Another month has passed and once again it has been a very interesting education of your thoughts and concerns. Thank you to all that have posted and we look forward to hearing more of your comments and concerns.If you are confused about how to post on the blog or feel more comfortable e-mailing me your comments and concerns, please do so and we will post it for you.
E-mail: dustin.mcintyre@yahoo.com
Dustin McIntyre, Gateway News and www.gatewaynews.org
254 comments:
1 – 200 of 254 Newer› Newest»hey gateway,
Do you know who owns channel 8 in commerce city? is it the d14 school district?
GOOD QUESTION!
tired of watching coverage of school district I am not a part of. At least make it some programming about 27J
Because I never learn anything from ch8 in commerce city I stopped watching it years ago.
City should have partnership with all school district and also city issues.
I thought we were the ONE CITY?!
HELP SAVE CHANNEL 8!
ONE CITY! ONE CHANNEL!
Interested? Contact me at morgan717@dr.com
Channel 8 is controlled by John Albright on Adams School District #14.
At least put on the high school football games and city council.
What a waste of a good resource.
Commerce City and ACSD #14 have an IGA in place regarding Cable Ch. 8. Please contact the City and ACSD #14 and tell them your concerns.
Dustin McIntyre, Gateway News
is gatewaynews going to stream council again?
you guys going to stream city hall anymore?
Due to recent events, we are trying to work out the details, including financial.
sorry to hear gateway. it was very beneficial to a lot of northern and southern residents.
why can't city stream themselves?
I wish the Monday Council meeting was streamed! I have never seen or heard such a obvious disregard for all the citizens of Commerce City in my life! People were crying because of what council did! Both Tony and Kathy owe the citizens of this city an apology. Good thing you are term limited- you just lot my respect!
Money...money.. money.
ALL programs cost money.
Nothing is free regardsless of what people think.
Has anyone heard that cities are having to cut back??
Who is willing to pay extra taxes or have service cut out?
I would love to have the meetings streamed or live on channel 8. We all want things to be convenient for us, but at what cost??
If the economy starts growing again maybe the city can use the money recieved to help with that.
Otherwise I'm not for more taxes!!
WHAT A JOKE! Money?! why dont you fire some of the TOP HEAVY NON-COMMERCE CITY STAFF and then we would have all the money we need for ch. 8!
What do we have now 3 city managers? 1 "main" and two "deputies"
I have issues and I hope this gets posted!
Thank you
Salty Dog
Gateway News, thank you for pushing this blog even during the tough times you have endured.
money? how does Brighton and Denver do it?
oh yeah thats right, they actually have economic development
"non-commerce city" love it!
gateway, can you stream the audio on the internet of last Monday nights meeting?
That may be possible.
Dustin McIntyre
city should stream there own council meetings. It is not much cost for a video camera and computer, especially since I do believe they already have computers.
TAKE THE COST OF THE AUTOMOBILE ALLOWANCE OF TOP CITY STAFF AND PAY FOR CH.8
I AM A CITIZEN IN THE NORTH AND I AM TIRED OF WATCHING ADAMS SCHOOL 14 THAT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH ME!
just got city news in the mail. how much did that cost?
MONEY?
what about the consultants we wasted money on!
We could of had 2 channel 8's
the city is on a fund accounting system.
think of it as a big puzzle on a table.
all the piece will fit if you place them in the right places.
consultants and cars and houses for staff is not the right places,
communication to the citizens for ch.8 and/or streaming is.
Morgan, Commerce City
anyone know what is going on with the walmart? are they going to come or not?
what a minute, what do you mean house deals and cars for city staff. Are you kidding me?
wow looks like the blog is back.
ITS A PARTY NOW!
current council alliances?
paul and tracey
vs.
jim, rene, jason, dom,
Neutral: jadie, tony, kathy
?????????????????????
what are the details of the city managers house?
Has the city taken on too many projects? Trying to revitalize and market the older area while simultaneously attempting to re-brand the city image with the north? Would one at a time been a better solution to attract business? This is my new tangent.
C_city voter
from cc news: "Online is way to go for Parks and Rec"
So why can't the city stream the council meetings live?
Don't tell me money, if the gatewaynews.org can do it, I know money is not the issue.
How many people do you have in marketing department?
ps - channel 8 needs to be looked at too
what are the details of city mangers house and what are the key players of who made it happen?
Please post online
what is the big deal with everyone? sounds like rhetoric from the recall days.
Calm down, we are all going to be okay
C_Voter,
I agree, I think we need to "break the ice" with one really big project. Maybe looking back the city has spread itself too thin.
One really good thing would do wonders for the whole city
Now we just have to figure what that big thing is
Hyde, cc
One word here,
unions,
bad/good? what do you think?
what do you mean unions?
Expalin
union? what union?
I would like a complete report of what the current city staff has accomplished in the last one year.
Marketing, Economic Development, city mangers office
I have many issues with all of them.
Look for my further comments for detail.
Derrick Keys, Commerce City Colorado
Word on the street is the union is trying to get its foot into the city.
Also heard they want to take over the fire dept.
