Ken Zornes to call in sick next three months, can't act or think without direction

Trustee Ken Zornes pixellated (above)

And super-pixellated (above)

It is a sad but growingly evident truth in Estes Park politics that the first half of an elected official’s term is really more of a performance, the better angel of who the candidate wishes to be (or wishes the electorate to believe, in order to court votes), while the second half is who the person actually is.

Trustee Ken Zornes, who will soon be a veteran on the force rather than a wet-behind-the-ears rookie, has suddenly decided implementation of all town board decisions made within a six-month radius of a scheduled election should be withheld until after that election.

How else to explain his desire to reverse the outcome of a 4 to 3 vote against extending the current IGA, a vote that found him on the losing side? 

Let’s not kid ourselves – If the town board had voted the way Trustee Zornes voted, the way he wanted other board members to vote, he would not be calling for holding off implementation until after the April election, or the November election in the case of the county commissioners.  He would instead be telling us “the board has spoken, full speed ahead”.  His cry to “listen to the people” or “listen to the angry retired folks who have time to show up at public hearings” is uni-directional – he is all ears when it is convenient, but deaf to those voices that don’t echo the ones in his head. 

I was in a room not that long ago where he proclaimed “I’ve heard enough” when the prevailing opinion in that room was against his, in this case against implementation of a stormwater drainage fee/tax.  And we already know how he feels and votes about the Loop, and paid parking.  In these instances, he votes counter to the prevailing opinion of the ultra-minority (compared to total number of registered voters) who show up to speak at public hearings.  But whatever – prevailing public opinion as determined by the Trustee Zornes wind gauge is useful to him only when it jibes with his beliefs.

Among the Trustee Zornes crowd, renewal of the IGA if fast becoming a single-issue “dog whistle” or “litmus test” (depending on your views) for which candidates or duly-elected officials should be allowed to file, and on which candidates or elected officials with opposing views should be harassed relentlessly.  This is unfortunate, because 20 years of this sacred cow has done nothing to improve the dismal prospects for a year-round economy, or slow down the CEO-carousel over at Estes Health, or reduce the carbon footprint or stoplight emissions or whatever else are actual concerns for actual people. 

Living in a world with one planning commission or two planning commissions will have very little impact on the day-to-day activities of the vast majority of Estes Park and Estes Valley (whatever that means, the definition changing according to which side of the fence you live on) residents, the bulk of whom are not realtors, building contractors or developers.  But it has a great impact on rallying the base, and is apparently being crafted as the perfect “gotcha” question for upcoming candidate forums.  “Don’t be a single-issue candidate”, the town clerk advises (and everyone who knows anything about biology or evolution agrees), yet it is clear Trustee Zornes and those who support him want this to be THE single issue at the next election.

We already know this, because people and elected officials who believe a certain way or state a contrary opinion have been bullied and threatened relentlessly on the town bulletin board and at the last six trustee talks and mayor chats, with cries of “How can you be so stupid?” and “Your beliefs don’t make any sense”.  A future without a land-use IGA is fairly predictable – life will go on and the sun will rise tomorrow, since it does in every other Colorado community without a land-use IGA, meaning every other Colorado community.  But it is a convenient way to stir emotions and exchange the secret handshake, since everyone of a certain age in Estes Park wants to believe the sky is failing and they alone are privy to this information.

Help me understand:  Over the last twenty years, we have crafted a joint planning agreement that is so wonderful and marvelous and equitable and revolutionary and game-changing that no other Colorado community chose to adopt or steal it and call it their own.  Yet.  Ever.  Sounds more like we crafted an Edsel instead of a Tesla.  I guess the entire state of Colorado (save Trustee Zornes and his supporters) are crammed full of stupid, backwards hicks?        

Now that we are getting to know Trustee Zornes a little better, I’m betting he would decry the outside influence of, say, Russia, on local elections, but not the outside influence, of, say, Larimer County residents living beyond the Estes Park town limits, who, just like the Politburo, can’t vote and shouldn’t vote in Estes Park’s elections.  Especially when he can wield the opinions of outsiders to create a town board more in his image, meaning one where he can act the way he has always preferred to act, in a steamroll fashion, without having to deal with criticism or challenge.

Every two years in April, we hold elections where common citizens who voluntarily choose to live within the town have a chance to vote, to have their opinions and beliefs and dreams weighed equally with their fellow men and women, regardless of background, wealth, or social status.  It has been on the calendar in Estes Park since 1918.  It is not a surprise, and our local government has never ground to a halt in January because of what might happen in April. 

For very good and legitimate reasons, ballots in this election are not sent to those living or owning a primary residence in Loveland, or Lubbock, or Latvia.  It is an Estes Park town election.  For those Estes Park people living within the town limits of Estes Park.  Not those hand-picked to fill out a meaningless unscientific opinion survey, or those whose datebook is always open to schedule a scuffle or read from a script. 

Those people who receive the most votes in these elections get to serve as the representatives of the people who voted for them.  Since it is a secret ballot, they have no idea if the people who say they voted for them actually voted for them.  They have to act on faith, and behave as if their belief system and approach to governance and campaign promises was what was being supported, and given the green light.  Trustee Zornes apparently likes town citizens when they elect him, but dislikes them when they elect those who disagree with him. 

The last four years of Estes Park’s political history have been a pathetic display of conspirators (in its original sense of “breathing the same air”, look it up before you fly off the handle) dismantling duly-elected officials and reversing majority decisions through questionable means.  Will transparency increase or decrease after April 7?  What about good will?  Will Trustee Zornes or those in his voting bloc even take a stand on this, or allow these legitimate concerns to be campaign issues as well?

Reap the wind, sow the whirlwind.  Since he started it, since he showed how recalls can be pulled off using the apparatus of anonymous attack mailers and self-proclaimed “unbiased” forums run by friends and relatives, Trustee Zornes should prepare for one of his favorites to be picked off after the next election. 

Or maybe he should use this down time to start designing that bunker himself, since he believes nothing can be accomplished, and no legitimate decisions implemented, in the three months leading up to an election.  Maybe he can stay home and use the remaining lifespan of planning commissioners created in his image for helpful advice.  If Trustee Zornes and his backers can wield the recall process to reverse the outcomes of elections that displease him/them, where no crime has been committed and none could ever be charged, so can those who didn’t vote for him.  It's a free country, except for the $20,000 we are going to have to set aside annually to vote those out who get voted in.

Since Trustee Zornes helped usher in the era of counting scalps and issuing veiled threats regarding electability, those on the other side would be stupid not to join that same game.  Doing the math, we can all recognize the number of citizens who didn’t vote for Trustee Zornes two years ago was much greater than those who did.