Letter to the Editor; Erie Elections 2024

screenshot, CyclErie’s mural, a cycling shop in Downtown Erie

Letter to the Editor, 

Election time can be a really stressful and frustrating time of year for people. There is so much information and discourse that it is sometimes difficult to make a decision on who to believe and what to vote for. Thursday, October 17, 2024, I sat in the gymnasium at Vista Ridge Academy at the Town of Erie Candidate Forum hosted by the League of Women Voters, listening to the potential future leaders of the Town of Erie discussing pertinent issues in the upcoming election. 

The desire to make sure our Town thrives is what inspired me to join the Planning Advisory Committee (PAC), a group of Erie citizens who were brought together to advise and give input and suggestions throughout the process of creating the new Comprehensive Plan.

While working on the PAC, we heard often and frequently that what the people of Erie (myself included) love most is the small-town feel. That is what makes it such a desirable place to live, and it has driven our growth. Half the people in Erie now in love with that small-town feel wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for the growth set in motion approximately 20-25 years ago. It was a Comprehensive Plan that promoted growth intended for a much smaller town with aspirations to be a desirable place to live. That plan was beyond successful. But with the new population came new problems: Inadequate infrastructure, insufficient services, skyrocketing housing costs, and this continued desire to still feel like a small town despite our population outpacing the towns around us. 

What I learned from being on the PAC, was that this Erie bedroom community could not sustain the growth model that was decided on before most of us even lived here. 

Bedroom communities offer a quiet life, lots of green space, and great parks and schools… but how is this typically sustained? Bedroom communities rely primarily on residential taxes to maintain services, infrastructure, and low-density housing. What does Erie do when the money generated from residential taxes can no longer sustain the growth created by an old, outdated plan that no longer fits? 

Just this month, the current Town Council in Erie, in a 4-2 vote to pass, finally approved the brand new Comprehensive Plan for our town. This plan was set in motion approximately two and a half years ago, driven by the desire to maintain a small-town feel in Erie, control the sprawling growth encouraged by the old Comprehensive Plan, and not overburden the residents. For two and a half years, groups of contractors, town employees, elected officials, volunteers, & survey respondents all contributed to this new plan to make our way of life in Erie sustainable. In this process, we learned from experts that a model where a town maintains low taxes, high services, and low density does not exist. It is impossible. To maintain our small-town feel, we needed to get creative. The Comprehensive Plan was the culmination of two and a half years of work and thousands of person-hours, all centered around maintaining our small-town feel despite the growth that was set in motion two-plus decades ago. 

As someone who worked on the comprehensive plan by volunteering my time on the PAC and meeting with Town Planners to understand the process, my frustrations arose as I witnessed a former Mayor running for reelection, Andrew Moore, making false claims that the new Comprehensive Plan was rushed. I was not surprised, but again, disappointed that Andrew Sawusch and Brandon Bell voted against approving the Comprehensive Plan, claiming there wasn’t enough involvement from the public. As part of the public, I was able to participate intimately in the development of this plan along with the rest of the PAC, and I know copious community engagement opportunities were offered. Their objections felt like a ploy to sow divisiveness and spread disinformation in our town, a town these candidates claim to want to bring together. None of these men chose to be at these meetings, be involved in this extensive process, and in the eleventh hour were calling it shady. Are these the men that we want to lead our town? The ones who ignore the process and then complain about the results? The ones who divide us with scare tactics and misinformation?

At the candidate forum, my frustration grew.

• In general, I heard candidates Andrew Moore, John Mortellaro, Andrew Sawusch, Brandon Bell, Dan Maloit, and Brian O’Connor discuss repealing/changing the newly approved Comprehensive Plan, a plan that was developed to maintain our small-town feel and increase revenue without burdening current residents while turning around and saying how important it was to maintain a small-town feel. 
• Moore, Mortellaro, Sawusch, Bell, Maloit, and O’Connor talked about decreasing taxes but did not offer a plan for how the town will collect revenue to maintain our essential services and amenities (like parks). 
• Moore, Mortellaro, Sawusch, Bell, Maloit, and O’Connor expressed how oil and gas isn’t an issue in Erie, leaning on Colorado Senate Bill 181, saying Oil and Gas operations aren’t happening in our backyards. 

It felt as if these six candidates were all reading from the same script. 

I then heard candidate Dan Maloit talking about having more snow plows (increasing services), only to turn around and talk about firing Town employees and mocking their jobs. 

With all of that, I thought to myself, these are the types of men who make people dislike politics. This rhetoric is what drives communities apart. 

(Please note that Travis Pinz was not at the forum and did not submit an opening statement. In trying to find information on his plans for Erie, my biggest takeaway is that his beliefs and goals for the town seem to align with candidates Moore, Mortellaro, Sawusch, Bell, Maloit, and O’Connor). 

