Part two of two

MONTE VISTA— In a heated Monte Vista City Council meeting on Nov. 1, councilors voted 3-2 to renew a six-month contract for consultant Ron Douglas. owner of Local Business Assist (LBA), who has been working with the city since March to develop existing businesses and recruit new ones for the city, for $4,125 per month. The renewal was the topic of public commentary and criticism.
Mayor Dale Becker inquired about Douglas having a grant writer on staff, which Douglas confirmed. He was originally supposed to assist Mariana King in writing a federal grant for the city earlier in the year; however, the grant application was never submitted. In June Neuerburg stated, “During the course of working on the grant application it was determined that this particular EDA opportunity wouldn’t work for the program we were wanting to fund so the application wasn’t submitted.  Ms. King had been paid $950 up front [the retainer in her $3,250 contract] which she agreed to return to the City.”
During the Nov. 1 meeting, Douglas offered to apply for a similar grant but discouraged council from counting on it.
He stated he has been in contact with a friend from a successful tech company who has software the city can utilize to reverse-engineer their statistics to see what businesses would be ideal to try to recruit for the town, but stated he wouldn’t give it to the city if he was placed on a month-to-month contract. He said it was insulting to the person who designed the software, which Douglas stated “is the secret sauce.”
Local business owner Phinel Garcia stated he doesn’t blame Douglas for being a businessman but stated he believes “some stuff is going to hit the fan pretty quick” and asked why Douglas did not consider purchasing the city-owned buildings since he has stated he is a self-made millionaire and has been frustrated with public inquiries. Garcia stated if Douglas is frustrated with public inquiries about the buildings it would no longer be a public issue if they were privately owned. Douglas did not make a statement in return to Garcia.
Douglas also presented a commercial promoting Monte Vista which the city had previously agreed to purchase from a company Douglas presented. The commercial included scenic vistas of farmland surrounding the area along with several shots of the downtown areas down Adams Street and on First Avenue, including aerial depictions. Kevin Wilkins from the San Luis Valley Development Resources Group was also featured explaining the tax benefits and savings of moving to the Valley and to Monte Vista to start or relocate a business.
Douglas stated the video would be marketed to those in areas like Denver where renting business spaces can be up to $12,000 per month. Council gave approval for the video so its producer could release it to the city for their use.
Councilor Kathleen Ellithorpe said she has experience starting businesses in Monte Vista and can see momentum gaining in the town and stated she hasn’t heard anything negative about Douglas, “I’m not sure what Phinel is talking about,” all she has heard from citizens is “when is the sushi restaurant coming?” “I’m sorry Monte Vista is such a rumor mill,” she told Douglas and stated she was willing to massage the budget to move forward with economic development and stated it was good of Douglas to be squeezing the current business owners to get them to do what needs to be done.
Former Councilman Jason Lorenz spoke stating the city has a budget issue, and told council if Ron Douglas is going to be their priority that is fine but asked if they would be willing to show his contract has a priority by cutting something else. Lorenz stated excessive spending is an issue on every level of government, from the federal government down to municipalities and stated he agrees with Garcia, “The (expletive) is going to hit the fan.”
Johnson spoke, using a metaphor about needing to fish from the river instead of just live beside it to compare Monte Vista’s environment to being ready for business development, stating it was the only way to help the town and it was worth it for the budget to go over. “If six months of this has generated this much… there’s something going on.”
Johnson then announced with Douglas’ assistance the owner of the building on Highway 160 between Charizma and the Alta station will soon be renovating it, before returning to the theme of Douglas “stirring people up.” Johnson stated the only negative remarks he has heard were from V&V Hardware “and they have completely turned around.” Johnson stated the current council would do “what councils have promised all along,” and although he didn’t think they are better than previous councils, the facts and statistics are on their side.
Becker mentioned if people in the community are concerned with the lease agreements or the contract, it is a matter of public record and they can be found by inquiring at city hall, again disparaging the rumors circulating in town.
(Editor’s Note: Valley Publishing completed a CORA request for the lease agreements in July following a press release submitted by Neuerburg discussing the Guzlow building being used by Douglas as a business incubator, but the request was never answered.)
Johnson motioned to approve Douglas’ contract for six months at $4,125 per month, which was seconded by Ellithorpe. Both councilors in addition to Mayor Pro-Tem Victor Sigala voted yes, with Lorenz and Becker voting no, with Becker adding his vote was “only because of the budget.”