In early 2012, Richard Miller was still an Elbert County planner.  Miller was consulting with Jerry Dahl, a lawyer who specializes in representing Colorado counties when they conflict with the state of Colorado over land use regulatory law.

Dahl had given Miller advice in writing a new zoning law for Elbert County to regulate oil and gas operations.  Dahl believes that Colorado counties should regulate oil and gas operations because the Colorado State Legislature gave Colorado counties land use regulatory authority, and an oil and gas operation is a land use.

The problem with Dahl’s broad interpretation of county land use regulatory authority is that it is unlimited.  All human activity occurs on land, in water, or while flying in air.  The vast majority of it occurs on land.  According to Dahl, any use of land falls within the regulatory scope of a Colorado county.  Did the Colorado Legislature really mean to give counties in Colorado absolute control over what happens on Colorado land?  Not likely in America.

So Miller and Dahl wrote oil and gas zoning regulations for Elbert County to govern oil and gas land use operations.

Since then, these regulations have morphed into different legal structures, but they’ve retained several key rules that, once enacted, will probably conflict with state regulations.  Jake Matter of the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission and the Attorney General’s Office has repeatedly warned Elbert County planners since January of 2012, by letters and in person, of the potential for several operational conflicts in Elbert County’s regulatory proposals.

Today, two days before the Elbert County Planning Commission is scheduled to conduct a public hearing about their proposed oil and gas regulations, at least two points of expected operational conflict are still in the proposal - a provision to regulate open water pits, and a provision to regulate water produced from an oil well when used for dust mitigation.

Even though Richard Miller has moved on to other employment, the philosophy introduced by Dahl of challenging state regulations with conflicting county regulations, continues in practice by Elbert County planners.

In January of 2012, Dahl explained at a Planning Commission meeting how operational conflicts between county and state regulations get resolved.  Basically, a lawsuit  between a county and the state provides a forum to hear evidence about a claimed operational conflict.  Interestingly, county vs. state lawsuits are what Jerry Dahl does for a living.

Basically, Dahl sent Elbert County planners down a regulatory trail that has generated repeated warnings from the state about potential operational conflicts, with full knowledge that the process to resolve such conflicts is a county vs. state lawsuit in Dahl’s specialty.

Jerry Dahl has every right to do what he can to generate litigation business for himself to advance causes that he believes in.  We have 1st Amendment guarantees of that freedom.

But should Elbert County be used in this manner to advance a political agenda held by one man, or by a special interest minority such as an environmentalist lobby, in an “evolving area” of law?

Litigation is very expensive while Elbert County is cash poor.  Previous Boards of County Commissioners have been excoriated over litigation that occurred under their terms, regardless of whether or not they had anything to do with starting it.

And now the same vocal minority who screamed most loudly over the expense of past county lawsuits are the ones pushing an oil and gas regulatory proposal that is headed toward some really expensive litigation with the state to ferret out operational conflicts.

A key question people should think about is whether the proponents of the new oil and gas regulations are bona fide.  Are they acting in good faith?

Have they pushed us into a tortuous legal path against the state that is expensive, and perhaps most importantly, time consuming, in order to bring Elbert County into some higher state of compliance with their environmentalism objectives?

Or does environmentalism merely provide cover for these folks to exploit any available technicality to buy time to completely frustrate oil and gas development in Elbert County?   They play an image for public consumption of being cooperative and working within the system; meanwhile, endless procedural delays make sure nothing ever happens.

But so long as the right people sit on the BOCC, we probably won’t hear much about how much this is costing all of us.

Costs of litigation, costs to energy developers, opportunity costs of lost revenue to mineral owners, none of these will rise to the level of a material concern while an agenda lies on the table.

Tuning out the clamor of agenda pushing usual suspects can be difficult in Elbert County.  They control most of the print media in the county, they have a significant web presence, and they virtually run the county at all levels - the BOCC, the Planning Commission, the CDS Department, and a host of subordinate committees and public/private forums.

The silent majority of Elbert County citizens, however, the ones you won’t see published and won’t hear much from at any public meeting, are people who have enough struggle just getting through their daily lives.  They do not seek to further burden life in Elbert County with more struggles, no matter what the cause.

This silent majority have every right to expect their public officials to act in a manner to mitigate struggles, to avoid expensive litigations, to act frugally, and to not be legal spendthrifts in service of a minority agenda.

Let the Jerry Dahls go find some other county to milk.

B_Imperial

References:

Jake Matter’s latest warning of Elbert County re dust mitigation

Jake Matter’s latest warning of Elbert County re open pits

Thoughts on Passion
EHS Instrumental Music Banquet - May 17, 2013

“To play a wrong note is unacceptable. To play without passion is inexcusable.” -Beethoven

What drives us to grow? Get better? Get back up when we fall down? Persistence, maybe, but even then, where does our persistence come from? I first picked up my instrument when I was nine years old. Those first sounds, to say the least, were undesirable, even to my young ears - but I kept playing.