At the end of the forum, I approached Candidate Andrew Moore to discuss his plans. I had addressed him several times on social media with no response regarding the misconception that a town can maintain low taxes, high services, and low density. 

When I asked about services such as maintenance and infrastructure, he mocked fellow candidate Dan Maloit about his plow plan. When I discussed taxes and how he will pay for the services to maintain the small-town feel in Erie, and if he plans on lowering taxes, he diverted the conversation, talking about how he isn’t going to lower taxes (after stating during the forum that we need to lower mills, aka taxes).  

I asked about different housing options to support our community, and he simply stated, “So I’m guessing you’re looking for affordable housing.” 

To try and get a clear answer, I asked about stances that his “slate,” Andrew Sawusch, Brandon Bell, John Mortellaro, Dan Maloit, Travis Pinz, and Brian O’Connor, were taking, and I was told that he doesn’t have a slate. This confused me because his election signs are always paired with the same six other candidates, and those candidates, including Mr. Moore, held a Meet and Greet together on Wednesday, October 16. It felt very disingenuous and dismissive. 

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He then went on to discuss how Erie is not and will never be a community that will use bicycles and buses and that we just need to expand roads (which I know is another piece of misinformation and a fallacy as it is proven that widening roads does not reduce traffic, but instead makes it worse due to “induced demand”.) 

I then also asked why it didn’t seem like he answered the question on oil and gas. Mr. Moore told me that I needed to check his website. 

I felt like I left the conversation without a single question answered due to Mr. Moore’s question-dodging. I asked myself why he wouldn’t just answer the questions and tell the truth. As frustrated as I felt during the forum, my conversation with Mr. Moore is what pushed me to write this letter. I was finally exhausted from all the manipulation.

But even with all the manipulation, misinformation, and frustration, I did feel hope during the candidate forum. There was a group of candidates that spoke intelligently and passionately about the important issues in the Town of Erie. 

• I heard Justin Brooks talk about making sure Erie maintains its sense of community and that there is affordable housing for our seniors and workforce. 
• Emily Baer discussed how we were going to support our most vulnerable citizens and protect the interests of Erie citizens by showing up at the table where oil and gas decisions are being made. 
• Dan Hoback was passionate in developing mixed-use areas of Erie that would increase our tax base and provide much-needed different types of housing that would contribute to and enhance Erie’s small-town feel. 
• Anil Pesaramelli supported Smart and sustainable growth. 
• Ben Hemphill focused on multimodal transportation and financial sustainability. 

All these ideas were echoed within this group of candidates with a sincere focus on how we will maintain the small-town feel Erie is known for. 

(Please note that Richard Garcia was not at the forum due to a family obligation, but he did submit an opening statement stating how he is going to contribute to making Erie more inclusive by supporting affordable housing, citing that the majority of people working in Erie cannot afford to live here and stating how he will support programs and services to meet the needs of our residents. Based on his literature, his beliefs and goals for the town seem to align with candidates Brooks, Baer, Hoback, Pesaramelli, and Hemphill.) 

I also talked with Candidate Justin Brooks, the current mayor, after the forum. This conversation stood in stark contrast to the one I had with the other mayoral candidate. When I asked Mr. Brooks about his plans for taxes, he described himself as fiscally responsible and conservative, citing that as a resident of Erie, he also feels the pinch on his wallet. 

He explained that in his two years as mayor, the town has been able to increase its commercial tax base, which has allowed our town to become less reliant on residential taxes. He expressed that if he is elected again, he will continue to grow Erie’s commercial tax base to continue supporting all the services and infrastructure residents need, enjoy, and want more of. 

Additionally, he expressed the need for different types of housing, as these new business employees will need a place they can afford to live within the Town of Erie, as well as more affordable housing options for the current employees and older persons within the town who can’t afford to live here. 

Mr. Brooks’ passion and pride for the town of Erie was evident in this brief conversation. He was very attuned to the needs and desires of the residents in maintaining the small-town feel and being responsible in how we grow and how we use our money. 

He took the time to really hear me answer my questions, and to me, that showcased his dedication to the residents of Erie.  

Mayor Brooks was right when he said during the forum that it is essential that as we continue to grow responsibly, we need to maintain that small-town quality by being kind to each other, hosting and joining in on community-building events, and not planting disinformation and fear to win elections. 

I love Erie. I love the small-town feel and the sense of community here. I want a Mayor and Council members with the strength and dedication to stand up for what’s right for our town: locally, regionally, and on a state and national scale. 

This November, I will be voting for the candidates that embody those qualities and bring us together with innovative and thoughtful decision-making, not the ones trying to scare me to vote for them. 

-Lindsey Terranova

Erie, Colorado