What’s wrong with this picture?

It didn’t take much research to uncover the disingenuousness of Mayor Donahue’s comments at the February 17 Castle Rock Town Council Meeting. At that gathering, Donahue summarily dismissed nearly 25 testimonials (1½ hours of public comment, i.e.) opposed to the construction of the Promenade Mall, muttering comments about ‘jobs’ and ‘growth’, as if these magic words were all that were needed to be uttered to counter any other arguments or logic. The Castle Rock Press-News (http://castlerocknewspress.net/stories/Activists-fight-to-save-prairie-dogs,181643) reported Donahue as saying, “But, also a big deal for us here is to make sure that the residents of Castle Rock have an opportunity for jobs.” Putting aside for the moment a discussion of whether “jobs” really are more important than a living planet, we think it’s sweet that Mayor Donahue is fighting hard for the poor citizens of Castle Rock, who clearly must be suffering massive unemployment.

Although Donahue’s comments are easily enough debunked, another article on the front page, right below the “Activist” article, inadvertently provided much of the fodder (http://castlerocknewspress.net/stories/Castle-Rock-jobless-rate-falls-to-33-percent,181635). Yep; according to the paper:

“The unemployment rate in Castle Rock fell to 3.3 percent by the end of 2014,

according to new numbers released by the Economic Development Council.

The job growth is just one of several indicators signaling the economic health

of the town.”

“In 2013, the unemployment rate for the year came in at 5.4 percent.”

“We have a very low unemployment rate, which is going to put a lot of

pressure on wages…” Economic Development Council president Frank Gray

said.”

So, unemployment is already very low in Castle Rock. (I remember when it was more than twice that in Colorado just a few years ago). Huh. I would add that not only is 3.3% low, it’s about as low as you can get in an economy without getting real creative in your accounting. So what good does the proposed Promenade Mall really do, and for whom does it really do that good stuff? Maybe somebody should ask the Mayor Tuesday at the Town Council Meeting. With luck, he might actually try to answer that; he certainly didn’t try to answer all the questions levied at him last time.

While we’re at it, we might voice questions about the mysterious “survey” Donahue mentioned – you know, the one that ostensibly indicated that most Castle Rock residents wanted the new mall. I’m no statistician (actually, I kind of am), but when 20+ individuals testify opposing the mall, and 0 (zero!) testify in favor, I’m hard pressed to see the majority Donahue invokes. I’d like to know more about this survey, wouldn’t you?

We hope to see you at the meeting Tuesday! And if you’re going to the Town Council Meeting, maybe you can ask Donahue to clarify some of the questions raised by the gap between his commentary and reality.