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Sunday, October 18, 2009
Volume 123, Number 14 • Steamboat Springs, Colorado • www.steamboatpilot.com
County says mail ballots secure 1st all-mail election puts spotlight on verification processes Mike Lawrence
For more
PILOT & TODAY STAFF
To read the mail-in signature and verification law in Colorado, visit this story at www.steamboatpilot.com.
STEAMBOAT SPRINGS
John F. Russell/staff
Steamboat Springs Police Officer Dan Kelliher talks to a motorist after issuing a warning ticket at Walton Creek Road and U.S. Highway 40.
Traffic ticket revenue jumps
Adopted fine system brings big returns Zach Fridell
Pilot & Today staff
Steamboat Springs
With more time for officers to devote to traffic enforcement in the city and a new model traffic code in the county, the Police Department and Sheriff’s Office report increased revenue from traffic tickets in the past year. The Routt County Sheriff’s Office expects to pull in an estimated $45,000 in traffic code violations in 2009, compared with $9,629 in 2008. That change is due to the adoption of the Colorado Model Traffic Code, a state-suggested fine system that increased fines when adopted in March and keeps more of that money in the county. Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Miles De Young said deputies were writing more county tickets instead of state tickets because of the new traffic code. In 2008, there were 158 county tickets, compared with 488 so far in 2009. De Young said it’s not that the deputies have written that many more tickets but that more tickets were based on county violations instead of state violations. He See Tickets, page 9A
Local election officials say they are taking a variety of steps to secure mail-in ballots in Routt County’s first all-mail election, but they also stress that voter responsibility can play a role in ensuring a fair, secure election this fall. A few days into Routt County’s first mail-only election, county and U.S. Postal Service employees are encountering new concerns about the security of mail ballots. One such concern is the possibility of residents toss-
ing their ballots into a trash container or recycling bin at a post office branch, leaving the ballots available for potential forgery. Steamboat Springs Post master Tim O’Brien said he is not asking post office staff to check trash containers or recycle bins for discarded ballots. “If someone chooses to take their mail and throw it away, it’s no longer mail,” O’Brien said Friday. “And I don’t have the
manpower to check the trash.” Routt County elections supervisor Vicki Weber discussed security concerns Friday in the Elections Office on the third floor of the Routt County Courthouse. She and deputy Kim Bonner sat in the office behind a chain stretched across the door. That’s the mentality Weber and Bonner say they bring to tasks such as issuing replacement ballots, monitoring ballot drop-boxes and verifying that every ballot envelope mailed to the county is sent from the Matt Stensland/staff correct voter. Routt County elections supervisor Vicki Weber shows one of the ballot boxes, See Ballot, page 10A
which are at the Routt County Clerk and Recorder’s Office, Yampa Town Hall, Oak Creek Town Hall, Hayden Town Hall and the Clark Store.
Sisters event called a success Weekend of workshops and outdoor activities continues today
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cting on a recent lesson in photography, Kristal Eckley held her arm out to the side with a camera in her hand, kept talking and took a picture of herself. It’s not something Eckley would Story by have thought Margaret Hair to do before Saturday afternoon — taking a selfportrait that might not turn out well — and the results weren’t particularly flattering. But Eckley had come to a workshop to get more comfortable with her digital camera, and she was willing to give workshop leader and local photographer Debbi Funston’s tips a shot. The workshop, which included Eckley and her friend Gail Hunter, was part of Mainstreet Steamboat Springs’ inaugural Sisters in Steamboat Weekend. Activities included a wine reception; workshops on fitness, nutrition, self-empowerment and photography; and outdoor activities such as a hike on Howelsen Hill and a
sunday focus
Matt Stensland/staff
Kristal Eckley, left, and Gail Hunter take self-portraits Saturday afternoon in front of a graffiti wall behind Orange Peel Bicycle Service. The friends were participating in a walking photography tour with local photographer Debbi Funston as part of Mainstreet Steamboat Springs’ inaugural Sisters in Steamboat Weekend.
walk through historic downtown Steamboat Springs. A “Wild Women in the West” party with poker, country dancing, tarot card reading and costumes was planned for
Saturday night. Eckley and Hunter attended the weekend events with a friend from Illinois and said they plan to come back next year, hopefully with more
visiting friends. Funston got involved with the event through friend and local author Jill Murphy Long, who gave a workshop Saturday morning called “Give Yourself
Permission to Play,” Funston said. “I think enrichment-type workshops are exciting because See Sisters, page 9A
BOCES financials put school districts in a tough spot State is reviewing issues being raised, but education service provider’s board has most of the control Jack Weinstein
PILOT & TODAY STAFF
STEAMBOAT SPRINGS
The recent financial struggles of the Northwest Colorado Board of Cooperative Educa tional Services raise the question: How does a BOCES work? BOCES operate much like Page designed by Laura Mazade
school districts in that they appoint boards of directors, made up of a representative from each school district’s board, said John Condie, performance support manager for the Colorado Department of Education. Condie, who serves as the liaison for school districts on the Western Slope and Pikes
Peak area, said they also submit annual independent audits to the state by Dec. 31. But they’re not accredited, as school districts are required to be. That board of directors, he said, reviews the audit before it’s sent to the state. Last year’s audit didn’t catch anything indicating that BOCES would over-
spend by nearly $317,000. So the board didn’t, either. That seems to explain why BOCES board President Brian Hoza said at a meeting last week in Granby that it was unclear how BOCES found itself in this position. That position also includes BOCES’ increasing assessments of its member dis-
tricts last month by more than $481,000 after the initial assessments were presented in May. BOCES also owes the districts more than $777,000 in title funding and has said it will make those payments after settling last year’s overspending. BOCES’ funding comes from its member districts. Other fed-
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eral funding for state-mandated special education services also is provided. The state distributes that federal funding. The increased assessments made things tense with the districts, which include Steamboat Springs, Hayden and South See BOCES, page 10A
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