The new Council must reinvent itself as the leader we're dying for. 3/26
Cortez Community Final Chance. City council tonight, draft 4.
The new Council coming in and making of itself the leader we have been dying for is our last best chance.
Just because I do it a lot, doesn't mean I like to stand up here as the fool. I don't. But I suspect it will continue. On or off the council.
I got my MBA at Syracuse University in marketing, and I spent the next 27 years in high tech industry causing floundering organizations to thrive, and starting up new ones. New products, new businesses, new markets. I hurl myself in to the point of drowning, because the answers, solutions, are to be found nowhere else. Not in time.
I don't have time for blaming, complaining. And there's no time to be quiet or to wait until you're sure.
Whoever comes in in the new council, it's Cortez one final last best chance. To dig ourselves out of many decades of decaying, deep in a bubble.
We are dying for healthy sustainable desirable business to provide sustainable funding for the city to rebuild itself and to move forward. Maybe like Montrose has achieved these last 10 years while we've been withering in a coma.
It's not going to fall from a tree. Powerful leadership will be required. What leader is accountable that this city is thriving 3 years from now? It seems that we are intentionally structured so that no one is accountable.
* The mayor? No, by Charter the mayor Is unaccountable for anything significant.
* Not a city council that works together 6 hours a month.
* Not the city manager. The city manager reports to the city council that can only work together 6 hours a month.
At least the Titanic had one captain.
It is as if this form of government was set up so that a few wealthy landowners and people with money could be sure nothing interfered with their control.
I am not a conspiracy theorist. I'm also unable to not try and understand how to make things work for all the citizens, especially as we're sinking into endless irrecoverable poverty for most of us.
When our revenue flowed out of the ground as fossil fuels, water for agriculture, and flowed in with affluent tourists, big deal.
Those days are gone.
If the new Council comes in and works business as usual, Cortez is done. If many many many serious citizens don't come together alongside them And roll up their sleeves, we're done.
James here just brings gloom and doom. So did Paul Revere. What of it?
New council, step and lead us, please.
If I'm wrong, explain it to me like I'm a 3-year-old. Please! I'd like to be able to sleep soundly again.
James, 111 South Elm Street, Master Jesus base camp.
Crucial very different versions 1 - 3 of this talk are at the Facebook group people for a thriving prospering cortez, and were emailed to all current and prospective council members by this morning: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1EHoqYFSmw/
Cortez Community Final Chance. City council tonight, draft 4.
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1PFuXjh4td/
Cortez community last chance is the new Council coming in and making of itself the leader we have been dying for.
Just because I do it a lot, doesn't mean I like to stand up here as the fool. I don't. But I suspect it will continue. On or off the council.
I got my MBA at Syracuse University in marketing, and I spent the next 27 years in high tech industry causing floundering organizations to thrive, and starting up new ones. New products, new businesses, new markets.
I hurl myself in to the point of drowning, because the answers, solutions, are to be found nowhere else. Not in time.
I don't have time for blaming, complaining. And there's no time to be quiet or to wait until you're sure.
Whoever comes in in the new council, it's Cortez one final last chance. To dig ourselves out of many decades of decaying deep in a bubble.
We are dying for healthy sustainable desirable business to provide sustainable funds for the city to rebuild itself and to move forward. Maybe like Montrose has achieved these last 10 years while we've been withering in a coma.
It's not going to fall from a tree. Who is accountable that this city is thriving 3 years from now? It seems that we are intentionally structured so that no one is accountable.
* The mayor? No, by Charter the mayor Is unaccountable for anything significant.
* Not a city council that works together 6 hours a month.
* Not the city manager. The city manager reports to the city council that can only work together 6 hours a month.
At least the Titanic had one captain.
It is as if this form of government was set up so that a few wealthy landowners and people with money could be sure nothing interfered with their control.
I am not a conspiracy theorist. I'm also unable to not try and understand how to make things work for all the citizens, especially as we're sinking into endless irrecoverable poverty for most of us.
When our revenue flowed out of the ground as fossil fuels, water for agriculture, and came in with affluent tourists, big deal.
