Hello,

This is my contribution to Citizen's Discussion at Tuesday's City Council meeting:

Good morning,

The city of Manitou Springs has a measure on the ballot next month to enable them to raise their amusement tax to 14%.

It is now 5%.

This is harmful to tourism and the Cog Railway.

They are doing this to try to recover some of the tax revenue that Colorado Springs took away from them via measure 300.

I contacted the city of Manitou Springs and Mayor Graham responded.

He told me that the proposed increase will not  replace all of the tax revenue that Colorado Springs took away from his city.

My belief is that it will not even come close.

I need to know how much tax revenue Colorado Springs has collected since April from the sale of recreational marijuana.

Will the Mayor or a member of the City Council please obtain that information and email it to me?

What do our 10 elected officials each believe?

Do you believe that voters expected that 300 would cause the city of Manitou Springs to lose one third of their general fund?

Do you believe that the ban on the sale of recreational marijuana would have been approved if this loss had been discussed publicly before the vote?

That ban was put on the ballot by our City Council?

I was surprised that it did not pass.

Do you believe that 300 would have been approved if every voter had known that it would take one third of the general fund away from Manitou Springs?

I feel that the backers of 300 deceived the people.

They talked about how it would do good for our city, but did not mention that there was even a remote possibility that it would do lasting harm to Manitou Springs.

Either they suppressed this down side of their measure or they were incompetent.

No one mentioned that 300 could do great and lasting harm to Manitou Springs.

Now we know that it is causing them to lose one third of their general fund permanently.

Does that constitute great and lasting harm?

Our Mayor and City Council members are budget experts.

Would such a loss do great and lasting harm to our city?

Would you consider such a loss to be intolerable?

I suspect that our elected leaders did not intend to do this harm to Manitou Springs.

Many of them did not want 300 to pass.

Now we do know how harmful it is to our next door neighbors.

The people of our city have a right to know.

The loss of one third of their general fund has been publicized but the public is not always able to connect the dots in their minds on their own.

What is the opinion of our City Attorney's Office?

Were voters tricked or deceived?

Would the ban have passed?

Is 300 flawed enough to be overturned?

As a voter I cannot live with the harm that we (the bullies) are doing to our friends and neighbors.

I got a letter to the editor printed in the Gazette but for some reason the power of it's truth did not upset the people.

If our Mayor or some on the City Council will now state publicly that they agree with me we can manifest the power of the people and get 300 rightfully overturned.

Our city government is not a criminal enterprise, and will remain so as long as we right wrongs such as this one!

Thank you, Carl Strow