Town Administrator November 25, 2019
Giving Thanks
November provides an occasion to give thanks and count our blessings for family, friends, the great people we work with and our fantastic community! I am profoundly grateful for all of you and for all of your contributions that help make Erie such a great community! Thank you!
2020 Work Plan
There are numerous issues competing for the Board of Trustee’s and Town staff’s attention. Unless the Board consciously prioritizes which issues to focus on, the magnitude of the work will undermine the Board’s and staff’s ability to accomplish the highest priorities. Someone, I am not sure who, once said, “If everything is a priority, nothing is a priority”.
With that quote in mind, earlier in the year the Board reviewed the results of the Community Survey, individually proposed issues/projects for consideration by the Board, ranked each issue and then, on November 12th adopted the 2020 Work Plan summary table. That table lists 27 projects/issues in priority order, identifies the staff Team leader(s), and indicates the level of community engagement the Board expects staff to pursue for each issue. You can view the summary table at this link: 2020 Work Plan.
Staff will prepare a more detailed description of each project/issue and the key objectives and deliverables associated with that project/issue. Then, each quarter in 2020, and during a regular Board meeting, the Town Administrator will give a status report on progress toward achieving the objectives and completing the deliverables for each issue/project.
Finally, it is important to remember that the issues/projects on the Work Plan are in most respects work over and above the day-to day work associated with delivering primary municipal services (public safety, public utilities, public infrastructure, parks and recreation opportunities, planning, administrative support services, governance and the other day-to-day municipal services).
What is Home Rule?
Under the State of Colorado Constitution, local governments may ask voters to adopt a “Home Rule” Charter; a form of government under the control of local citizens rather than State government, with powers and authority derived from the municipality's locally enacted charter and ordinances, rather than the State statutes. Put simply, Home Rule affords residents who adopt a local charter freedom from the need for state enabling legislation. Home Rule paves the way to greater local control and reinforces a longstanding Colorado tradition favoring local authority to address matters of local concern.
On November 12th, the Board of Trustees approved a schedule for conducting an election in November 2020 asking Erie voters to form a Charter Commission and elect Commission members to draft a proposed Home Rule Charter for Erie, and then—if the voters approve forming the Commission and elect Commission members—submit for voter approval in November 2021 the proposed Charter the Commission prepares.
For additional information on this issue, you can view staff’s report at this link.