Rockies need change at the very top
Stan Kroenke owns the Denver Nuggets, Colorado Avalanche, the Mammoth and the Los Angeles Rams. Those teams have all won championships in their respective sports. If you ever want the Colorado Rockies to win a title, Kroenke will have to buy them from the Monfort brothers.
Leroy M Martinez, Denver
The Rockies are mired in last place in a five-team division, not quite yet eliminated from postseason competition, but almost.
Players are being blamed, but anyone who knows baseball knows that’s only part of it. Team ownership, scouting, and player development are very important, and, in this franchise’s case, all three are failing the team and, therefore, the community.
Some teams that did poorly in the past turn things around. This year, Arizona is a good example. The Rockies have been sub .500 for years. When the Broncos go south, ownership and management do something about it.
None of this is manager Bud Black’s fault, although he does leave starters in too long occasionally. In his defense, he has to; the relievers are inconsistent, overworked, and nameless.
Speaking of “nameless,” who are these guys? Without Charlie Blackmon, Kris Bryant, and Germán Márquez, the team has no identity (other than, perhaps, Ryan McMahon).
Gone are Nolan Arenado, Jonathan Gray, Trevor Story, DJ LeMahieu and others who were reliable day in and day out.
The 2018 season, when the Rockies last reached the postseason, seems like a long, long time ago. No, it’s not Black’s fault, but perhaps the team needs a fresh start with someone else.
Craig Marshall Smith, Highlands Ranch
De-Brucing, Gallagher repeal are real property tax hike culprits
Re: “Fiscal alarm grows for counties that haven’t yet ‘de-Bruced’,” June 12 news story
The article is peppered with hints that the only way to salvage these county’s shortfalls is to take constitutionally protected TABOR funds. Why?
Respectable estimates are pegging property tax increases at 40%. Given that, the same mill levy used last year would garner a 40% increase in tax revenue. If the mill levy were to be cut in half, the counties would still get 20% more. Have county budgets really increased 40%, or even 20%? Unless the mill levy is reduced by at least 40%, TABOR shouldn’t even be in the equation.
Then again, with Prop HH, our state wants to take money out of our right pocket (TABOR reduction) and put it in our left pocket (tax reduction). And the governor wants us to believe he’s doing us a big favor. The electorate swallowed the distorted facts the governor spouted about the Gallagher Amendment repeal. Let’s hope we study Prop HH for ourselves before listening to government gibberish!
Paul C. Gremse, Denver
Work requirements for Congress
Maybe we should impose stricter work requirements for members of Congress. For starters, how about a minimum weekly hour requirement? Say 32 at the very least. Members of Congress can have two weeks of vacation a year along with six days of sick leave. And six paid holidays. Alright, they are federal employees so we’ll give them nine holidays. Any more time off will be time off without pay.
And how about some accountability as in pay for performance? Members of Congress who are highly effective i.e. bringing up legislation, passing bills, and showing up for votes will be paid more. Less effective members who are more interested in drama and theater will be paid less. Committee members will be expected to actually solve problems, not just grandstand. Congress should acknowledge that their job is to keep the government running. Upon failure to do this, i.e. government shutdowns or debt default, pay to all members stop and will not start again until the problem is solved. Lost pay is forfeited and not retroactively paid.
We expect recipients of SNAP and other programs to work, it is only fair that we expect others who feed at the public trough at taxpayer expense to expend a minimum effort also.
Brenda Johnson, Englewood
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