Well all I know is my taxes are high now....we will all go broke if they take control and jobs will be lost!
unions...hmmmmm
Have to think about that one for a while
I would like to see more solutions and ideas to fix the city and not so much negative talk
Unions Are Obsolete and Unnecessary
http://www.lestdarknessfall.com/Pages/Unions.htm
I will give you all an example of what our city's high price employees have given us.
You all remember the "branding" of certain areas of the city, like Irondale, Derby, Adams City.
The city had a presentation for council and everything. And then, just nothing. Obviously, the staff worked on it and then they just dropped it.
Whatever happened to the graffiti task force? Whatever happened to videos of city events and information, whatever happened to a better more efficient website?
Sorry folks, but I have two words to describe commerce city staff and that is incompetent/overpaid.
It maybe harsh, but we are all suffering because of this.
I made the comment earlier, as a tax payer I would like to see a complete accountability report of the city staff. What has the "community development director done and what does he do. What does the marketing team do and why are there so many of them, what does economic development team actually do. What does the 2 deputy city managers actually do besides take home huge paychecks for babysitting other staff members.
The days of entitlement are over. The days of big CEO and Wallstreet salaries without the public knowing are over. THE WORST part is that this is not a big business, but rather a city. and in case you all forgot a city is made up of tax dollars, that is our hard earned money. The city council has to know that this is not their money. It is the money of the city as a whole and things like car allowances and special house deals are NOT I repeat NOT acceptable in my opinion
Derrick Keys, Commerce City Resident, Brighton Tax Payer
{Send response to dkeys@mail.com or post on this site}
ps, I would like to thank the gatewaynews.org for the streaming you have done to the point where you could not. After hearing what has happened to Mr. McIntyre I am sorry and I am praying for you.
There is no reason why the city staff could not have picked up where Mr. McIntyre left off as far as streaming. Figure it out Commerce City, you have an entire IT department and multiple "marketing" "specialist". At one point in time I was on the stream with at least 200 other citizens watching. It is obviously something that is beneficial to all the citizens and virtually no cost at all.
Look for more of my comments later and thank you gatewaynews.org for letting voice my opinion.
WOW Derrick, where were you during the election?
I have one......
whatever happened to comparing our business permits to other cities like Brighton, Denver and Thornton? That should have been story ONE in the latest Commerce City News. That was talked about a long time ago and also dropped.
Commerce City Resident and Also Brighton Tax Payer
My property taxes also go to
27J schools ..having said that we are NOT Brighton schools. The district is multi cities.
Our new area is that...new.
The economy is slow. We still are building way more homes than Brighton. The Prarie Center was designed and business contracted many years ago. We will get ours.
Mr. Keys some of your comments show you lack of knowledge of the city.
Also, the staff has had many changes in the last 18mth. Mistakes made before don't get fixed as quickly as any of us like.
You need to stop standing on your soap box of complaints.
You sound as if you are dealing off of rumor not facts.
Keys,
aren't you a little harsh, I would like to see solutions not more complaining, we already have enough of that from the back of the room during council meetings.
Mr. Keys - what is you plan to fix it. It is easy yo complain, solutions is where it gets tough.
Scott
didn't previous city managers have as many or even more "managers" or heads?
Derrick Keys,
If you ever do go to a commerce city council meeting, make sure you seat in the back of the room, you will fit right in.
we have issues in our city, but i ask you all, what city doesn't have issues?
good to see the blog is more active now.
I can understand I may have been a bit negative in my first comment.
I do not want to be know as the guy who complains and never assists in the solutions to better a city where I live.
So, after talking to reporter Dustin McIntyre, I am a lot more educated about the history of the city and all that has changed in the past few years.
So at this point, I wish to lay out my "solutions"
City Council stated that "Communication" is the third on their lists of priorities. So not originally my idea, but I would like to see an IGA with Adams School District #14, School District 27J, The Water District, The Fire District and the City of Commerce City. All it would say is that information coverage about any and all of the entities will be aired. Information such as election coverage, events, public hearings, etc. Each entity would provide its own coverage. A true community channel.
For those would do not have cable, I would like to see the city council meetings live streamed over the internet. Or at least do what the Adams county commissioners do and that is release the audio on the city website. You can see this example on the Adams County website.
Mr. McIntyre has explained the organizational chart of the city and I can understand why it is the way it is. I still do strongly believe that it is top heavy and the contract do need to be reviewed and modified. Mr. McIntyre further explained that the departments do have reports to council on progress. Once again, I do think they could do more, but that is my opinion.
Derrick Keys, Commerce City Resident, Brighton Tax Payer (I mean sales tax)
Derrick,
Your first comment sounded a lot like the recent recall effort of the mayor. Have you ever been involved in a recall effort in Commerce City?
Curious in Reunion
Mr. Keyes...better comments.
I guess my understanding though of contracts are just that, a contract.
It's just like a car deal, when you've signed the deal, it is what it is!
I wouldn't want someone to "change" my contract, I'm not even sure that is legal??
Commerce City approves PUD Permit Development Plan for new Walmart in Northern Range. CLICK: http://bit.ly/adOtot
Drick,
If you can make you plan happen I will be shocked. Don't get me wrong, it is an excellent plan. But gov is slower then molasses.
