Comments on: Which groups are pocketing YOUR ratepayer dollars?

By: Judy

Judy — Thu, 29 Nov 2012 15:50:04 +0000

Welsh, the reason this was not reported is because the attacking and negative news is much more inflammatory. The Gazette and Chacon seem much more focused on negativity. It seems to be against their journalism rules to write balanced and factual stories about CSU. God forbid they do a positive story on CSU. They do not print balanced and fair stories when it comes to the city and CSU. Like most organizations, CSU has room for improvement but they also do a lot of things right which help keep the rates low and competitive. Would it kill the Gazette and Chacon to write about the many positive things that CSU accomplishes? I know it can be a little boring, but the readers deserve both sides of the story. Come on Chacon and the Gazette, you can do better than that, journalism is suppose to be balanced.

By: siggie

siggie — Thu, 29 Nov 2012 14:17:20 +0000

I believe the petulant “daytripper’s” drug of choice to be glue or paint fumes.

I might wager there is a law against a publicly funded entity giving taxpayer/ratepayer money away to pet projects. If not, there certainly should be.

By: Welsh

Welsh — Thu, 29 Nov 2012 01:57:05 +0000

I had to go to the csu.org website to pay my bill (sort of) and was curious about the proposed budget. I saw that the typical bill would not go up. Why hasn’t this been reported?? I would suspect that this would be great news for a lot of readers, like it was for me.

By: Judy

Judy — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 02:22:28 +0000

Nathan,

Of course they have a monopoly because they are the only electric supplier for Colorado Springs, just like Mountain View Electric is the only electric supplier for the areas in other parts of Colorado Springs and Fountain Electric supplies the Fountain Area, etc. So they are a monopoly like many other electric companies, what is your point? They are also a municipality which means they do not have stockholders they like to receive dividends on their investments which helps keep the rates lower and more competitive. They provide afforadable and reliable electricity. I would recommend that you do some research on these topics before spouting off. Fortunately, Mayor Bach is not a voting member of the utilities’ board. He is hell bent on destroying utilities to benefit his own personal agenda as well as Schuck”s and other developer friends’ agenda.. There is always room for improvement, but Bach is way out of line with his never ending pursuit of power and control so that he and his developer cronies can benefit financial from addtional development, a potential ball park downtown even though we have a perfectly good and paid for ballpark in Stetson Hills called the Sky Sox stadium. Last time I went to a game there, it seemed like a great place to play ball plus other community events that take place there. Why do we need a new ball park? Maybe we need to start looking at the possibility of recalling Bach before he destroys our city.

By: JLC

JLC — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 16:58:10 +0000

Eric says it best.
As a former CSU employee, Community Focus Fund Steering Committee member and a rate payer … I have very personal knowledge of the endless volunteer hours spent by CSU employees. The 1/10 of one percent spent to provide support to the organizations the steering committee allocates is a drop in the bucket. The Steering Committee abides by very strict guidelines as set forth by CSU policies. I have had the privilege of serving the community. I will tell you that all volunteer hours are performed on an employee’s own time. At no time were we allowed to volunteer during our scheduled work hours. 25,000 volunteer hours in 2011 by CSU employees is in fact no drop in the bucket.
100% of the Community Focus Fund members are without a doubt the best of the best. I will always cherish the time I spent with the Community Focus Fund Steering Committee, volunteering in support of our community.
So, I guess what I am telling the ratepayers of Colorado Springs, you have one of the finest affordable utility companies. With the exception of a few on the leadership team, you have some of the best in the business of running a multiple service utility company.
The ratepayers of Colorado Springs Utilities should be proud of the fact that their utility company has a program like the Community Focus Fund. In reality all ratepayers receive a benefit from the volunteers of the Community Focus Fund and its staff.

By: Nathan Kettner

Nathan Kettner — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 16:46:18 +0000

Preposterous. CSU exists to provide utilities to the public. They have a monopoly, so comparison to other companies that have to maintain a public image is completely false.

By: Mary Lou

Mary Lou — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 03:26:59 +0000

If CSU is taking care of all of these community ‘requirements’ for me, then I will stop donating and doing volunteer work for these organizations. Such a large enterprise dwarfs my puny efforts. I can save my money until utility rates are increased, and stay home.

By: Carl

Carl — Sun, 25 Nov 2012 15:48:00 +0000

Just turn it into a CO-OP utility as the people already own it. Would just be a different form of ownership.

People elected a real estate salesman mayor and now he wants to sale things.

By: Judy

Judy — Sat, 24 Nov 2012 22:54:17 +0000

Darling Donny,

I am not a fan of Bach, but I am not part of any anit-mayor group. In case you are not aware of it, many intelliigent and reasonable people are beginning to question the destructive direction he is taking our city and many of the decisions he has made many of which will benefit Jenkins, Schuck, and the other developers. I am concerned about his decisions because I love this city and it is very apparent that many of the decisions that are being hastiily made by Bach and his buddies will have a huge impact on our lives, the lives of our children, and the economy, which is a reasonable thing to worry about. You seem to thrive on negativity and childish behavior. It is time that you grown up and think about people other than yoursefl. The majority of people are not as miserable, nasty, angry and judgemental as you. We need to look at the long term effects of the decisions made by the current mayor including potentially losing jobs and companies because rates will increase if electric generation is sold. Most reasonable people can understand the risks and long term effects. I will pray for you and your hard, callous, and uncaring heart.

By: Don

Don — Sat, 24 Nov 2012 21:51:43 +0000

Nothing but more name calling and political hackery…….don’t you have anything better and actually constructive to do, Judy Hack? Oh, wait, I forgot…..you’re part of the paid anti-mayor group within Utilities…. so never mind…..proceed with your hackery and nastiness.