Is Silt Better Off?
On April 4, 2006, Mayor Moore was
elected by a margin of 22 votes in a 3-way race.
Dave Moore 173
John Evans 151
Ron Morgan 120
Let’s look back on the past 16
months, and examine Mayor Moore’s record and how Silt has been affected.
When Mayor Moore took
employee matters into his own hands earlier this year and refused to follow the
rules and procedures, he drastically affected the normal business activity of
the town. As a result, the Town Administrator and Community Development Director
resigned.
Consequently the town staff has
been in upheaval for months. Silt does not currently have a Town
Administrator or Community Development Director. Filling these key positions is
costing the town tens of thousands of dollars and countless hours lost on other
important issues such as …
The roundabout was scheduled to
begin construction this summer. Mayor Moore’s meddling in employee issues has
delayed moving toward finalization of the project. Now the town is struggling
to get the project done this year. The risk is that Silt may lose grant monies
essential for funding the roundabout.
The new gravel company going in
east of Silt anticipated being part of the town’s business community but is now
part of
Last Spring, Mayor Moore bragged
about calling in C-DOT to set up truck check points to catch overweight
vehicles. In fact, most of the infractions cited were for minor equipment
issues against local businesses’ vehicles.
When the Board revisited the
Special Use Permit Ordinance for gas well drilling within town limits to
increase some of the fees, Mayor Moore voted against it.
Mayor Moore voted against an
Ordinance to put in place a fee structure for utilities that use the public
right-of-way.
Even though Silt voters soundly
rejected the hotel tax as discriminatory against the one hotel in town, Mayor
Moore continues to lobby in favor of taxing the Silt Motel.
Mayor Moore likes to take credit
for the Mayors Collaborative, a
local mayors group that meets regularly to discuss energy and water issues. The
group started meeting in February 2006, two months before Mayor Moore was even
elected. The Mayors Collaborative exists because of the efforts and organization
of Healthy Mountain Communities Executive
Director Colin Laird.
Mayor Moore prides himself on
taking a stand against big business. But it is NOT in the best interests of the
town to piss off big business to the point that it hinders negotiations over
issues that would be beneficial for the town. Instead Silt has gained the
reputation in the valley for being unfriendly to business.
Dave Moore the citizen is a
developer. He owns Center Townhomes, and he has plans for another new
development. It’s easy to see why he might be inclined to oppose other
developments. But that isn’t in the best interest of the town either. It’s in
the best interest of Dave Moore the citizen.
Mayor Moore has repeatedly
violated state statutes and town ordinances. He has claimed they were
“procedural mistakes”. However he has refused to accept responsibility for his
actions, even after the violations were brought to his attention, and in spite
of the consequences. We have no reason to believe that his misconduct will
stop. In fact it continues to this day.
Mayor Moore should be recalled