Nice Derrick. Good Plans, ow we just need some actual movement by city council members
who the hell gave a commerce city manager contract like this in the first place. they should be fired!
so that does that mean we get a walmart soon?
WALMART! YEAHHHHHHH!
walmart is a good start, why all of a sudden?
Congrats my Northern Brothers, looks like you might get Walmart soon
not so fast, all it says is the Permit was approved, walmart still has to actually pull the permit and build something.
All in all a good step in the right direction
WALMART, good, but, I wish it could have been a target
I will take a wal mart, I am not picky anymore, I am just hungry.
Yuri,
you would would like walmart
ewwwww
It was some of your own city council that created the city manager contract. Remember we voted them in. that is if you actually did vote.
Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaalmart. about time.
parade of homes to now walmart. We have come a long ways.
WOW!
Ryland, what makes you say "all of a sudden" these processes take years to make happen?
Shea started this when they started the homes.The down turn in the economy affected everything.
We are too much of an instant society.
We want, what we want, NOW!!
Anyone else notice that "impluse buying" often ends in regreat?
I would have liked Target too, but knowing there is one in Brighton and one in North Feilds, it would have been unlikely.
The best part of Walmart, is it seems to stimulate others to come. K.S. and Safeway don't want to lose the revenue that it will take away from them.
GOOOO Walmart.
I personally hate going into a Wal-Mart but in that area it may not be that bad. I am happy though because Wal-Mart’s such a large draw, companies will come in droves to be in close proximity. I guess it's true, "If you build it; they will come".
I don’t understand why people are disdained over a salary of 100k + +. Those are the salary ranges where “we the people” can make more demands of the persons qualifications, education and proof of performance. I’m sorry to say but we all saw what the $800 per month attracted in the city council race. This coincides with what I believe DK is wanting when asking to see an accountability report. What have they done for us lately?
Having visited some city offices I think it’s clear that we have some employees that were hired out of nepotism and or cronyism and unqualified for their positions and pay.
C_City voter
how funny, you guys realize the city has been talking about cable 8 for years and years and years. FasTracks will be finished before we see cable 8 be used properly.
I have friends and family in the City of Brighton, and yes I also do shop there too, as many of you.
I found out that they get their city news in their water bill, it is just a 4 page flier, all in English and to the point, no fluffy BS like the Commerce City News.
This is the way to go I think.
$800 a mo. did bring out some really interesting candidates.
RIGHT ON POINT!
what a formula:
Topic of overpaid unqualified city comes up comes up, a handful of smart citizens get pissed, gateway releases that walmart is well on its way!
Damn I wish we would have done this sooner!
hey gateway,
why all of a sudden a whole crap load of traffic?
Are you guys on a rampage?
Floth....your formula is silly. Sometimes facts are just facts. Talk to Shea, they have been building this deal with Wallmart.
I highly doubt that the city sits on pins and needles waiting to see what is written on this blog, so they can "put out" big info on Wallmart.....the formula doesn't hold up.
Tom B. the water dept is not run by the city.
It is an entity of its own. City has no power or control over it, therefore they cannot put a publication in it.
Paul Floth's formula is not all that off. I can recall a time when citizens got antsy and all of a sudden there was talk about a grocery store coming to the 104th area. Please correct me if I am wrong on remembering this.
Second, why can't the city put a publication in the water dept billing. Is it ILLEGAL?! Is it FORBIDDEN?! Do you think I am stupid?!
Anything is possible, the city and water district could split the postage, saving everyone money. IMAGINE THAT!!!!!!!!!
So, I say that to the comment about the water billing city publication idea. That is the kind of thinking we need for this city.
You guys ever see that commercial for the "ladders.com", their slogan is "100K jobs, 100K talent", well here is Commerce City, we have 100K jobs, we are just missing the 100K plus talent.
I will back this up, If we had such great talent, WHY did we have to hire outside consultants such as the Angelou group. WHY couldn't we have this done in-house by one of our many highly paid city staffers. What does the staff do all day. If we should hire any consultants, it should be one to evaluate the city staff and what they actually do! That would be a outside consultant that I would be willing to pay for.
Until then, I guess all the good ideas will just have to come from the citizens.
Mr. Pritcher, Commerce City, CO
Commerce City new SLOGAN:
COMMERCE CITY: "We Plan, to Plan"
funny
I got a good one, commerce city slogan,
"quality community for brighton sales tax"
how about a new city of Brighton slogan: "we take the commerce out of commerce city"
good stuff:
I got one, new slogan for COmmerce City, "QUALITY LEAKAGE, FOR THE BRIGHTON COMMUNITY"
The Big Three Submitted by Estelle Remington
Commerce City paid thousands of dollars to have three studies done to give us a "snapshot" of who we are and where we need to go by 2035. The first report was the Economic Scan, report two was the Target Industry Analysis and report three was the Commerce City Action Plan. The collective wisdom of these three reports is from the best of the best information gatherers in this area.