Those days are gone.
If the new Council comes in and works business as usual, Cortez is done. If many many many serious citizens don't come together alongside them And roll up their sleeves, we're done.
James just brings gloom and doom. So did Paul Revere. What of it?
If I'm wrong, explain it to me like I'm a 3-year-old. Please! I'd like to be able to sleep soundly again.
James, 111 South Elm Street, Master Jesus base camp.
Crucial very different Drafts 1 - 3 are here, and in the council packet: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1EHoqYFSmw/
..........
This reply to the above from a courageous extremely competent very senior City official, and my response.
James,
*** if someone can explain to me a three or five year proforma, rough cut, Financial outlook for this city that has it avoiding collapse, instead moving towards thriving, not drowning as a consequence of not developing new new businesses these last 20 years, and in the face of crumbling many decades old infrastructure, many hundred million dollar projects, as God is my witness, I will think I have died and gone to heaven. By the way, the plan would have to lead to thriving for all citizens, not a few landowners and real estate developers and contractors and a few new Rich folks from the coasts coming into displace the current residents. Then I can relax, I can sleep again, and do other things besides making a fool of myself in front of City council. If such a thing exists and it were explained to me, no one needs to read any further in this document. Let's do it.***
You’ve cited Montrose as an example for success. Have you been able to do a comprehensive benchmark to understand what the real differences are?
*** 1. I have not. Blame me, but it is a fact that neither my paid nor volunteer staff has shown up for even a day, even an hour, even a moment. 2. Would I like to? Would I crave that? Is it absolutely essential? It is a no-brainer. 3. Exactly I am attempting to put on the table as crudely as I can to the next Council and the existing City staff, that that is exactly the kind of stuff that they need to dig into. Soon enough. Fast enough. Competently enough. In time. ***
What is the organization of their council? There executive leadership? Do they work more, or less than we do?
*** frankly, I'm a bit shocked at your questions here about the amount of work. In the many times you have been involved in or witnessed in fact or fiction massive turnarounds, when did that not involve huge amounts of work? When was that accomplished when the leadership (group) was handicapped by legally not being able to talk outside of sunshine meetings, and by habit and compensation working together 6 hours a month? My questions are never rhetorical. Please explain. Because I've only ever been involved in such situations and if the not handicapped core team didn't work 60 or 80 120 hours a week there wasn't a prayer. If they did there was a prayer. I need you to be supplying me with some specific examples. And are you opposed to the idea of people working like 9000 lives depend upon it? If so, why?***
What are they [Montrose] doing differently? Demographic, workforce, education, housing, taxation, budget, strategic planning, prioritization, performance measurement?
With all due respect, I continue to hear what you describe as things you believe to be the root cause of what you believe to be an inability to make any improvements for the future, but I’m not seeing any data that supports it other than a belief that we are going to continue to degrade unless we work more, or harder. Where is the data that support this?
*** I'm needing a detailed response to the points I raised above. Thank you. ***
My experience says we need to have different thinking for the solution than what caused the issues, and we need to do things differently, but what has you believing the answer is in more hours and harder work.
*** exactly and precisely because we need a different way of understanding things, we need to create a different way of seeing and doing things. Please please please, I've studied and practiced such things my entire long adulthood. And I have never found an instance where that didn't happen except by people putting in massive amounts of time because they were facing a dire reality, on its terms, not on their own terms. I'm not saying I haven't overlooked those where it was easy. Where it didn't take much time and tremendous courage and commitment. But I haven't found it. Obviously you have. Please supply. I'd likely settle for fact, or even credible fiction.***
Maybe its just doing things differently than what we’ve done before, and using data to drive decision making and metrics to measure performance?! Things that are on our roadmap.
*** I am not arguing that I'm correct. I hope I'm not correct. What road map? How much time does that roadmap say we have, given our best estimates? If it does not take into consideration a best estimate of how much time we have, how many resources we need, how soon we need those resources, then it is pure fantasy. And fantasy is what this city has run on forever. And it used to be okay. The easy money is gone. Please, tell me specifically why I'm incorrect.***
Thanks,
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