I made mistake, after mistake, after mistake, and every time I picked up the pieces and tried it again. Why? I did not consider myself to be a “good” saxophonist by professional standards until I was a sophomore in college, nearly 12 years after I began playing it. Why would anyone work at something for more than a decade just be considered “good” at what they do? By that time, shouldn’t they be great at it?

Beethoven was on to something when he said those words: “To play without passion is inexcusable.” Passion. That’s the link, that is the why. The reason we get up and try again, the reason we continue to practice, and the reason we fight to get better is not because we are told to by a coach, parent, or teacher. We do it because we have a passion for it, and we will let that feeling inside of us push us to the very limits of our potential because, at some point, we developed this idea that we wi# be the best at it if it kills us.

Those last four words are a little ironic when you consider that the word “passion” is derived from the Latin verb for “to suffer.” Why do we suffer for something we love with our entire being? After all, that is what we do, isn’t it? We practice our trade, and suffer through the hard parts. Practicing my instrument is not necessarily what I would call a great time, and I assume most of the musicians in here would agree with me. Rehearsals aren’t even the fun part of what we do, especially some of my rehearsals! But then, all of a sudden, it’s performance time. For the audience, and for us performers, that is an experience that we often consider to be magic. The real magic, though, is in the process, not the product.It is in the process that our true passions shine through.

I have always held the belief that the true beauty in music is in the process of music making, rather than the performance itself. In that process, we all struggle, and we all overcome. Sometimes there are physical and technical boundaries we must cross, sometimes (and even more importantly) there are emotion barriers that we must break down in order to transform the code on the page into a musical statement. As musicians, we learn to thrive off of the struggle, and we thirst for the challenge a piece of music can bring us. It is only during that process that our passion for our art truly shows. We become humble, genuine, and vulnerable human beings. We take risks, make mistakes, break down… but we also support each other. There is a dynamic inside the music ensemble that is unique. We take our seats, pull out that sheet of code, take a deep breath, and exhale into our instruments. The resulting sound is not simply the aural manifestation of the black ink, but rather it is the person underneath the skin that we get the opportunity to meet and experience. In the music ensemble, we are all our best person - compassionate, kind, humble, and real. The stress of our day-to-day activities melts away, and the walls we build to protect us from “the real world” crumble. I believe that it is in those moments that we truly exist, that we experience the world for what is actually is, and that we finally gain a deep, mutual connection with one another.

It is our goal at each performance to share a part of that process with the audience. Through the presentation of a meaningful music performance, it is our hope, as performers, that the struggle – the passion - with which we approach our art is felt by our audience, thus triggering the emotional response that music, of any kind, can bring about in people. It is our passion that ignites the passions in our audience, and it is that connection that allows us all, in that moment, to exist, experience as the performers have. Everything about our art is unique - its expressive qualities, its moving power, its communicative traits. We develop our passion for it through these unique qualities, and approach each performance as an opportunity to share that passion with others.

You see, passion is infectious. It is a disease that, unlike any other disease, people actually work very hard to contract. The best part is, everybody can catch this disease, you just have to find the right pathway for infection. For some of you, catching this disease will take longer than you expect.

Others of you have been carrying it with you for years now, and if you are so fortunate to have aught this incredible sickness, it will mean the realization of your biggest dreams, and the birth of alegacy for yourself, your family, your community and the world.

“We all die. The Goal isn’t to live forever, the goal is to create something that will.”

One of my favorite quotes… It takes passion for what you do, above all else, to create something that will live forever. My goal as a music educator, as many of you know, has been and always will be to use my art and my passion for it as a vehicle; a vehicle to spark a fire in my students, a vehicle to ignite a passion, a vehicle to create my something that lives forever because, as I know I cannot live forever (and nor would I want to), I hope that I can make an impact that lasts a lifetime on at least one student, and that they’ll share that impact for generations. That hope - the students - is why I am so passionate about what I do every day. I’m passionate about you, and molding you all into good people that make a beneficial contribution to the society in which you live. Music is how I start that journey with you all.

Our culture exalts higher education, advanced degrees, the big office, the big salary, etc. That is how we have come to define success. Students, I cannot tell you enough times that that perspective is wrong. I know that if I were a lawyer, I would not feel successful, but I sure would be wealthy! What I mean to say is this: The big important job, the big office, how many college degrees you have, and how much money you make in one year should not drive your career choice. I would not have even thought of pursuing music and education if I wanted to make “the big bucks.” Instead, I chose to do something I wish we all would do, something that all of us should do. I chose to pursue my passion. I started out on a relentless pursuit of the highest level of success I could achieve in my passion in 2005, regardless of where the journey would take me, and I haven’t looked back once.