The Big Three for Eagle Creek subdivision is Education, Employment and Earnings. One of the Threats listed by our Angelou Economics Study was that " High School graduation rates are extremely low. If substantial improvement is not made the community's low educational attainment levels will further limit the number of new jobs filled by residents. Many of the target industries employers' requirements are for higher skill sets including High School diplomas. Education and training are a necessary prerequisite for" a higher economy and improving the graduation rates is important to Commerce City's ability to move up the economic chain.
We now have the Voter Registration for Eagle Creek residents and over these next few weeks volunteers will be contacting you door to door or by phone to sign a petition and/or attend a meeting that will promote your children's education and their employment and earnings for the future. Also, we are working towards a Park area for Eagle Creek's children. A "Children's Park." If, you would like to become a volunteer and part of the Eagle Creek Action Plan for better education and a Park for our children call: 303-227-9053 or e-mail grandmarem@comcast.net. Only Eagle Creek residents are eligible to participate and you must be an active registered voter to sign the Education Petition. But as a resident, you can volunteer to gather signatures in your community on both the Park and Education Petitions.
Estelle Remington
If all of you comics had lived here as long as I have, you'd know the truth behind the positive growth(physically and staff wise).
Many, many things have changed from our past ways. Some have not yet.
I am anxious too, but instead of bad mouthing get involved (spending 5 mins on a blog isn't cutting it).
It's so easy to be a comic or critic.
As far as highly paid staff, our city has to be competitve. You can't staff a city with problems without paying well.
And yes I know, "why haven't our well paid staff fixed everything" gosh they have been with us for one to two years (during a downturn in the economy).
Too many of you live in a crappy attitude, entitled mentality!!
Ask not what your city can do for you....but what you can do for your city!!
I called the city and spoke to their building and zoning department about Wal Mart. They were very nice and were able to answer my questions. The City has been waiting on Wal Mart to move forward for a long, long time. There is nothing sinister in the timing of their approval. The city also said that Wal Mart was going to turn in their building permit around April 6th! I am hopeful.
look, all the joking aside. I am all for giving perks, but the commerce city staff is a PURE JOKE and it has to end. They are over paid and they do nothing to deserve it. I just heard that we gave the city manager a bunch of money for moving here, a car allowance, some kind of god awful housing contract, and what is his salary again? more to the point, compare it to the city manager of brighton.
I understand that this is all locked up in a contracts, so I am requesting that all the commerce city managers voluntarily give up their car allowances this monday. The city has been ripped off!
We, as a city should have never bought a house for city staff. How much did the citizens lose so far?
to end I am all for printing the city lights and entering into some kind of an agreement with the water district to mail it with the water bills.
to derrick and rick,
Why don't you go to the city council meeting and voice your opinions there?
walmart has been in the works for awhile. dont let this current council take all the credit for it.
April 6th! good news, Great News
YEAH! walmart april 6
million dollar parade of homes to now walmart on April 6th. I am glad Commerce City is getting back to its roots.
Robert get over it!
Walmart brings other retail.
Other cities that had parade of homes after ours...& they NEVER sold...now parade of homes is a non thing!!That didn't help in this economy!
p.s
stop being part of the problem!
Mr. Towns, I just checked the property search, doesn't appear if you even own a property in our city.
Are you just a set up for someone else??
I see the Commerce City Council is going into Executive Session for the "explanation" of the city managers contract.
Unless they are re-negotiating, I do not see how they can do this?
Chad Askins
Dear "Anonymous",
I looked you up too and it seems you don't own property in the city either!
fyi, I rent.
Rick Towns
Chad is right,
Straight from the agenda for tonight:
Executive Session
8:15
Executive session under C.R.S. 24-6-402(4)(f)(I) for the purpose of providing background information and explaining the provisions of the city manager's employment contract to new councilmembers.
I think council can go into exec session if it is a personal matter.
I'm just saying
Council can go have executive session for the purpose of discussing employee matters, such as this
I don't think they can, how did Rene get the contract during the recall attempt, therefore I think it is public record. Why does it need to be in closed session?
I would like it to be in open session
I am surprised at the GATEWAY NEWS for letting a lot of these comments go. I thought you were the good news positive happy paper?
Why the change?
We at the Gateway News feel very strongly about freedom of expression.
If citizens have an issue and what to voice it, who are we to stop them.
I have personally been shut down from asking questions a number of times. An example of this would be with Adams County School District #14.
Dustin McIntyre, Gateway News
Let them have the city managers explanation in private, then i will launch a complaint.
City Managers Contract Explanation should be in OPEN SESSION, what are they afraid of?
Would anyone else like to have monthly meetings in ward 2 to discuss what’s happening in our neighborhoods? I’ve been to a few council meetings and found that almost all discussion is geared towards businesses and residents of south Commerce City. Either a homeowner is unhappy with an industrial company he or she shares a property line with. Persons upset with neighborhood services. Persons wanting to express how unhappy they are with the mayor or other council. I want to see someone’s contract. The soccer field, Adams 14, interior design of the building. Some citizen complaints may be valid but have no value for me.
