| LovelandPolitics.com |
| Councilman's Retreat Agenda: Muzzle Taxpayers & Raise Taxes |
Loveland - January 9, 2010
As Loveland’s City Council gears-up for their annual retreat meeting scheduled for January 15 and 16, one councilor appears to have
already abandoned his campaign pledges from last November to limit taxes and increase citizen participation in local governance.
Instead of the open government and limited taxation Councilman Daryle Klassen repeatedly promised voters, he is instead pushing for
higher taxes on Loveland residents along with new measures limiting their ability to communicate with city staff and council.
Klassen’s agenda items were sent out to his colleagues in an email December 12, 2009 over the publicly accessible city email system
despite efforts by his colleagues to keep the agenda item submissions private by directing their colleagues to use private email
addresses when submitting their agenda items for the offsite meeting.
An email from Mayor Gutierrez and Councilors Joan Shaffer and Carol Johnson (the offsite planning committee) to the rest of the city
council stated;
"Historically we have tried to use this time to informally discuss more
controversial topics outside the glare of TV cameras"
The email pressumably sent by all three (Gutierrez, Shaffer & Johnson) invited their colleagues to “send your suggestions to Carol’
s personal email” (carol-530@comcast.net) in an apparent attempt to keep the correspondence regarding the meeting agenda
items and who submitted which items secret.
Klassen failed to abide by the special instructions. LovelandPolitics accessed his email regarding the five items he requested be
placed on the agenda. Four of the five items submitted by Councilman Daryle Klassen for discussion involve either raising taxes or
limiting public access to city government. Below are those four items;
1. “Sales tax on the internet.” Councilman Klassen is asking the Loveland City Council to consider imposing a city
sales tax on purchases Loveland residents make over the internet.
2. Repeal the Gallagher Amendment. Klassen wants the City of Loveland to join statewide efforts to repeal Colorado’
s Gallagher Amendment which limits the amount of taxes collected from residential property owners to only 45% of
property tax collections. The net result will be an increase in property taxes of every homeowner in Loveland. Disguised
as a “business attraction” issue Klassen also requested the city’s economic development director Betsy Hale make a
presentation to council regarding the amendment and its impact on businesses.
3. Allow testimony at council study sessions only to certain special interests approved by the council. Klassen
specifically stated he wants only certain people to be allowed to address study sessions while he wants citizen comments
banned to avoid what Klassen described as “frivolous” comments by the public.
4. Klassen appears either confused or upset regarding citizen complaints to city staff in what he described as “extended
verbal harangue on city staff.” Klassen is asking the city’s legislative branch, city council, to take some action which will
allow the staff to “bring to conclusion” items Klassen feels were already addressed and deserve no further attention by
staff. What specifically he is proposing the council do to inoculate staff from any obligation to respond to resident
complaints is unclear.
Loveland’s City Council annual retreat meetings are not recorded or televised so any residents interested in hearing the discussion will
need to attend in person. The meeting will be held at Group Publishing Inc. in Loveland and is by law required to be open to the
public. Group Publishing is located on West Eisenhower Blvd. (Highway 34) just west of La Quinta Inn in Loveland.
As Loveland’s City Council gears-up for their annual retreat meeting scheduled for January 15 and 16, one councilor appears to have
already abandoned his campaign pledges from last November to limit taxes and increase citizen participation in local governance.
Instead of the open government and limited taxation Councilman Daryle Klassen repeatedly promised voters, he is instead pushing for
higher taxes on Loveland residents along with new measures limiting their ability to communicate with city staff and council.
Klassen’s agenda items were sent out to his colleagues in an email December 12, 2009 over the publicly accessible city email system
despite efforts by his colleagues to keep the agenda item submissions private by directing their colleagues to use private email
addresses when submitting their agenda items for the offsite meeting.
An email from Mayor Gutierrez and Councilors Joan Shaffer and Carol Johnson (the offsite planning committee) to the rest of the city
council stated;
"Historically we have tried to use this time to informally discuss more
controversial topics outside the glare of TV cameras"
The email pressumably sent by all three (Gutierrez, Shaffer & Johnson) invited their colleagues to “send your suggestions to Carol’
s personal email” (carol-530@comcast.net) in an apparent attempt to keep the correspondence regarding the meeting agenda
items and who submitted which items secret.
Klassen failed to abide by the special instructions. LovelandPolitics accessed his email regarding the five items he requested be
placed on the agenda. Four of the five items submitted by Councilman Daryle Klassen for discussion involve either raising taxes or
limiting public access to city government. Below are those four items;
1. “Sales tax on the internet.” Councilman Klassen is asking the Loveland City Council to consider imposing a city
sales tax on purchases Loveland residents make over the internet.
2. Repeal the Gallagher Amendment. Klassen wants the City of Loveland to join statewide efforts to repeal Colorado’
s Gallagher Amendment which limits the amount of taxes collected from residential property owners to only 45% of
property tax collections. The net result will be an increase in property taxes of every homeowner in Loveland. Disguised
as a “business attraction” issue Klassen also requested the city’s economic development director Betsy Hale make a
presentation to council regarding the amendment and its impact on businesses.
3. Allow testimony at council study sessions only to certain special interests approved by the council. Klassen
specifically stated he wants only certain people to be allowed to address study sessions while he wants citizen comments
banned to avoid what Klassen described as “frivolous” comments by the public.
4. Klassen appears either confused or upset regarding citizen complaints to city staff in what he described as “extended
verbal harangue on city staff.” Klassen is asking the city’s legislative branch, city council, to take some action which will
allow the staff to “bring to conclusion” items Klassen feels were already addressed and deserve no further attention by
staff. What specifically he is proposing the council do to inoculate staff from any obligation to respond to resident
complaints is unclear.
Loveland’s City Council annual retreat meetings are not recorded or televised so any residents interested in hearing the discussion will
need to attend in person. The meeting will be held at Group Publishing Inc. in Loveland and is by law required to be open to the
public. Group Publishing is located on West Eisenhower Blvd. (Highway 34) just west of La Quinta Inn in Loveland.
| Loveland City Councilman Daryle Klassen |
| City Council Retreat Friday, January 15, 2010 8:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Saturday, January 16, 2010 8:30 a.m. - Noon The Group Publishing 1515 Cascade Avenue Loveland, CO 80538 |
| Klassen's agenda for the retreat; 1. Begin exploring ways to impose a sales tax on items purchased by Loveland residents over the internet. 2. Lobby against the "Gallagher" Amendment statewide which places a limit on property taxes paid by residential propoerty owners. 3. Economic forecast by staff 4. Open council study sessions only to those who can "further our knowledge" while excluding public comment. 5. Give city employees a greenlight to ignore citizen complaints |