Oldstes Park
So I couldn't help but notice in the Safeway this morning how many people above retirement age live in Estes Park. I don't take any over-the-counter or prescription meds, but the new pharmacy location was already packed at 9:00 a.m., and the additional walk to get scrips filled may help decrease the number of heart attacks and strokes affecting the elderly.
Young people living here are at a definite disadvantage, and I recognize I may have to age 20 years before any of my opinions and concerns regarding race and rampant pika pedophilia are finally taken seriously. Of course, at that point they will have to be filtered through hearing aids, which will likely dull the message somewhat, so I'll have to yell even louder.
The slate of candidates for town trustee is starting to solidify. I recognize some of the folks religiously reading this blog are essentially spies for the opposition, so I promise not to disappoint you by being less than straightforward.
From the list I've seen so far, Estes Park can do better. It is another matter entirely whether or not Estes Park will actually choose to do better, but the incumbents have problems, and most of the newcomers have problems, in that they are old, and act old. The carryovers/leftovers will likely team (or be teamed by Rotary club members) with another relative newcomer as a triumverate, taking the tag team approach to belittling the remaining unaffiliated candidates. This will likely work because they are old, and the majority of the voters are old (see above).
An Estes gerontocracy has some benefits, especially as relates to town offices being kept extra toasty warm throughout the year, with plenty of parking for those with handicapped stickers. It's unclear to me, though, how "agile" a 70+ year-old board will behave in the midst of crisis. In Hawaii, when the missiles started not flying, some retirees on the golf course drove their golf carts to the other, apparently more protected, side of a ridge. The fact that (a) this is presented as serious analysis on a serious topic by Estes oldsters demonstrates how severely out of touch they are and (b) Estes Park doesn't yet allow golf carts on downtown streets (emphasis on "yet", my guess is, this is all part of the master plan), meaning we have no similar way to respond to an imminent attack (or even a fork in the road without guiding signage), makes me gravely concerned for a town that essentially placed itself on cruise control two decades ago, thinking that somehow provided direction as well as speed.
Young people living here are at a definite disadvantage, and I recognize I may have to age 20 years before any of my opinions and concerns regarding race and rampant pika pedophilia are finally taken seriously. Of course, at that point they will have to be filtered through hearing aids, which will likely dull the message somewhat, so I'll have to yell even louder.
The slate of candidates for town trustee is starting to solidify. I recognize some of the folks religiously reading this blog are essentially spies for the opposition, so I promise not to disappoint you by being less than straightforward.
From the list I've seen so far, Estes Park can do better. It is another matter entirely whether or not Estes Park will actually choose to do better, but the incumbents have problems, and most of the newcomers have problems, in that they are old, and act old. The carryovers/leftovers will likely team (or be teamed by Rotary club members) with another relative newcomer as a triumverate, taking the tag team approach to belittling the remaining unaffiliated candidates. This will likely work because they are old, and the majority of the voters are old (see above).
An Estes gerontocracy has some benefits, especially as relates to town offices being kept extra toasty warm throughout the year, with plenty of parking for those with handicapped stickers. It's unclear to me, though, how "agile" a 70+ year-old board will behave in the midst of crisis. In Hawaii, when the missiles started not flying, some retirees on the golf course drove their golf carts to the other, apparently more protected, side of a ridge. The fact that (a) this is presented as serious analysis on a serious topic by Estes oldsters demonstrates how severely out of touch they are and (b) Estes Park doesn't yet allow golf carts on downtown streets (emphasis on "yet", my guess is, this is all part of the master plan), meaning we have no similar way to respond to an imminent attack (or even a fork in the road without guiding signage), makes me gravely concerned for a town that essentially placed itself on cruise control two decades ago, thinking that somehow provided direction as well as speed.
Comments
Post a Comment