Consolidating Colorado Springs' city and county governments could

give leave to us consider the delicious absurdity of the ongoing saga of - Tejon public way striping!

In case you've missed it, give permission to me bring you up to date.

El Paso shire for reasons best known alone to our august county commissioners, ripped down an unprepossessing office building upon South Tejon and erected a parking garage upon the site. Upon completion, the city re-striped the formerly four-lane road to two- lanes, and added bicycle lanes.

come into the county commissioners, complaining bitterly. The true idea! What arrogance! The temerity of the city, to imagine that it can actually implement the long-debated Downtown Action Plan, which called for just of that kind a reconfiguration! Don't those know-nothing city bureaucrats realize they can't mes with the county? It's our way or a striped highway!

for a like reason our five overpaid commissioners citeed hapless city employee Craig Blewitt to their chambers, bloviated for a brace of hours and sent him upon his way, presumably chastened by the agency of the fearsome wrath of the commissioners.

Of course, it wasn't flat a tempest in a teapot - the commissioners' writ stretch outed not to South Tejon, not at any time mind that they own a parking garage.

It was just another example of our sometimes bizarrely dysfunctional city/county managements whose overlapping jurisdictions, duplicate departments and feuding pitch uponed officials might be fun to watch, on the other hand not fun to pay for.

Let's diocese - the county runs the shire and the city runs the city, on the other hand the city's in the shire and most of the shire is in the city - in like manner who's in charge here?

No individual and everyone.

The city has a big building downtown with a knob of bureaucrats staring at computer shields - and so does the shire The city has police - and the shire has sheriffs. The city has a parks department - and in the way that does the county. The city has a transportation department - and thus does the county.

We have, in consequence two competing fiefdoms, often performing parallel tasks, each nourished by means of plenty of tax dollars, and each reasonably efficient, taken in isolation.

You don't have to be a Harvard MBA to figure without that our local governmental form which might have made faculty of perception a century ago, is unwieldy antiquated and expensive.

It's hard to believe that consolidating city/county conducts wouldn't increase efficiency, reduce take away froms and enable the hapless citizenry to acquire more bang for its tax dollars.

on the other hand you'll never hear elected officials at any horizontal call for such reforms. A cynic would say that they just want to hold their jobs, but that's not the single reason.

Our near system of government is profoundly embedded in the Colorado Constitution. For Colorado Springs to adopt Denver's archetype and become the city and shire of Colorado Springs, would require not just a city-wide promised but a statewide referendum.

Local voter the legislature and Colorado voter would all have to sign not upon on the deal.

And what about the deal itself? in what way would the new city/county conduct be structured?

Would the of recent origin commissioners/council members be paid $6250 annually, as are council members, or $75000 (including bennies) as are commissioners?

Partisan or non-partisan elections? And what would happen to the ease of the county? Would we just split it up among neighboring counties?

What we'd be looking at is a politician's nightmare - an angry, contentious proces with dooms of players, lots of potential loser and no clear winners - leave out the taxpayers, who aren't paying attention.

Machiavelli observ four centuries ago that reforms are always difficult to enact, since potential loser know what they might fail to keep while potential winners might not smooth believe that they'll gain anything - thus reforms are strongly opposed and weakly supported.

Ours may be an archaic, inefficient, ill-shaped contraption - democracy as designed through Rube Goldberg - but it works amazingly well, given its inherent faults.

Imagine a 140-year-old house, originally well-built, on the other hand patched together through the years by dint of lousy carpenters, sleepy plumbers and inebriated roofers - which, amazingly, still grasps together. Sure, you could renovate it, or tear it down - on the other hand that'd cost good money, maybe a fate of it, and you might not be any better not on in the end.

Might as well leave well enough alone!

Meanwhile, I ran into my pal, the Seasoned Political looker-on at a Denver event last weekend, and was treated to a certain quantity of definite opinions about the November elections.

"Let me compute you, (Bob) Beauprez's toast. The heads are moving in the wrongful direction, and (Marc) Holtzman gave the Dem the best Christmas not away ever - Bothways Bob! Remember when Dickie Wadhams stuck the 'lawyer/lobbyist' label upon (Tom) Strickland, and (Wayne) Allard won the election - and all he had to do play the veterinarian card, and artificial position with sick puppies - not bad! Ritter's gonna cruise."

What about Congressional District 7?

"I don't diocese how (GOP nominee Rick) O'Donnell can win - he wrote more [i]or[/i] less dumbo policy statement for (Newt) Gingrich back in '94 saying we had to obtain rid of Social Security - not privatize, earn rid of! He says he was sole 24 - he's changed his mind. suffer me tell you, in politics you'd be better not on coming out for kiddie porn than coming on the outside against Social Security"