It is my greatest hope that each and every one you, especially you seniors that are about to embark on a new journey, find and pursue your passion. It may not make you rich, and you may never own a big house, or a BMW, but the fulfillment you will receive in doing so will be worth so much more than any material object. Discover what you want, and go after it, regardless of where it takes you.

And parents, I cannot tell you enough how important it is for you to support these children in hatever it is they decide to do. You know, my parents were not happy when I told them that I was going to study music in college. I believe they said something to the effect of, “Why don’t you invest your time and money on something other than a hobby?” And when I told them I was going to be a teacher, they said, “So you want to be poor now, too??!”

They were just worried about me, because they wanted me to be successful, and had been taught, like we’ve all been taught, that success comes with a six-figure salary. It was a driving force for me to prove them wrong, I guess, but I will tell you this: my mother and father have seen the work I’ve done here, and they’ve seen the fulfillment I receive from what I do, and although I don’t have a big office (I don’t even have my own office) or a huge salary, I still feel like I’m rich.

What I am saying, students and parents, is this: your passions are important, and they should be cultivated, and turned into your career, regardless of what material or monetary fulfillment it will bring you. To play without passion is inexcusable… I think Beethoven was trying to tell us all that to not pursue our passions would be a waste. Every single one of you fine students has now or will soon catch this incredible infection that is passion, and when you do, please to not ever let it go. Own it, live in it, and make it yours.

Thank you for yet another fantastic year at EHS

Christian M. Noon
Instrumental Music Director
Elizabeth High School

I doubt that giving government a budget surplus is quite the right thing to do.  What’s so great about putting more money in the hands of an entity that will only spend it for no net positive gain?

Government consumes overhead dollars, and as a non-profit entity makes no positive contribution to net goods and services.  Government builds no new investment capital to fund economic growth.  Everything government has and spends is either taken or borrowed from the private sector.

The goal should be to minimize the value of government, not maximize it.  The goal should be to starve it of funds, not feed it.  When investors in the stock market sense that a company is profitable and a good return on investment, they buy that stock, the value of the stock goes up, the company has more capital it can use to do more of what people like, the investors’ equity value goes up, and everyone wins.

But governments don’t have to do something better or more valuable to make money.  Government can just make regulations, enact fees, collect taxes, and impose fines.  There is no objective market to evaluate government and rein it in based on how well it performs.

Lincoln County is touted by the Left for having a budget surplus from tax money it charges to owners of capital equipment such as windmills on wind farms.  Meanwhile, the Left also complain that Elbert County does not have such a tax and is missing a tax opportunity.

While it’s difficult to look at either one of these counties’ economies and conclude much good about them, compared to each other, a few numbers stand out.   In addition to enjoying revenue streams from wind farm capital equipment taxes, Lincoln County’s retail sales per capita is over 7 times that of Elbert County.  Neither Lincoln nor Elbert County have a significant manufacturing base, so on that basis the two counties are roughly equal.

But apparently a budget surplus isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be.

Lincoln County’s population is in decline.  Elbert County’s population is increasing, albeit slowly.  Lincoln County’s home ownership rate is 20% less than Elbert County’s.  Lincoln County’s per capita and household income are less than 60% of Elbert County’s.  Lincoln County’s poverty rate is double that of Elbert County.  Lincoln County’s average home value is less than a third of Elbert County’s.  Lincoln County does have more jobs per capita than Elbert County, but they pay a lot less.

Looking at property taxes, in 2012 Lincoln County took $4.3M for a per capita rate of almost $800.  In that same period Elbert County took $7.2M for a per capita rate just over $300.  So not only does Lincoln County take money from those who install capital equipment there, they take over twice as much property tax money per capita than Elbert County does.

If a big fat well-funded government with “full coffers” were such a good thing, Lincoln County should be looking a lot better than Elbert County.  But that’s not the case now, is it?

The reality is that when you put more money into government, not only do you remove that money off-line from the profit centered private economy — effectively taking it out of the capital formation cycle, but whatever that government decides to do with it, assuming that it is something desirable (and that’s a BIG assumption when it comes to government), potentially crowds out a private sector alternative that might have made a profit.  And it is those private profit making opportunities that enable citizens to live, grow, have families, and prosper.

The opportunity cost - what was forfeited by choosing one path - rarely gets discussed when it comes to government taxing and spending.  The folks in Lincoln County might want to reconsider those “full coffers” doing nothing for them.

And, as is the case with most of the public policy effluvia issuing from the well intentioned boys and girls at New Plains, always check the numbers before accepting one of their claims.

B_Imperial