Eye On Englewood

Link: http://www.EyeOnEnglewood.com

On Monday evening, the topic of discussion came round to the City’s pet peeve of the gas operated golf carts at Broken T Golf Course. The carts are not using green energy. But to turn the relatively new carts into brand new green machines, Gary Sears set forth a proposal for Council to consider. The City would be asked to fund the construction of a $200,000 storage facility, and all new electric carts, where the golf carts could be plugged in and recharged every night.

It was estimated on Monday that for every round of golf, a gas operated cart is costing the city twenty cents in fuel. Nobody asked whether upgrading the budget to include the new construction and purchase of "green" carts was really the City's highest priority in this economy.

For a bit of recent history: the City reduced a large chunk of land kept as a long-term investment asset, to the sale and development of the golf course, Broken T, which now serves the interests of the few. Namely: Denver's Singles Golf and Englewood’s City Manager, Gary Sears, who is listed not only as Englewood's Mayor, but also as employed by Broken T in the White Pages, and those who broker deals with him over the green. It seems to me these few interested persons could fit the bill for the twenty cents of fuel costs by raising fees.

Or, perhaps they could hold a fundraiser to raise a new electricity-charged storage facility.

Batteries routinely die, and electricity is the most expensive form of energy Englewood could buy. In eight years, the electric carts at Broken T Golf Course will have to be recycled and replaced, whereas the fuel operated carts have engines that will continue to run.

If Englewood has $200,000 to burn in the budget, then perhaps it should invest in equipment to make its meetings and study sessions more open and accessible to the public. Perhaps it could build bathrooms in the parks that do not have toilet facilities, as one resident asked for last year. But I can see why the City Manager's whims might be considered more important than a common resident's more urgent park request, don't you?

While we are on the subject of priorities, I'll add this. If anyone does hope to address their city on any well-researched topic, they may as well put it into outline form.

Council just changed the rules for wasting their time with your puny requests. You now have three minutes to state your name, address and explain your cause. Forget your research. Otherwise, a newly purchased traffic light will go off and humiliate you publicly. Police bouncers are still available to this Council if you exercise your right to freedom of speech over the traffic light flashing.