Bruce Baker
for Westminster City Council
Please vote for Kristine Ireland, Scott Shilling and Bruce Baker for Westminster city Council
The new Council elected in November 2021 has betrayed the voters of Westminster.
When I was elected to the New City Council in November of 2021, I thought that with Nancy McNally, David DeMott, Rich Seymour and Lindsey Emmons (Smith) we would change the direction of Westminster. Nearly 2 years later we have changed precious little. The paid professionals (city staff) run the city the same way as under the council that was tossed out in the last election.
While Broomfield, Ft. Collins and Pueblo continue to pay less than $4.00 per thousand gallons for water, Westminster will pay over $7.00 per thousand gallons in 2024 ( a dollar less than the $8.15 of the old council). That is not meaningfully lowering the price of water.
While our new council directed a reconsideration of the Water 2025 plan, the staff swindled our new council by paying the existing contracted engineers (CDMSmith) $750,000 to re-evaluate their own work. Ridiculous! Of course CDMSmith would evaluate their own work as great. Yet when this swindle was exposed, Nancy, Dave, Rich and Lindsey said NOTHING.
While Broomfield, Ft. Collins and Pueblo continue to pay less than $4.00 per thousand gallons for water, Westminster will pay over $7.00 per thousand gallons in 2024 ( a dollar less than the $8.15 of the old council). That is not meaningfully lowering the price of water.
While our new council directed a reconsideration of the Water 2025 plan, the staff swindled our new council by paying the existing contracted engineers (CDMSmith) $750,000 to re-evaluate their own work. Ridiculous! Of course CDMSmith would evaluate their own work as great. Yet when this swindle was exposed, Nancy, Dave, Rich and Lindsey said NOTHING.
Westminster is run by the experienced, professional staff of the City. The elected City Council is willfully blind to the brazen manipulation that staff exerts over elected officials. As a group the City Council will not exercise control over the staff. City Council accepts flawed and out-right dishonest reports and recommendation from the staff. The result of this terrible situation is that the wishes of the residents are being ignored, the financial resources of Westminster have been directed into wasteful and foolish projects, taxpayers/rate-payers are being ripped-off and many of our neighborhoods are being methodically dried-out and degraded
In the City Election of November 2021, there were five of the seven members of council up for election by the voters. This was caused because the city had been in an uproar over water prices. In 2018, by using a lie about the condition of the Big Dry Creek Sewer Interceptor( ) City Council enacted very high Water rates. By August of 2020 the effect that high water prices had inflicted on many Westminster was profound. A group of Westminster citizens, The Westminster Water Warriors, took action to force Council to restore our dried-out neighborhoods. After imploring Council to lower water rates, the Water Warriors circulated Recall Petitions to remove Mayor Atchison, and Council Members Seitz, Skulley and Voelz from office because they flatly refused to lower the water prices. Council Members DeMott, Seymour and Emmons(Smith) were not marked for recall because they said they wanted to lower water prices.
I see the election of 2021 as a clear call by the voters to support all neighborhoods by enacting lower water prices. None of the incumbents, in favor of the high water prices, were re-elected. Councillor DeMott, who favored lower water prices, was re-elected. With the exception of Sarah Nurmela, every winner in the November 2021 promised lower water prices.
However the 6 of 7 Council members that spoke of lower water prices have not meaningfully fulfilled that promise. Worse still is the huge debt that this council is on the verge of taking. This debt alone could add $2.00 or more per thousand gallons to the hard cost of providing water.
I think water prices should be similar to what other cities on the Front range charge for landscape water: Denver at $4.47, Ft. Collins at $3.90, Pueblo at $3.18, Broomfield @ $3.33.
So what happened?
I think Council lacks the moral courage to meaningfully live up to the promises we made the voters. I think this lack of moral courage comes from several sources. Councillor Ezeadi made a phony promise. He never intended to lower water prices. His statement about lower prices for working people was meaningless. Four of my colleagues that I thought would join me in lowering prices (and in February of 2022 did lower prices) have abandoned their promises. Here are the reasons I think they will not keep their promises. Number 1- Council is scared of claimed bad consequences staff has overstated. Staff have misled Council many times by omitting information, using selected information and by using misleading information. Number 2- Council is not willing to critically evaluate the work-product of city staff. Council refuses to hold staff accountable for the shoddy and misleading work product that Council has been given. Number 3- In light of the shoddy information given by staff, individual Council members are not willing to do the research and work to gather the information needed to evaluate the situation. The reality that I see at the Semper plant is that with proper maintenance Semper can work safely and efficiently for decades to come. Number 4- Council is showing willful blindness to the effects that price has on water use. If Council allows the the borrowing of nearly one hundred fifty million dollars to build the unneeded plant on Westminster Blvd, that debt alone will add about $2 per thousand gallons of water to water rates. Number 5- Although the Council requested a second opinion, we never got one. The designers of the Water 2025 plant pretended to give a second opinion. That is preposterous. Designers rarely criticize their own work. The Option 4, the plant on Westminster blvd, approved by Council on April 24, 2023 is a carbon copy of Water 2025 with 2/3rds the price and only 1/2 the capacity. It is worse than Water 2025.
What can be done now?
Elect Kristine Ireland, Scott Shilling and Bruce Baker to council in the November 7,2023 city election.
Water for our lawns and trees will cost $7.08 per thousand gallons for 2024 in Westminster. Today there is a huge profit for the city in that price. However, when Hundreds of millions of dollars are borrowed to build an unneeded, 15MGD water plant on Westminster Blvd, Option 4, most of that profit will go to interest and repayment of debt. Thousands of Westminster residents will no longer afford to take care of their landscapes.
Bankers will collect interest. High prices will reduce consumption. The City will claim there is "excess" water. That "excess" water will be given to high-density housing projects.
Elections are on November 7, 2023. After all the work to elect this new council only to be betrayed, it would be easy and understandable to give up on lower water prices. It is easy to say lower prices can't be done. However the very Destiny of Westminster is at stake. Is Westminster going to be a safe, inclusive community where nearly every resident can participate in the beauty of our City? Or is beauty and water only for the wealthy? If three, straightforward, passionate members are elected to Council things will change.
Do not accept any candidate that will not specifically, with hard numbers, promise to lower water prices and reject the crushing debt of unneeded water plants.
Water for our lawns and trees will cost $7.08 per thousand gallons for 2024 in Westminster. Today there is a huge profit for the city in that price. However, when Hundreds of millions of dollars are borrowed to build an unneeded, 15MGD water plant on Westminster Blvd, Option 4, most of that profit will go to interest and repayment of debt. Thousands of Westminster residents will no longer afford to take care of their landscapes.
Bankers will collect interest. High prices will reduce consumption. The City will claim there is "excess" water. That "excess" water will be given to high-density housing projects.
Elections are on November 7, 2023. After all the work to elect this new council only to be betrayed, it would be easy and understandable to give up on lower water prices. It is easy to say lower prices can't be done. However the very Destiny of Westminster is at stake. Is Westminster going to be a safe, inclusive community where nearly every resident can participate in the beauty of our City? Or is beauty and water only for the wealthy? If three, straightforward, passionate members are elected to Council things will change.
Do not accept any candidate that will not specifically, with hard numbers, promise to lower water prices and reject the crushing debt of unneeded water plants.
