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Friday, August 5, 2011

Current Watch: "City of Glenwood Springs awards contract to Glenwood Springs Chamber Resort Association"

This post is by ‘glenwoodsprings22’, founder of smalltown7.


"Almost 7 years ago, my wife, me and a friend or two, were pretty heavily involved supporting the second group of whistles on Marianne Virgili and the Glenwood Springs Chamber Resort Association.  There’s been a lot of disinformation spread about the outcome of those whistles efforts.

In this blog, we’ve set those straight.  By using public records and a lot of hard work.  Tracking the details of reality on the chamber’s performance since then and watching the choices of individuals here in Glenwood Springs in the now third round of whistles on the accommodations tax.  By tracking the tourism marketing vendor's co-mingling of public and private funds management in the 501C-6 corporation that is our chamber of commerce.

Our group has taken a lot of criticism from a very small minority out there that have a lot to lose.

What’s helped get us personally through that, are the scores more who’ve recognized and considered the source of that small minority, watched the obvious or asked to see the evidence of the obvious and chose to support the way we’ve handled what we were forced into. 

As the next year or two unfold publically, we’re really looking forward to returning to our lives and the way we chose to fend off vengeance from a sick mind directed at a very good friend.

We can do that now. 

All thanks to our city council.

Almost 30 months to the day later, on August 4, 2011 and completely clueless that they finally have actually gone full circle; our city council fulfilled the request of the latest whistle.

That request was for them to take the problem she had of being in the wrong place at the wrong time which brought her face to face with their long-standing problem of all things Virgili.  She clearly asked them to leave her out of their problem and protect her life from having to go through retaliation like others before her had suffered.

The choice our leaders made back then was to instead buy into the manipulation by  Virgili that this was really just some kind of a horse race created by someone out to get her. Less than 4 days later, our whistle's life was turned into a living Hell.  Total disregard to deal with their problem was the rest of their decision.  The little they did, turning to other authority to check it out, was lost with Virgili manipulating everybody.

The folks are familiar with that blind spot in our esteemed leaders.

It’s an old tune on a warped and scratched record.

For over two decades and to the tune of  an estimated 14 to 18 million dollars of public funds, they’ve allowed themselves to be manipulated into that social stupor.  The fox in the hen house leading the willing to be blind.

The latest horse race is now over as of Thursday night. 

Right back at square one is where we all are.  We're really grateful to finally get cut free, this mess of our esteemed leaders left their control a long time ago. It's now back in their laps, the folks are out of the way.

As founder of our group, I would like to be the first of smalltown7 to thank Virgili and our council for laying such a clear path around the horse track for us to finally fulfill the request of the latest whistle.  A request she made over 30 months ago directly to them.

"Own their problem, leave her out of it and shield her from exposure to it."

Their path is not smalltown's path.  Good and decent, clear headed, 20/20 vision people that we are, would never fall for the ring-around-the-rosie our city leaders, our council, our city cops and our DA have fallen for over the past 30 months.  

But it is the path we all ended up on. 

I’ll be the first to admit that there’s been many times since my wife and I exposing what probably lay before a friend 34 months ago; that a few of us have gone toe to toe with each other.  Now that we’re at the end and finally get to dump VirgZilla in the winner’s circle of her own making; I can see where I was wrong. I apologize to a very wise woman who was right.  You can't change what's inside the core of a person.  When that core is bad, it really is the best thing to do in just letting it rot all on its own.   If we had done anything but just let the choices run where they would go; the depth this sewer of a mess is would have swallowed up the innocents.  Those sitting on that dais Thursday night and others now glued with anxiety over thinking how far off course they were led by choosing the wrong horse; every individual is now fully accountable for themselves and what they’ve allowed done.  Our girl finally has the shield of that truth.  She’s free now to stand up and tell the truth of what the problem back then really was.  I'm really sorry that the faith and trust she's shown and given to everybody in this thing is so broken now. I'm personally looking forward to helping my friends and loved ones restore life as we all used to know it.

For all of you out there, NO more smoke screens for the chamber, the accommodations tax and our leaders.  Just snap on those klieg lights.

Tonight, I’ve been asked to wrap this Current Watch up. 

The next time you see posts on this site, they will be the results of that clear path around the horse track being held accountable to law and justice.

Here's a wrap:

“32 months ago, after watching the progress on the Virgili jobsite in Aspen Glen, hammer and I realized the same problems we'd watched years ago on other whistles, were happening right in front of our eyes again.

I made a decision to not let that happen. I didn’t do enough the time before when some really good women were really attacked for whistling on Virgili and the way things ran at the chamber and the handling of the accommodations tax. That was back in the 2003 to 2006 era of whistles.  Went home, told my wife what I felt we needed to do this time and she supported that decision.  smalltown7 was born.

We spent the next six months supporting our whistle.  That story’s pretty widely known now, especially for everyone who’s followed safeplace when we launched it Summer ’09.

