My mission was to put the option for Cortez to choose thriving, on the ballot. Mission accomplished.  Cortez has chosen.

 

Addiction is a symptom of poverty. Poverty is a highly treatable condition.  The most deadly addiction in Cortez is the addiction to the poverty profiteering industry. We need to switch our addiction to helping people Bridge themselves out of poverty. Hundreds of cities are doing it. Bridges out of poverty. Circles USA, asset-based Community Development, getting ahead. Go to the library, find the stack.  https://www.facebook.com/share/p/18tMZVGPdx/ "I'm leaving for treatment.... " he said..... [this in the vestibule of the rec center this morning early.]  Over on the west side of Denver. And then I'm not coming back. I'm going to learn to understand my addiction. B*******, I said. Yes, don't come back, didn't judge McLaren tell you that in loving way? He nodded yes. Pinon project, judge padilla, judge McLaren are all helping me get into treatment. I told them that's what I want. I said, this understanding your addiction stuff is b*******. Someone can t...

Today I've searched for and found articles that suggest that visionary medium-term planning is not impossible for cities. Please see initial sources below.  If you want to destroy any thriving organization, be it City or private, or individual, destroy their ability to plan more than 12 months out. Thriving is not possible without medium and long-term reality based envisioning. Thriving is also impossible for any living entity individual or collective, if the vision is not rooted in reality. Not to be confused with bound or chained by reality, blindness. I am exploding with passion, sometimes visible in City Council meetings and elsewhere in City hall. Why? Objectively, like maybe most of america, we are gripped by denial, instead of vision. I think we can do better. I know that we need to do better. I won't rest until I see that better is impossible, or we get on with developing our reality based vision for Cortez thriving. 7 days a week, every waking breath, I'm trying to...

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1JBLsyaccM/ STATE OF CORTEZ 4/2026: In the absence of qualified staff support, what I can offer is a back of the napkin estimate: a city with approximately $30 million dollars in annual revenues for everything, needs ADDITIONALLY half a billion dollars and maybe much more to replace it's decades now crumbling water system and roads, and to preventatively remediate and maintain its Rec center, pool, Park, housing stock, ball fields... etc. We are mid to late stage dying City unless we roll up our sleeves and try and improve the outlook. Starting now. [just sent to current Council people, people on the ballot, and all senior City staff, and media, and retired mayors. my soul woke me up early this morning and then kept me waking and sleeping about 4 to 6 hours, a Harbinger that I was supposed to do something today. smh.]  City council leaders, STATE OF CORTEZ 4/2026: In the absence of qualified staff support, what I can offer is a back of a napkin est...

Cty cncl, cty mgr: I need to be coached hard, and I coach hard. Viral "Hard Coaching" clip: https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1LRWirASjh/ [I am not "running" for City council. I'm making myself available if citizens want me there. I AM RUNNING FOR 9000+ CITIZENS TO BE THRIVING, as I have been since day one in Cortez, and as will continue as long as I am functional.]  City official. "James, it's hard not to be defensive when you imply that city council has been asleep at the wheel."  http://www.apprentice-james-4-cortez.org/2026/04/invisible-100m-invoices-letter-to-editor.html In the neighborhoods of cortez, 100% of the verbal feedback to my face regarding this horrible 'CORTEZ SINKING' graphic below is, that's great! Meaning, that's exactly how it is! Wonderful, valuable, constructive feedback (above) from a senior City official this morning, almost unprecedented, to the earlier post here, "James, it's hard not to be defensi...

Letter to the editor. Journal.  A confession: As diligent as I am, I'm not always diligent enough. Same with you? Same with the city? Purchasing a house in Cortez recently, it was mumbled to me maybe several times about inspecting my sewer pipes. I did, but I could have done better. And now I've got a $9,000 project I didn't anticipate. The house is worthless without sewer pipes that work. And it didn't occur to me to look at the financial health of Cortez with respect to future home value.  I wanted the house. I wanted a nice story. I had other things to invest my time in. So I denied to myself that maybe I should have done deeper. And now do I understand we have $100's of millions of dollars of deferred maintenance, repairs, replacement of everything from our water system, roads.. to our rec center? Not prominently acknowledged and wrestled with  in our public dialog? March 10th the City said that we're in great financial shape! And there was no mention of the...