It’s great to hear of some of the larger companies down there expanding creating more tax revenue. It keeps our taxes a little lower. We’re paying on average $3800 in property taxes. Most of us have faced declining property values due to the economy. Potential buyers are afraid because there won’t be a rec center, library or dog park within walking distance for children and families because the city didn’t purchase any prime land. These are the conversations we should be having and if you agree please call or send an e-mail to our council members in the north.
C_City voter
I would like to see all the city managers contracts. All of them
Ward 2 meeting? Why so we can ask again when are we going to get a grocery store and the city says we are working on it?
No thanks, been down that road before
Stir the pot. That will bring buisness here.
Everyone complaining and second guessing the people they voted (or didn't bother to vote) in.
Get involved people, find out about those running to represent you. Everyone is so good at being a couch quarter back.
Try getting on the front lines and do the battle instead of just complaining.
I for one am sick of it
Mr.Towns, I own and have for a long time.
Personally I think you are a set up to throw dirt on our staff.
We have come a long way from the dirty deal little town of long ago.
I for one am proud of how we have come around and came happily say " I own a home in Commerce City"
I was told the union came to city council last night, with plans to try and unionize the city employees.
Man what a mistake if the employees follow.
I believe unions have had a place in history, but this could be the doom for our city.
Costs will go up and jobs lost.What a shame that a big corporation wants to put its foot into city business.
Guess the employees will have to decide if they are willing to take the chance!
City council meeting streaming is coming to us!!
Announced at last nights meeting.
City will start streaming meetins in April!!
Yea. Thanks for listening to us CC.
Not a fan of unions, no need for them really these days. They exist to keep the lazy, incompetent and unqualified employed with better wages then they would normally earn. I will not pay additional taxes for that and will support layoffs. They will have to do more with less. What a concept; pay an idiot more because he or she worked there longer than the superior performer.
Anarchist
I also heard that city council announced they are going to start streaming in April. this is good news people
hey gateway,
did they "explain" the city managers contract in closed session, last night?
I would like to see a article on the commerce city staff done by the gateway news
roger that, roger. I would also like to see a city staff article done by Gateway News
yes, but all the staff not just flannery, we have acre and nelan aka vacationer in china person
all of you would hate Commerce City so much should move to Brighton!
I would like to say thank you to the commerce city staff for streaming the council meeting on the internet.
Erin NW
I would like to say thank you to the gatewaynews.org for streaming the council meeting for as long as you did for FREE! Many citizens did appreciate the work you did.
city should of had this idea months ago, or at least worked with Dustin on it.
How many PIO/Marketing staffers do we have in Commerce City? And how much do they get paid? and more important, what do they actually do?
Cream of the Crop Talent?
i would like commerce city to stop printing that dumb ass commerce city news. and why is it in spanish?
city needs to take streaming one step further and actually do video highlights and put them on channel 8.
I think streaming will be a good start.
YES STREAM COUNCIL! then the back of the room can watch from home!
I will wonder about the Gateway's motive if they "cover" the staff. I'd rather see less on the political front.
Politics are just that and opinions, feelings and not facts come out too strong.
Gateway News is being very relaxed with recent comments. Good for them.
I hear a comment that was disturbing lately, I was talking about the Derby area and shopping and the person I was talking to said, she didn't go to Derby because she didn't speak Spanish, I would like everyone to know that you do not have to speak Spanish to shop in Derby, there are many great little shops.
Jeanette, you are not being honest about the area. Like it or not that’s what people vision when you say Commerce City or drive through the south. I've been asked too many times whether I speak spanish when mentioning I live in Commerce City. Have you picked up anything sent out by our city?
I think if you don't like the people in Commerce City, move to another city where you probably most likely will live where you can afford it in the poorer side of that city. You should stop being so prejudice, and learn to live with everyone in harmony.
this may sound funny, but can the city of Commerce City apply for a quality of a lifetime grant for the money needed to start channel 8?
just got word that yes, commerce city is trying get at least the streaming of council meetings up by April 5th, announced at council on March 8th.
got to LOVE how it takes the city a whole month to figure out how McIntyre streamed the meetings. Doesn't city have an IT dept. and how many Marketing guys?
Congratulations to the Gateway on some true investigative work about the City Manager Contract!
I located to the north part of the City from out of state in 2004 on the advice of one of my siblings who moved to Colorado almost 20 years ago and has been working for Commerce City for over 10 years. At that time my sibling was very complimentary of the City in general, I wish the same were true today. Some of the things they tell me about the inner workings of the current City staff are unbelievable but I think to be very true and sad. Sorry I cannot mention their name for obvious reasons but the Gateway should check all of this out if they want to know what is going on in Commerce City.
Let's not forget that Mr. Flannery is compensated well as described in the story, but he is also the same person who insisted on remodeling his office for $50,000 plus in a brand new building at our expense.
Some comments have referred to the Deputy City Managers also and their pay and benefits. I think we should keep in mind we are a City of 45,000 residents and we have a City Manager, 2 Deputies and a new Intergovernment Manager or Supervisor. My sibling often tells me employees in the City question if we have two Deputies and the other manager what does Mr. Flannery do? my sister also says often the staff at City Hall go long periods without ever seeing the City Manager at all.
