Elk Konnected Hand out at County Commissioners meeting on 4/25

[Diane Amberg]

Do I know what economic development is ? Of course! But I'd bore most of you to death talking in detail about advertizing what an area has to offer, working with realtors to push the availability of commercial real estate, the availability of "incubation industry" parks, tax incentives for big companies to come here, pushing our infrastructure and the availability of heavy industry's needs....water power, etc. We got Amazon and Walmart that way plus Astra Zeneca and several others who expanded rather than leave. We have a big enough population base to actually help a potential new donut shop owner locate a place without one  in a particular market area, and then help them find or offer a small business loan at a low rate to get them started...and help with all the paper work for first timers who might not even know what a gross income tax receipt is, let alone figure out the paper work for filing it. Does it all promise success? Of course not, but the potential of winning big certainly does exist.It's all intertwined. Heck,now areas even put themselves on face book!

[Ross]

That's nice Diane for a heavily populated area like where you live. You probably have more people in your neighborhood than Elk County has in the whole county. See the difference. We don't even have a city per se. Just very small towns.

None of what you say applies here just as nothing in Denver as far as Economic Development applies in this agricultural county.

The secrets that are being kept from the taxpayers in my opinion is totally wrong and unethical as well.
Our county is being divided by certain elements that are most possibly responsible for it. And the games continue as long as so called leadership plays the game, don't ya think? How are the actions of the elected officials suppose to pull the communities and peoples together by running secret operations through the use of Economic Development? Just how?

I'd suggest you read the last several previous post's to understand what I'm talking about.

[Patriot]

...Of course! But I'd bore most of you to death talking in detail about advertizing what an area has to offer, working with realtors to push the availability of commercial real estate, the availability of "incubation industry" parks, tax incentives for big companies to come here, pushing our infrastructure and the availability of heavy industry's needs....water power, etc...

Industry & infrastructure.  Hmmmm.  Sooooo... believing that a bunch of new housing is a priority, building a new elementary school on the highway, having a farmers market on Wednesday afternoons at the courthouse, having that courthouse designated as an historical site then borrowing to put a $300,000 roof on it, providing a water slide at a town fair at taxpayers expense, sponsoring a small exercise center and having privately facilitated Kommunity Konversations won't rate too highly as means to grow the local economy?  Wow, who woulda thunk.

[Ross]

sponsoring a small exercise center and having privately facilitated Kommunity Konversations won't rate too highly as means to grow the local economy?  Wow, who woulda thunk.

Especially since Elk Konnected, LLC failed at running it and sold it to someone who could.

[Diane Amberg]

OK, so are you going to pay taps for the whole area and give up? I'll sell you some tumble weeds to roll down the street!

[Patriot]

I may be old fashioned, but the ends are not justified by the means... especially when the means involve deceit, self aggrandizement, appearance of impropriety, manipulation, abuse of public trust, and/or misuse of position.

[Ross]

OK, so are you going to pay taps for the whole area and give up? I'll sell you some tumble weeds to roll down the street!

No taps, this is a great place to live.
I guess you missed my statement that we have a dreat way of life here, because we are an agricultural county with a very small population. It's like a dream come true. We don't need the behavior of a major city. We just need to control the county spending and waste, to lower taxes.

No single little group of people, need special property tax breaks at the expense of everyone else. "Beggar they Neighbor"

No single little group of people, needs to tell everyone else in the county what they need to do or how to think.

We do have governing bodies that need to listen to the people or be voted out. Simple, HUH?

It just dawned on me, sounds like what people are saying about the Federal Government, doesn't it?
Only difference is we are only about 2880 people.

We only need the basic's from our government.

Do we need a $10,000,000 grade school for 150 children?

Do we need the conflict between the town of Howard and the rest of the county?
I don't think so.


Is the conflict really between Howard and the rest of the county?
I think so?

Why?

Here is a couple of examples!