I’m reminding you followers of the one goal we’ve had in Current Watch.

That goal is to protect, as much as we can, the innocents in harm’s way when a pretty good bet was the chamber and our leaders would be horns waggled into letting the fox in the hen house lead the blind chickens again.

smalltown7 and the net of our #8 have been accused of a lot of things over the past 30 months.  All part of that  propaganda smoke screen.

Here’s reality:

We’ve done the best we can while onlybeing  able to move by the seat of our pants because we’re following other's choices instead of leading.  Following mostly in the dark through the sewer tunnels and rats nests this all is. 

Along the way, you grew to respect us and look to us for leadership.  I admit for all of us that was a bit of a surprise.  At one point, we were followed globally by over 500 hits per day on safeplace.  Back when you were all writing in that evidence that finally won you your Ordinance #12, Series of 2010.

When you started looking to us to lead through the rats and the winding tunnels, all we did was cut trail and hold some flashlights up for you.

The end result is that after 20 years, public funds are protected and permanent klieg lights are in place.  You did that.  All we did was cut trail.

This has never been about building a watch-dog.  We were forced by failed duty to become watch-dogs. 

The very worst in the weaknesses of human nature have done things and caused effects that have hurt people, torn apart a community and in some cases destroyed lives. As of Thursday, you can now put the effects of all that squarely in our Mayor's lap. 

Soon to be publically known, upcoming destruction of careers and political aspirations now has to reveal too.  There are a few out there in the private sector who have a lot to lose, and as long as our authorities stick in that crack with them, unfortunately, failed duty doesn’t get the luxury of retro-fitting a comfy fit getting their tail out of a crack. 

Nobody wins in what this has done to our heroes in sworn duty authority.  Of all the things we’ve watched happen at other’s hands, that one is second in line to hurting our hearts the most.  What are good people somewhere inside themselves sank into human weakness, all because of following a very wrong path and a sick mind.  There are a lot of victims in this mess and the obstruction of justice holds up for all of us. 

After the next year or two, Glenwood Springs will never be the same again.

Our choice in the beginning was to just help someone we care about walk away.

The turning point that locked this all down into nowhere to go but resolution and justice, happened about 12 months ago now.

Our city council locked all in this community into the path of no return with Ordinance #12 Series of 2010. 

For our group, we really suffered the night that passed.  FCE said it really well.  That resolution passed  and all of us couldn’t feel happiness about that.  Instead, we all looked into the eyes of someone we love, who was trying very hard not to cry.  We all knew right then that what had already been really horrible acts of vengeance towards her and her life were probably going to get a lot worse.  As the next year or two reveals the truths, I’m saying it now that I’ve watched grown men vomit when they see the evidence we’ve helped compile.  The cruelty and retaliation against the final whistle stops you cold. 

It’s shocking to have watched our community find it impossible to believe those kind of depths exist around here.

The reason this is a major victory for our whistle is that by giving GSCRA the contract, after dragging all of 81601 through their sewer; the city, the chamber and Virgili are right back where they started from 30 months ago. 

Responsible for their own problem and what they face is the end result of all their own choices and actions over the past 41 months. 

Cutting your trail and holding flashlights for you, was just a bonus perk for us.  A source we didn’t expect, of pride that our group now has, that we cut trail for you and held your flashlights.  We want you to know it feels like a perk.  Our #8 joins us in that, she wants you to know that. 

No doubt, smalltown’s and all of our mailboxes we’ve used for this are going to still get flooded with your comments and thoughts.  Probably, since this new contract award was doomed before it ever got voted in; your disgust and frustrations too.

For the first time, I’m asking, on behalf of all of us, that you hold back from that. 

We’ll be over on Sandbox and the other hubs and forums you know where to find. 

Let us get back to our lives now because we have need of scraping up one that’s been shattered.  I run with my big sis, ‘battlementmom’ on that.  It doesn’t look like the infection in this town is going to cure any time soon, we’ve all missed that chance thanks to the fine and upstanding leadership of our elected and hired officials and authorities. 

We also want to thank the citizen’s seats on the new tourism board, especially Hooner. 

Was pretty revealing watching that scoring system unfold the other night, you people out there have got the kliegs snapped on and there are a few minor issues still needing to be dealt with.  Count on it that we’ll be on the political stump until every one of the tourism and business seats are filled with no conflicts of interest vested in the tourism contract. 

For the rest of it, remember that Hooner's been pushing to be involved in bigger ways for a lot of years and he’s doing a great job leading.  While you all wait for seats to come open, push them hard to make everything about the tourism board open to the public, including all meetings.  There’s still all contract details, who handles the money, accountability, cost ratios to value earned and performance.  Then there’s that other small thing about a 65% + deficit to climb out of the hole on before we can ever say we’re on the mend.  Then there's all that other stuff too. 

smalltown7 goes dark.

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