My sibling estimates that the City Manager, two deputies and the intergovernment supervisor with pay, car allowances, benefits of retirement and health care all together is likely 750,000 a year. This seems excessive for a City of 45,000 people and I think it would be hard to find a city of our size that pays so many so much at the top.
this next part is hard to believe, but again I believe true because I have heard it from two sources on two occasions (one being my sibling).
the Deputy Manager Tom Acres was promoted to his position although according to my sibling he had zero supervisor or management experience, never managed a City Division or City Department or even one person for that matter, yet he was put in charge of other department managers that have many years of experience. He was bounced around from department to department because no one could really figure out what he did and nobody really wanted him because he had a reputation for not completing work or returning phone calls or e-mails and generally screwing things up. I was told once he was bounced to the City Manager Office under the old City Manger he was really nothing more than a note taker at meetings and a person to go fetch Starbucks coffee for the City Manager.
I was also told that when the old City manger was let go and before Mr. Flannery promoted him he was on a probation plan for poor work performance and it was not the first time since he began his employment. I know this is hard to believe but I trust my sibling is telling the truth. I also understand that Mr. Acres' job performance has not gotten any better but only worse and he makes it very hard for others to get their work done for the citizens.
Once again, I know this is hard to believe the City would pay a person like this $150,000 a year but i think it is true if anyone cares to ask a few questions. Mr. Flannery apparently did not before he promoted him.
I think the City Council should really evaluate those big salaries at a time when money is tight and other City agencies are not getting the people, supplies or money to serve the citizens the same way they used to (also according to my sister).
just my thoughts and something to think about or look into if someone wants too really know what is going on. I know that I want to know.
Y & M,
Maybe it has more to do with getting the person to do the streaming staffed. People do have schedules and work hours.
Don't go along and just put down everything the city does.
just researching some other cities around us, yes we are paying our city manager way too much and no we do not need 2 deputy city managers.
Also finding out, our city website does look like crap and is very hard to navigate.
Lastly, we really need cable channel 8 up and going. We look so stupid, every city I go to has their own channel 8.
Another simple solution, get a marketing team that knows what the hell they are doing and get rid of one of the deputy city managers to pay for channel 8.
So far I like Wheat Ridge's setup.
http://www.ci.wheatridge.co.us/
original city meeting notes of the jerry deal,
http://commercecity.civicweb.net/Documents/DocumentList.aspx?ID=1488
NOTE: Drotar and Snyder absent, Teter and Benson said NAY
I am getting sick of the bashing of this city staff. I know for a fact that there are sour grapes flowing around three or four people who left the city, because the old manager had his "favorites".
Now it seems to be open season to try and pull apart our city.
GO ahead people....then when no business wants to come because of the trouble being stirred up, you can look in the mirror. I have heard that some are looking to come here.
YOU CAN RUIN IT!! & I'm thinking thats what you want!
Gateway News posted an article about the Brighton Economic Development Corporation (BEDC), why can't Commerce City have something like this?
I would like Commerce City to work on their website. It looks very amateurish, it is hard to navigate, videos are only 3? I would encourage the staff to look at the city of Brighton as a good example of what a city website should look like.
I am really disappointed with the commerce city marketing staff. I heard on the stream that they were going to have a website renovation. All they did was change some colors from green to red and add the annoying picture timer thing in the front page.
We have way too many people in the marketing department and I would like to know if they are even really qualified to be in the position that they are in.
Since Commerce City has so much money to throw around, I would request that they start Channel 8 for the entire city and not just something for the Southern Citizens
D Keys
Kudos to School District 27J
I just witnessed the groundbreaking ceremony of Foundations Academy, a new public charter school on the corner of 45th Avenue and Tanner Peak Trail in Brighton, Colorado. It was a scene of great hope and promise, especially at a time when the voters of district 27J have decided not to fund the construction of new schools. District 27J is to be congratulated on finding a way to accommodate at least some of the growth in a district with the highest student population growth rate of any school district in the state of Colorado.
Charter schools are not magic pills, and they sometimes make news in unflattering ways. But good public schools, be they charter or traditional, offer valuable school choice options to families, and competition which can spur improvement in all schools.
Foundations Academy will be built and operated by National Heritage Academies, an educational management organization with 67 schools in 8 states. NHA also operates Landmark Academy at Reunion, another school chartered by 27J and NHA’s first Colorado school. Our experience at Landmark makes us confident that Foundations Academy will have great success in fulfilling its motto of “challenging each child to achieve,” a motto that fits nicely with 27J’s, “every child, every day.” We value highly the partnership that exists between the NHA schools and School District 27J.
Thank you Superintendent Blunck for your leadership; thank you members of the 27J Board of Education for your vision. Great leaders shine in challenging times!
Tim Gallagher
President, Board of Directors
Landmark Academy at Reunion
Mr Clowns, you have proven you are qualified for your position of local complainer and whiner. I am tired of all the b---hing.
