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Vail Daily letter: Decision for Eagle-Vail

As a 19-year resident of Eagle-Vail, I am appalled at the opposition language, so-called “facts” and asserted self-rewarding reasons why the Eagle-Vail Board of Governors approved the issuance of ballot measure 5A. If approved, 5A would create a new golf course clubhouse, maintenance facility, restaurant/coffee shop, tennis courts and pocket park improvements among other community projects.

I served as a board member of the EVPOA from early 2015 when the first components of 5A were first being discussed. I am witness to all of the board activities in seeking community input to the ideas being considered; what should be included or excluded, what was the projected cost associated with different scenarios, what geographical choices were possible, etc.

Because of recent altitude-related health conditions, my wife and I are relocating to the Denver area and I have resigned my EVPOA board position. So let me be clear. Everything in this letter is my own personal observations, impressions and opinions. Nothing in this letter is being reviewed, approved or sanctioned by the EVBOG.



Do I approve of 5A? Yes, I do. Do I like all of it? No, I don’t. But if I refrained from voting for something or someone on the condition that I approved of everything of every proposal or political candidate, I would have never cast a favorable vote for anything or anyone in my 69 years of life. Some of the most offensive Vail Daily letter writers against 5A makes me wonder wether they have an instinctive “no” as a character trait. At the end of day you vote on a composite of who is the best candidate or what is the best solution. To most of us, life is a continuous exercise in compromise.

Let’s get to now. Board meetings during the late spring, summer and early fall contained updates by the architectural and cost consultants retained by the EVBOG. Updates on the project were communicated regularly in the EagleVail.org web site. As details of the project began gaining specificity, educational sessions were publicized not only to provide updates but to seek input from residents. Although published well in advance, these sessions, with a few exceptions, had minor attendance.

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Critics of 5A published in the Vail Daily have taken several paths of criticism. There are those that accuse the BOG of lack of transparency. Really? These are the residents that don’t attend meetings, educational sessions, social events sponsored by the community or visit the EagleVail.Org web site on any kind of regular basis (if at all). Democracy is a system which requires individual involvement and participation. Only then can our system of government function as it was envisioned. Just consider the behavior of the US House of Representatives as an example of failed leadership.

Those of you who show up at the 11th hour and 59th minute and complain without ever being involved, informed, educated or participative in the process of governing deserve no credence.

Then there are those who accuse the board of being dishonest by favoring certain contractors. Expand your case and prove it or shut up! Enough with the innuendoes.

Then there are the financials of the bond offering. The financial statics surrounding this bond offering are drawn from current borrowing rates and property tax/valuation rates from Eagle County. Dreaming up your own numbers using false logic and misunderstanding the wording of the bond conditions only adds to the misinformation spread by the critics.

There is at least one critic of 5A accusing the EVBOG of violating freedom of speech. Actually, it is the other way around. Signs supporting 5A have been stolen from yards. I personally experienced this theft. These signs are an expression of freedom of speech just as are the signs urging a no vote on 5A. A thief is a thief — it matters not what item is being stolen.

Of the individuals who voiced opposition to 5A at the board meeting on Oct. 15, all of you, save one mother and her young son and one ex-board member, left the meeting shortly after the agenda moved on past the 5A review and comment. You were there for one purpose only and not interested in other business the board was to address. Too bad. You missed a board resolution passed that evening that will take any net savings that may occur from the 5A undertakings and apply them to reduce existing bond debt.

Eagle-Vail has a decision to make. A choice faced by all communities. Are we realists and visionaries that understand that financial investments are necessary to improve our quality of life, or are we the status quo that believes that the here and now is the future we want for ourselves and our families?

Jim Cameron


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