Adding up Montoya’s fuzzy math

To the editor,

LPEA Director Davin Montoya’s unprofessional letter in the Herald on 1/11/2016 was so strange, full of misinformation and absurd that it mostly can be ignored. His blatantly false statement that the protesting directors did not ask how LPEA would pay its bills needs to be corrected. Board minutes clearly show extensive consideration of the effect of not increasing the base charge. Board minutes show LPEA staff is projecting a $3.9 million margin in 2016 with the new rates! That margin is the excess money LPEA plans to collect above what it needs.

The “napkin” calculation Montoya refers to can be easily worked out in your head. LPEA has about 30,000 residential meters. If the extra $1 base charge increase was not implemented, that is $30,000 month or $360,000 per year less. If Director Mark Garcia and Jack Turner’s motion to eliminate that base charge increase would have passed, the margin would drop down to about $3.5 million – still plenty healthy. In addition, LPEA’s last annual report shows over an $8 million margin for the previous year.

I am glad LPEA is doing so well, but I do not understand Montoya and his cronies refusing to compromise on that unneeded base charge increase. I do not know Montoya’s motives for being so untruthful, but he acts more like a lobbyist for the coal industry and Tri-State instead of acting in the best interests of La Plata county’s residents and LPEA members.

– Rik Anderson, Durango

Tapping into the South Platte

To the editor,

Congratulations Denver Broncos! The past two weeks at the Legislature have been filled with Bronco mania. Everyone was very positive that the Broncos would win the Super Bowl, and now that it is done, we will revel in the win.

It has been a great two weeks for me, also. My Off Highway Vehicle bill, HB16-1030, was approved unanimously by another committee, the Finance Committee, where it met its death last year. It will be debated on the House floor on second readings this week and then will be voted on for final passage. I feel good about it because we have been able to work with all of the stakeholders and work out any differences. It is bipartisan in that I have a Democrat Co-prime sponsor, Rep. Lois Court, who is also Chair of the Finance Committee.

My bill to allow counties to approve and license medical marijuana testing facilities, HB16-1064, was passed out of the House Local Government Committee unanimously. The La Plata County Commissioners asked me to run this bill. It is actually a cleanup bill from last session. Marijuana businesses have a dual approval process under the law in Colorado. Both the state and local jurisdictions must approve any business related to marijuana. In the law passed in 2015, local approval was left out for medical marijuana testing facilities. Under the State Constitution, marijuana is legal in Colorado. My bill will allow testing facilities so that consumers know what they are buying.

HB16-1083 is a bill I am running for Western State Colorado University that redefines the role and mission of that University to align closer to that of other Colorado universities.

I also introduced the South Platte River Water Storage bill. It has not been assigned to a committee yet. This bill will study water storage sites on the main stem of the South Platte as well as its tributaries that have been proposed in the past. The bill requires the Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB) and the state water engineer to estimate the amount of water that could be stored at each site; what it would cost to build each site, including the cost of land that must be acquired; any other costs associated with each site; and a cost/benefit analysis of each site. The study will also gather the information on the amount of water that has been wasted out of state on the South Platte to Nebraska that we could have stored in the past 20 years.

Water storage on the South Platte will have many benefits, number one being that it will take the pressure off diverting more water from the West Slope across the Continental Divide to the Front Range. It would also provide water to allow the Denver aquifer to be recharged and would stop the need to buy agriculture water thus conserving and increasing agricultural production – among other benefits.

– Rep. J. Paul Brown, R-Ignacio

What would Jesus eat?

To the editor,

Wednesday marked the beginning of Lent, the 40-day period before Easter when many Christians abstain from animal foods in remembrance of Jesus’ 40 days of fasting in the desert before launching his ministry.

But meat-free Lent is much more than a symbol of religious devotion to Christ. It helps reduce the risk of chronic disease, environmental degradation and animal abuse. Dozens of medical reports have linked consumption of animal products with elevated risk of heart failure, stroke, cancer and other killer diseases. A 2007 U.N. report named meat production as the largest source of greenhouse gases and water pollution. Undercover investigations have documented farm animals being beaten, caged, crowded, deprived, mutilated and shocked.

Lent offers a superb opportunity to honor Christ’s powerful message of compassion and love by adopting a meat-free diet for Lent and beyond.

After all, it’s the diet mandated in Genesis I-29 and observed in the Garden of Eden.

Our supermarkets offer a rich array of plant-based meat and dairy alternatives, as well as the more traditional vegetables, fruits and grains. Entering “vegan recipes” in our favorite search engine offers more products, recipes, and transition tips than we can use.

– Dante Gomez, Durango

‘D’ is for ‘deceptive’

To the editor,

Thoroughly enjoyed Shan Wells cartoon extolling the virtues of the Sanders for president campaign. Hopefully we’ll see a follow up from Wells as to how these lofty promises are paid for. Even many on the left have second thoughts how free tuition and single-payer medical care can be sustained under a Sanders regime. Throw in the fact that Obamacare has not performed as promised, there’s a $19 trillion deficit, a very poor economic recovery by any definition and the 4.9 percent unemployment rate is smoke and mirrors. You have to wonder how anybody can even consider voting for a candidate with a “D” after their name.

– Dennis Pierce, Durango