No Irish Need Apply PART 1
During 1840-1850, "There was violent anti-Irish sentiment" in the United States. When the failure of the potato crop in Ireland brought millions of new immigrants to the United States, there were thousands of Irish workers looking for employment. There was also bloody revolution and hunger in other parts of Europe as well and a flood of fleeing immigrants from lower Germany, Belgium and France into the United States. The Irish had a long history of a combatant spirit for civil rights and fighting for the poor masses where ever they lived. They organized poor immigrants to fight for equal opportunities in the area of unemployment and the right to work for a "living wage." In that time, employers ran ads that reflected the great fear that the Irish workers would demand fair employment and better wages. Thus, "No Irish Need Apply." Years later, employers once again were trying to bring in thousands of cheap immigrant Chinese laborers to build the Nation's railroads. These Chinese knew these would be intolerable working conditions and many brought their own coffins to be buried in. In 1882, Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act which created the category of "illegal immigrants" who crossed into the United States from Mexico. In 1924, Congress passed the National Origins Quota Action that was amended in the 1960s to "allow a maximum of twenty thousand immigrants to enter the United States from each country. The McCarran-Walter Act of 1952 permitted immigrants from the United Kingdom, Ireland and Germany to fill 70 percent of the total annual immigration quota." "Anti-alien legislation of 1798 excluded immigrants for any "Activities prejudicial to the public interests." (p. 250-253, A Power Government Can not Suppress by Howard Zinn.)
No Irish Need Apply PART 2
In Colorado, today, many of the employment ads state "Spanish Speaking preferred," even for positions that would generally require a higher education such as Social Services, Welfare workers, Drug Counselors and Police work. These positions would historically pay wages for a higher quality and standard of service to a group of needy residents that applied for help and welfare benefits. Only about 40 to 60% of Spanish speaking adults have graduated from High School with a Diploma. Many of these new immigrants have only an eighth grade education and have no experience as providers for Social Services or Welfare work to a general population. However, they do speak Spanish and will work for a much lower wage than a college graduate. If, Spanish speaking is the key that unlocks the door to employment then why spend thousands of dollars and years of study to earn a college degree? Why, even finish High School?
Recently, I went to the Capital to speak in favor of SB33 which is for using a computer program, E-Verify, as a tool to screen new employees for citizenship in the United States. This program would take only a few minutes to help employers identify qualified workers. In Colorado, we currently have 86,000 unemployed workers. Unemployment is said to be the new "Welfare." Different representatives from the Hotel and Dairy industries were there to speak against SB33 saying in fact that they needed more documented, green card workers, instead. One immigration lawyer said that it would only be a matter of time until illegal immigrants would find a way around this new E-Verify program. This visit to the Capitol really opened my eyes to the real reason illegal immigrants are able to get jobs that are desperately needed by Colorado Citizens. It is because employers want them to come in and take jobs at much lower wages with no benefits nor insurance and has nothing to do with any one group of immigrants and this has been going on for the past 170 years. It really is time for American Citizens to stand up for themselves and demand that programs are put into place that require citizen requirements for employment and/or proper identification not just this fax identification that any illegal immigrant with money can purchase and that the flow of immigration workers would be stopped until we can get this all figured out. If, a person is here illegally then it stands to reason their Identification is false.
Estelle Remington
I dont get the city website, it says city news will be available every 3rd friday. but it looks like it comes out every fourth friday?
Council can not respond to anything citizens say. They can only ask clarifying questions.
Better to email them directly!
Good Advice!
looks like you guys have a very interesting city
Lovely photo of the city in yea, a much simpler time.
I Love it.
are you going to ever get a comparison of fees from other cities. City staff said they were going to to this months ago.
can the mayor please say the word "POSITIVE" one more time
see told you, council cant talk back
i lost the stream
in case you all missed the love stream, it went like this:
i love you! no, i love you! no, you are doing a good job, no, you are doing a great job! no, i love you, no, i love you!
Gateway News,
Can you fix the audio on the stream and the videos?
nice to see a video from gateway again. looks like council has not changed at all. good to know everything is the same ole same ole
i am unhappy that only some of the citizens had their emails addressed in council.
Why not ALL emails be addressed, like those of TBCC?
Erin,
The city of Commerce City is now streaming their own meetings.
I don't have the control over the quality.
I think the plan is to improve all the aspects of it with time and when the funds become available.
Dustin McIntyre, Gateway News
Just for the RECORD! There was ABSOLUTELY NO 'GRASS ROOTS' movement for the recent FORCED annexation.
could the council kiss the staffs butts anymore.
I love how positive everything is now! We are doing great, just great everything is just fine.
What? What is that is hear?
the 72 grand???
Oh, citizens, that is all okay now. That is just old news. Nothing to worry about.
Let's all just stay positive and loving to each other.
I love commerce city, it makes all in brighton feel better about ourselves.
gatewaynews,
I was actually there at the meeting and it was positive. Why do you feel the need to just put on the only brief negative part!
Once again you are bringing negative to the city.
I love the videos, I thought it would be in April. Ahead of schedule!
c town moving on up!
COMMERCE CITY STAFF!
Great job on the new videos
city council,
I would tone down the everything is sooooo positive and peachy. I do think we are all smarter then what you give us credit for.
