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As of this writing, Longmont’s City Council has tabled its consideration of the Distel-Tull land swap deal, and I think that’s a good thing.
At issue is whether the City should swap the Distel property, owned by the City and designated for Open Space use when the gravel pit company’s lease runs out in 2033, with the Tull property, owned by the City and designated for industrial use but currently in a more natural state. If the land swap went through, the Tull property would become Open Space and the Distel property, with the active gravel pit on it, would likely become the site of a much-needed local composting facility sometime in the 2030s.
Seems like a no-brainer, right? Not so fast.
As I’ve been meeting with Longmonters as part of my campaign for City Council, I’ve heard the same things repeatedly, literally without exception: No one is against a local composting facility. No one thinks the Distel property would be more suitable as Open Space than the Tull property. But – and here’s the crux of the problem – no one asked them.
I said the Open Space is owned by the City because, technically, it is. But the City of Longmont is actually only a steward of the land; the whole idea of Open Space is that it’s owned by the people collectively. We are taxed for it, and it is purchased on our behalf and designated Open Space so that we may enjoy it for generations to come. Open Space isn’t simply a zoning designation; it’s a promise and a contract with us, the residents of Longmont.
Legally, the City Council is permitted to make this swap without consulting the electorate, but what they can do and what they should do are often not the same thing. They have known for months that this proposal to swap Open Space land was coming, and they also knew that there is an election in November. It would have been very simple and inexpensive for the Council to have referred the measure to the voters on the November ballot – to have, in essence, asked their permission to use land purchased as Open Space for another, laudable purpose. They could have kept their promise to the people AND built their composting facility. But they didn’t do that, and so they shouldn’t make the land swap deal. Doing so is breaking faith with the electorate at a time when public confidence and trust in government and elected officials is at historic lows. A composting facility is a great idea, but not at the expense of public trust, and since the City Council didn’t do this right this time, they shouldn’t do it all.
Sincerely,
Teresa Simpkins, Candidate for Longmont City Council, Ward 2
