justice
center. We were not offered an explanation for Mr. Metli’s
absence.
Elbert County faces serious problems. Things have gotten so bad
that some of Ms. Graeff’s and Mr. Metli’s fellow Republicans have
filed claims of financial mismanagement with the district attorney,
who is looking into the issue. Under such circumstances, answering
residents’ questions should be a priority of all candidates. The
failure of members of the county government to appear at an open
forum to answer questions and debate their opponents shows great
disrespect for the voters they seek to represent. Are they arrogant
or merely afraid of being held accountable?
Maggie Brown
Elizabeth
To the editor:
In the very interesting and entertaining article regarding “The
Ghosts of Kiowa Creek,” Oct. 7, the most mysterious and amazing
thing about Kiowa Creek is that it is described as flowing uphill.
Actually, its headwaters, like that of other nearby creeks such as
Bijou and East Bijou, are in the Black Forest and Monument Divide
area where elevations exceed 7,000 feet. Kiowa Creek, therefore,
flows north towards and joins the South Platte River, rather than
branching off of it, at Goodrich near Wiggins. So, the “wall of
water” that destroyed Bridge No. 607.80 east of Bennett, then named
Kiowa, did not surge down the South Platte into Kiowa Creek.
Rather, the flood originated far upstream, south, of Bennett and
the railroad crossing, flowing north towards the South Platte
River.
Michael Lee Jones
Elizabeth