Just because you say things are all so positive, does not make them so.
It is just like if the city lawyer says it is not an illegal meeting, does not automatically make it a legal meeting.
get the picture?
I like the videos, but I had a hard time hearing the council, especially Mr. Benson and Mr. Merano
I must agree with Pro City.There are too many nasty comments.
I bet none of you has ever given one hour of your time to help our city. No Bit--ing doesn't count.
I think society is spending way too much time looking for the things "they are owed" and little time doing good.
Man, you people must need an outlet to whine all the time!!
Happy Birthday Mayor!
Jasmine
HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Commerce City Mayor Paul Natale!!! A guy with one of the hardest jobs in America, stay the course MAYOR!
He is 1,300 years old, of course that is in council years.
how old is the mayr?
happy bday
I love how the mayor says "we are all so positive and the sun is shining"
then towards the end of the meeting, Jim Benson blasts the hell out of Jerry and then Jason McElodowny has to defend his friend Jerry the City mismanager.
I have not seen drama like this since the 5th grade.
I love your picture Dustin McIntyre.
A beautiful picture and yes a much simpler time.
Gateway News,
It appears that you’ve been satirical and facetious in respect to city hall lately. Is there a story to go along with that? A few blogs made mention there’s some bad blood there.
C_City voter
I dont understand why some citizens get their emails read during city council, but I dont?
City again not fair
City Mayor is really positive last night. I was one of the ones actually at city hall and not out in cyberspace.
Rene hit it right on the head, when are we going to start being a more business friendly city.
Why does it take Jerry the manager 6 weeks to come up with the census information for Jim Benson.
And where the hell is the comparison to other cites for the fees
to C_City voter,
The mission of the Gateway News and gatewaynews.org is to inform, educate, and entertain our readers in the Northeast corridor of the Denver, Colorado metropolitan region. We will embrace the community, be the voice of the people, and be advocates for the greater good.
I love your website, I don't know anyplace else that has this much content.
Andria, Commerce City
Dustie,
The city had a link to their videos yesterday, but now its gone.
I have to follow your link to get to the videos.
Can they put the link back on their website?
Irene,
It would be up to the city what or how they arrange their website.
It is reported that a new Commerce City website should be unveiled in the middle of May.
Maybe leave your comment on AskC3.
Dustie, Gateway News
gateway,
thank you for adding the original price of the AZ house for the city manager. This is makes the whole story more clear to me.
thank you for the story.
You guys are doing a good job.
gateway posted a article about the commerce city recycling hug a tree group.
In their article they want people to come to a meeting because about the recycling program that commerce city started more then a year ago "Many in our community are still unaware of this wonderful program."
If you live in Commerce City, there is no way that you dont know about it. The tree hugging group dont want to face the ugly truth and that is residents dont care about recycling.
It costs too much and we really dont care. If you want to recycle, collect it up and bring it to the recycling center yourself.
You all may think I am heartless. I am not, I am just realistic.
Here we go again. Has anyone been reading the stories on SD14 on the other news sites in the state? Their failures and inadequacies are now indicative of Commerce City and why people should avoid us like the plague. People are eating up the facts of our huge illegal immigrant population and expenditures on spanish language publications. That really hurts our image when the city ignores the complaints from its own citizens about using our monies for that. It doesn’t help to say “I live in 27J” then people wonder why there is a Mexican district and an American district. Brighton has a huge Hispanic population but they communicate only in English which forces people to learn it which helps their schools and neighborhoods. Read some of the comments here http://www.9news.com/news/local/article.aspx?storyid=135179&catid=346
Losing money and faith
gateway i like the channel 9 video, cool how you did that.
I know how we can save Adams 14 some money!
We can take over channel 8 and use it for the entire city instead of just half of it!
The city obviously has money to burn!
GATEWAY,
I am proud and a little surprised that you are letting a lot of these comments go. Not many, but there are some anti-Gateway ones.
Have you deleted any comments so far?
Fred A.
Thank you...
to answer your question, all comments have been published.
City starting to do their own videos is cool. They should have done this a year ago.
by the way love the city, lots of opinions and P.O.V.
Great to see a community that has at least some people caring about it.
I have been looking thru some of the past blogs. It is amazing that there truly no issue that is not covered here.
I am a long time resident and this really is a place to go for anything commerce city. both good and bad.
i was wondering if we could get more events like derby daze in commerce city.
maybe something in the northern range.
I am upset that the Commerce City Council is not responding to this article about the city manager.
It was the elephant in the room on Monday. Even heard one council member tell another to just ignore it.
gateway,
look at the dates of the appraisals when you get them. then start asking more questions. so far you have been right on track.
at least people are starting to care a little bit.
census for Commerce City was only 64% participation?
DAMN! we really lost out of a lot of money.
People! FILL OUT THE census FORM and return it!
Hey Jim Benson,
The city cant annex the Monaco area that fast to have it counted on the census. If you were going to do that, you should have done it weeks ago.
Also, I do not like the idea that the only reason Jim gives for justification of annexing the Monaco Area is to get more Money!
Jim's thinking is not right.
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