$10,000,000 School Bond referedum 75% of Howard voted for it and wanted it to include a community storm shelter.
Why a community storm shelter in a scchool bond?

75% of the county voted against the school?
Why you may ask?
Do we really need a Taj Mahal of a school campus for about 300 children, K-12.

So, they would not have to buy their own shelter and the every one in the county would pay for it for them, is that possibly the reason for the school bond? They still haven't built the shelter for their own community, why if they really need one?
Why build one outside of the city limits where the school is?

Why has the community of Howard wanted to move it's city limits to encompass the school grounds?
Doesn't Howard have enough property within their city limits to maintain and keep them busy?
Just look at that eyesore of an abandoned old high school in Howard, what a safty hazard for that communities children?
Children do like to explore stuff like that?

I feel Howard should just leave their city limits where it is and take care of what is inside it.

I read in the newspaper that what I remember was the Howard Chamber of Commerce, a wonderment of getting money from the County's PILOT. It seems to me everything point's to Howard and I am sure a lot of other people feel the same way.

[Patriot]

Rather than lump the entire Howard community together, Ross, let's consider that perhaps your observations are really the result of the actions and agendas of a few influential people who seek to ultimately pad their own resumes and create a legacy for themselves.  After all, somebody might someday name that new school after them.  The storm shelter might have been just a community lollipop.

The sad part is the blind gullibility of the greater population who should know better.

We, the unwilling, led by the unqualified, have accomplished the unlikely for so long, with so little, that we now attempt the impossible with almost nothing.

[Diane Amberg]

You know Ross ,when you get right down to it, people like you shouldn't count! Or me either. We are not trying to find or hold down a job to live on. You moved there with pension and SS in hand. I have mine too. You know what you can spend each month and assume there will be somewhere to spend it. But when things are on a down slope we can't assume that!
 When we were out there for a week in 1996 for Grandma Dessie's funeral, we stayed at the Silver Bell as there was no place closer and had a hard time finding places in the area to eat because no one place was open every day. It wasn't very hospitable or convenient at all!  Howard didn't even have a drug store then.
You keep saying "a few people" this or that, but aren't they the back bone of your community? They  have invested the time and money to keep your communities going!
  Outright dishonesty in Gov't  is one thing, but support and thanks could go a long way for those who are trying to keep your communities alive, if not growing. Not every idea works every time but if one gives up trying, then what?
As far as where I live, it's a little village inside our small city.There are a couple hundred of us with our own little shopping center with all the necessary basics.  We all know each other. We are separated from the rest of Newark by one of the UD campuses. But we benefit from all the city services. It's small town living at it's best. I could go for weeks and never leave here.

As far as some of your other concerns, they have been addressed many times, some probably before your time here. They failed, or were voted down and other choices were made that reflected the view of THE MAJORITY, not just one group or some who think they know it all and think everyone else is stupid, blind, sheeple or whatever the insult of the day is. ( But they would have people follow themselves  like sheep, no problem.) People will think for themselves!
   You obviously like the area, but don't seem to acknowledge that there are numbers of people who are busy with their lives out there and are not on the forum, but do have opinions and do vote. Are you assuming they all think as you do in all things?
Do you have some positive suggestions that could actually be implemented to grow the area?
  It's not like the old west that when the gold played out the town up and moved on like Cripple Creek and others did.....Or is it?

[Humpy]

Diane I live just SE of longton and I would not want to live anywhere else. I don't like what I see going on in our local Gov. but I will survive if the property taxes and 2 inch rock they dumped on our road don't kill me.
A wise fellow and I were having a discussion about some of the things spoken of on this thread and he said the worst and best thing about Longton were..............worst thing is that it is too close to Independence.The best thing is that it is close to Independence.
Elk County has some good solid mom and pop businesses. That seems to be about all this county can support. Anything larger has a trained labor problem without importing labor from outside. We have a  low population to support them.
I love Elk County and the people in it.